I have a late 04 12" PowerBook G4 and I'm getting an external USB HD. Can I install an OS on the external drive and boot from it?
Nope, G4 powerbooks will not boot from a USB drive, only a firewire drive.
In support of Michael and to pro-act should someone come back with "sure, you can boot USB," there are a handful of PowerPC Macs that, according to Apple, are theorectically USB-bootable. In reality, very few are, even with some of the hacks floating about.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the fast reply. I hardly finished posting it and I had your reply.
Jon
One other thing I just thought of - your powerbook will only have USB 1 ports, does it not?, so a USB drive is going to be dog Sloooooow. I have a '06 Powerbook G4 that still runs, and it was/is horrid with a USB drive.
Hmm - just looked, and no, you have USB2, still - firewire is a huge step up. OWC sells drives with both firewire and USB ports, so you'd still be able to use it with other devices or later on.
Can a PowerBook G4 (6,4) boot from an OS installed on an external USB HD?
