Q: Can't boot with external firewire drive attached.

No. You can do that if you want.

I think I'll get back to enjoying my computer.

If I misunderstood you or the article, sorry about that.

All I know, from 20+ years of Apple computer experience, is that I do not have any partition for Recovery. But I put what Apple suggested onto a 2GB Flash drive; am connected to the Internet by cable; it worked.

60wpm wrote:

 

No. You can do that if you want.

No, I can't report something I can't reproduce.

All I know, from 20+ years of Apple computer experience, is that I do not have any partition for Recovery.

If that article is correct, then you did have one.  You couldn't have made one on a DVD.  What happens when you start up while holding down the Alt/Option key?  You should see a display something like this:

It's a photo, so hard to read, but the two at the left are partitions on an internal HD.

The third (with the red arrow) is the Recovery HD, in a hidden partition on the internal HD.  Note that it does not appear in Disk Utility's sidebar, unless Disk Utility is running in Debug mode and Show all partitions is selected.

Fourth (yellow) is a "clone" on an external HD.

Last (green) is a copy of the Recovery HD made by Time Machine on an external TM drive.

To get back (way back) to the OP's question, the problem is the WD drive. I have a 21.5" mid-2010 iMac and the same WD external drive he has. It behaves the same way -- no boot unless you unplug it, regardless of power on or off on the drive itself.

Since the 10.7.3 update, I discoverd by accident that if you wait a LONG time -- a couple of minutes, it finally does boot.

I have tried permissions repair, new cable, etc. and none made any difference.

-dan

I rarely reboot, so I should have cautioned that I only observed this once, right after the update (I always unplug externals for updates) and so it may or may not be repeatable.

As for contacting WD, I didn't bother, in part because I'm not in love with this drive -- mostly its clunky interface and software.

-dan

Pondini & 60wpm have me quite confused right now.

@s.mazzucato - @hackintosh > No need to be confused reference OP. Both myself AND Pondini have talked about the problem of the OP may not be the Lion OS, the recent upgrade of Lion OS, or the HD disk, or a need to 'repair permissions.'

We have both talk about CABLES. There is also mention of incompatibility between some Firewire external drives, how some Firewire ports just don't seem to work with trying to use an external drive as bootable, using Firewire.

i.e. Cables. Firewire ports. The type of external drives (not OS, repairing permissions, etc.)

On the other item, this fabulous new thing in Lion: built in recovery.....

So...on that (valid and sometimes interesting) tangent

Re: The confusion between Pondini and myself is a tangent to this discussion;  don't let it confuse the OP; this sometimes happens and we all learn as we either stumble along, or plow through problems, or race through info, data and experience.

@Pondini -- I tried a screenshot like yours but didn't work.

Problem #2 (for what I was saying) is 'things have changed...' it appears to me things have changed after my recent installing of the upgrade Lion 10.7.3 -- I now have a Recovery HD --- as well as stilling having my Internet Recovery 2GB USB Flash drive.

The icon for that Flash drive looks like the icon for your Firewire connected HD, but it has the USB symbol on it.

Prior to trying Lion 10.7.3 --- and this fact was the 'proof point' to my thinking -- if I held down Cmd-R while starting up, Nothing Happen just gray screens.

Now, though, it works. So I'm now thinking Lion 10.7.3 installed the hidden Recovery partition that previous versions of Lion did not. (Because, as a fact, previously, holding down Cmd-R did nothing...which is why I made the 'Internet Recovery Flash memory stick aka, what Apple calls the 'Recovery Disk Assistant.'

When I woke up this morning, happy that my computer was working perfectly against with the Time Machine reinstall of Lion 10.7.2 and all files and apps, I wondered to myself, 'How in the heck did I every go down that path of making a Internet Recovery Disk Assistant!? -- because I tend not to do things unless I need to.

Then I remembered: Apple told me to do so.

It was way back in the dust of time, my first installation of the first version of OS Lion, in the first week it came out: During installation, I got pop-up windows.

The pop-up windows told me, if my memory serves me well, that the Mac mini (Late 2009) couldn't do a Recovery Partition (as the futility of holding down Cmd-R also seemed to verify).

The pop-up windows that came up during this installation told me I should make an Internet Recovery Disk Assistant on a USB Flash drive which I was somewhat started by this idea since nothing like this had every existed before and therefore I certainly didn't have one.

But I got a 2GB Flash drive, followed Apple's instructions and links and PRESTO! -- I was able to 'recover and/or recover and reinstall all from my external drive Time Machine -- using this USB Flash drive with an Internet connection.

-- I got to the Flash drive during startup by holding down the Option Key.

When I did that, btw, there was absolutely not - no icon for a Recovery HD (that drive with the red arrow in pic, above).

But now, amazingly enough, since my recent installation of Lion 10.7.3, I do have this icon/Recovery HD indicated.

Note: Being able to 'recover' like this, imo, sure is fantastic; I'm very happy about it. And glad I now have both ways to getting to it (hidden Recovery HD partition and my Internet Recovery Disk Assistant 2GB Flash drive).

I'm back using Lion 10.7.2; all is well.

Have a nice day, y'all.

60wpm wrote:

. . .

@Pondini -- I tried a screenshot like yours but didn't work.

Correct -- you're not logged on, so screenprint doesn't work.  As I said, it's a photo, so not easy to read.

The question is, do you see a Recovery HD on your internal HD, like the one in the sample with the red arrow?

Prior to trying Lion 10.7.3 --- and this fact was the 'proof point' to my thinking -- if I held down Cmd-R while starting up, Nothing Happen just gray screens.

That doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't a Recovery HD.  Sometimes Cmd+R doesn't work --- if you were booted to a different volume, for example.  If you release the keys too early, it may not work.  It's also "iffy" with some wireless keyboards -- sometimes it works, sometimes not.

That's why I suspect you did have one, or you couldn't have made the copy.

The pop-up windows that came up during this installation told me I should make an Internet Recovery Disk Assistant on a USB Flash drive which I was somewhat started by this idea since nothing like this had every existed before and therefore I certainly didn't have one.

Yes, that's the OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery Disk Assistant article. 

Note: Being able to 'recover' like this, imo, sure is fantastic; I'm very happy about it. And glad I now have both ways to getting to it (hidden Recovery HD partition and my Internet Recovery Disk Assistant 2GB Flash drive).

 

I'm back using Lion 10.7.2; all is well.

If you're using Time Machine to a directly-connected HD, you should also have a copy of your Recovery HD there, like the last one in the sample above.

Answer 1: As mentioned: "it appears to me things have changed after my recent installing of the upgrade Lion 10.7.3 -- I now have a Recovery HD --- as well as stilling having my Internet Recovery 2GB USB Flash drive."

Re: Cmd-R; well...it didn't work before Lion 10.7.3, now it does...so either my keystroke fingering has gotten more accurate or...?

Re: "  I suspect...or....you couldn't have made the copy."

Humm....Are you sure about that? This appears to be the point you refuse to accept.

Apple says: "Lion Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's Servers."

Isn't that the Whole Point of INTERNET RECOVERY.

60wpm wrote:

. . .

Humm....Are you sure about that? This appears to be the point you refuse to accept.

Apple says: "Lion Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's Servers."

 

Isn't that the Whole Point of INTERNET RECOVERY.

There are two different things, and the titles of Apple's articles are similar, so easy to confuse:

Lion Recovery:

Some Macs (introduced after Lion was released) can use Internet Recovery when Cmd+R doesn't work, and start up from Apple's servers:  OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery.  As it notes, some that shipped earlier can be upgraded to use it:  Computers that can be upgraded to use Lion Internet Recovery.  If your Mac can use it (as yours apparently did), it will download and install the Recovery HD and start up from it.  That's apparently what you did.  But not all Macs can do that.

Lion Recovery Disk Assistant:

The other article, OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, allows you to copy an existing Recovery HD on your Startup drive to another location.  The download for that is what you linked to in your first post in this thread.  But that won't work if you don't already have a Recovery HD. 

Does that clear it up?

Re: above post> I was never in doubt about what I did so the only question is "Does that clear it up" for you?

"Lion Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's Servers."

60wpm wrote:

. . .

"Lion Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's Servers."

Yes, some Macs.

But the Recovery Disk Assistant does not create a new Recovery HD; it only copies one that already exists. 

It's great that you wish to help folks here, but you need to provide the right links.  Lion Internet Recovery is different from Recovery Disk Assistant.

Re: Comment above: "

the Recovery Disk Assistant does not create a new Recovery HD; it only copiesone that already exists. '

Who said it did? -- You?