gui0506
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Q: Can I boot mac from an external hard drive (internal hard drive hard drive closure)

Model: Macbook Pro 2010 mid
OS: OSX 10.9 Hard Drive: WD5000BPKT 500GB

For some reason I need to change my perfectly working internal bootable drive to external bootable drive.

I took out my internal hard drive, put it into closure, and then connected it to mbp with USB. But my mac cannot even recognize my external hard drive. It displays a folder with a question mark with grey background, which means it cannot find executable boot drive. I tried pressing option key during start up and nothing showed. Also, I tried resetting parameter RAM but still no luck. Any help will be appreciated.

Posted on Nov 30, 2013 3:10 PM

by gui0506,Solvedanswer
gui0506 gui0506
Level 1 (0 points)
A:

The reason is somehow complicated and most likely be related to the question itself, so I did not write it down. But here is the situation.

 

I bought a new SSD to update my HDD. I found a software called carbon copy cloner, which could do a bootable clone. I tried to clone my original hard drive to SSD and turned out the SSD only worked when it was connected externally. After I seeking a while, I found a solution from CCC website: do the clone again with putting my original drive externally and the SSD internally (I think it is a bug of CCC.)

 

You may say, "why not use time machine" instead of using a third party software. My answer is time machine is too slow, and I have to reinstall the OS. My focus is why my internal hard drive does not work externally since it should work.

Posted on Nov 30, 2013 10:19 PM

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gui0506

Q: Can I boot mac from an external hard drive (internal hard drive hard drive closure)

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  • Helpful answers

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Nov 30, 2013 3:18 PM in response to gui0506
    Level 9 (52,089 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 30, 2013 3:18 PM in response to gui0506

    If the external HDD has a compatible OSX installed, it certainly should be able to boot your MBP.

     

    You must start the MBP with the OPTION key held down and it should display all HDDs that can boot the MBP.  If none are shown, either the connection is faulty or the HDD is nonfunctional.

     

    Ciao.

     

    For some guidance, refer to this article:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5281

     

    Ciao.

     

    Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Nov 30, 2013 3:21 PM in response to gui0506
    Level 7 (25,782 points)
    Nov 30, 2013 3:21 PM in response to gui0506
    For some reason I need to change my perfectly working internal bootable drive to external bootable drive.

     

    Perhaps if you told us the reason you feel you need to do this then we might be able to offer some help.

     

    In general if the internal was working OK  before it was removed, was removed properly and it is placed into a proper working external enclosure then the system will be able to boot off of it.

  • by LowLuster,Helpful

    LowLuster LowLuster Nov 30, 2013 3:24 PM in response to gui0506
    Level 6 (12,074 points)
    Nov 30, 2013 3:24 PM in response to gui0506

    then the enclosure you are using is bad. Try it with a SATA to USB adapter. Also if the enclosure you are using is USB BUS powered that could be part of the reason it isn't showing up. Mac notebook USB ports don't put out enough power to fully power up some drive.

  • by gui0506,

    gui0506 gui0506 Nov 30, 2013 9:56 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2013 9:56 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    The HDD is certainly functional has compatible OS installed. It worked perfectly when I placed it internally.

    The USB cable also has not problem.

     

    Maybe something wrong with the enclosure? But I tried to use CCC to clone my internal hard drive to a newly bought SDD and the SSD works externally within the enclosure.

  • by gui0506,Helpful

    gui0506 gui0506 Nov 30, 2013 10:04 PM in response to LowLuster
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2013 10:04 PM in response to LowLuster

    This is exactly what I was thinking.

    But I tried to use CCC to clone my internal hard drive to a newly bought SDD and the SSD worked externally within the enclosure. So I thought it was not. But you might be right. (The cloned SSD cannot work internally as expected. I dont know what CCC did, but it seems like emulated the internal environment for SSD. And might also emunlated the HDD's external environment for SSD when it is placed internally.... not sure)

     

    Anyway, I think you might be right. I will try it tomorrow and feed back.

  • by gui0506,Solvedanswer

    gui0506 gui0506 Nov 30, 2013 10:19 PM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2013 10:19 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

    The reason is somehow complicated and most likely be related to the question itself, so I did not write it down. But here is the situation.

     

    I bought a new SSD to update my HDD. I found a software called carbon copy cloner, which could do a bootable clone. I tried to clone my original hard drive to SSD and turned out the SSD only worked when it was connected externally. After I seeking a while, I found a solution from CCC website: do the clone again with putting my original drive externally and the SSD internally (I think it is a bug of CCC.)

     

    You may say, "why not use time machine" instead of using a third party software. My answer is time machine is too slow, and I have to reinstall the OS. My focus is why my internal hard drive does not work externally since it should work.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Nov 30, 2013 10:36 PM in response to gui0506
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Nov 30, 2013 10:36 PM in response to gui0506

    FWIW, I upgraded my MBP to an SSD and, using Disk Utility, first formatted the new SSD (in an external enclosure), then cloned my system to it using CCC. Swapped drives and it worked perfectly and immediately.

     

    There may be something wrong with the SSD? Where did you buy it? Or, if your internal doesn't work externally either, I'd guess the problem to come from the USB/firewire port, or the enclosure.

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Dec 1, 2013 7:17 AM in response to gui0506
    Level 7 (25,782 points)
    Dec 1, 2013 7:17 AM in response to gui0506

    So you with the SSD installed in the system and the original HD conected externally you were able to clone the HD to the SSD and the SSD boots?

     

    But now you still cannot boot the HD when it is external? What happens when you try to boot off of it?

     

    If you hold dwon the oprion key during boot to bring up the Boot Manager what do you see?

  • by gui0506,

    gui0506 gui0506 Dec 1, 2013 8:20 AM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 1, 2013 8:20 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

    HDD is my original disk and SSD is cloned from it.

    When I cloned it, HDD was internal, and SSD was external.

     

    If I put my SSD internal or HDD external, none of them work.

    If I put my SSD external or HDD internal, they work.

     

    As I said, when I press option key, nothing shows except network recovery option, which means my drives are not found. If I dont press option key and wait, it shows the first picture in https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5281

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Dec 1, 2013 9:50 AM in response to gui0506
    Level 7 (25,782 points)
    Dec 1, 2013 9:50 AM in response to gui0506

    If the SSD worked when in the external enclosure and you were able to clone the internal to it then it would seem to rule out a bad enclosure.

     

    When the cloning operation was finished and with he SSD still in the external enclosure did you see it as a boot option when you booted holding down the option key?

     

    You might want to try cloning to it again using Disk Utility instead of CCC.

  • by gui0506,

    gui0506 gui0506 Dec 2, 2013 10:49 PM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2013 10:49 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

    It is solved finally.....It was actually my enclosure issue.

    I bought a SATA to USB adapter which contains a pow adapter and it worked perfectly.

    I still do not know why the SSD can work externally, but HDD cannot with the enclosure.

     

    Anyway, thanks everyone!

  • by ViShVa,

    ViShVa ViShVa Dec 2, 2013 11:05 PM in response to gui0506
    Level 2 (265 points)
    Dec 2, 2013 11:05 PM in response to gui0506

    gui0506 wrote:

     

    It is solved finally.....It was actually my enclosure issue.

    I bought a SATA to USB adapter which contains a pow adapter and it worked perfectly.

    I still do not know why the SSD can work externally, but HDD cannot with the enclosure.

     

    Anyway, thanks everyone!

     

    Probably because the HDD requires a powered enclosure because of more moving parts, whereas the SSD is not as power hungry so can work off the external enclosure's USB bus.

     

    But why did your cloned SSD not work properly as your internal boot drive after being cloned externally?

  • by gui0506,

    gui0506 gui0506 Dec 2, 2013 11:16 PM in response to ViShVa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2013 11:16 PM in response to ViShVa

    The cloned SSD was not working internally because of the SSD itself.

    It took me almost an entire day to figure it out.....

     

    My SSD is Intel 530, and my MBP is 2010 Mid.

    There is a bug in Intel 530 which does not support old motherboards well.

    After reseting PRAM, it started to work on cold restart, but not warm restart.

    After addition researches, I found

    Intel SSD 530 startup problems - Bug in SSD?

     

     

    There are lots of people facing the same issues. I was actually disappointed at Intel

    They are currently fixing it, and planing to release a new firmware update, but I do not know when.