Can older Intel Macs with USB2.0 boot from USB3.0 external hard drives?
Can older Intel Macs with USB2.0 boot from USB3.0 external hard drives?
I'm having troubles doing so using my 120GB LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt™ Series drive.
Thanks!
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Can older Intel Macs with USB2.0 boot from USB3.0 external hard drives?
I'm having troubles doing so using my 120GB LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt™ Series drive.
Thanks!
USB 3.0 is compatible with USB 2.0 ports but using USB 2.0 speed, so you won't have any problem booting from a USB 3.0 external drive
Thanks for this mende1.
I have a 2007 MacBook (USB 2.0) and a 2011 MacBook Pro (also USB 2.0).
I have a LaCie Rugged drive with Firewire 800 and USB 3.0.
When I connect this drive to the older 2007 MacBook (USB 2.0) by FireWire it will boot fine. When I connect it to the older 2007 MacBook (USB 2.0) by USB it doesn't boot (I get the circle with a diagonal line through it icon).
When I connect this drive to the newer 2011 MacBook Pro (USB 2.0) by FireWire it will boot fine. When I connect it to the newer 2011 MacBook Pro (USB 2.0) by USB it also boots fine.
So as far as I can determine older Intel Macs can't boot from USB 3.0 drives. Or they don't support LaCie drives; or my LaCie drive is faulty.
Any other advice or experience would be gratefully welcomed.
Cheers,
Greg
Strange. What OS X version have you got on the external drive? Maybe there's a compatibility problem with that MacBook (possible)
10.7.4 - there's no OS compatibility as it boots via FireWire
Connect the external disk through USB. Then, hold the Option key while your Mac is starting, and choose the external drive while pressing Command and V keys. This will start OS X into verbose mode, so we can access into interesting data that may indicate the problem. Do you see any error doing this?
There are other reports that LaCie USB 3 drives are not bootable over USB 2.
Do you have a link to these reports? The thing is that my LaCie USB3 drive DOES boot over USB2 on my newer MacBook Pro, just not on my older MacBook.
I don't have a link, but I remember seeing such reports. I can't confirm them myself. Your newer MBP has firmware support for USB 3, which may account for the difference.
.. there's one way to find out.. 😝
Really? My newer 2011 MBP is USB2.0 only. Does it really have firmware support for USB3.0?
I will boot under Verbose mode as suggested as soon as I have the time, and report back
Does it really have firmware support for USB3.0?
No, I missed the fact that it was a 2011, so that's not the explanation. The firmware is different, though.
The question comes down to whether there's anything wrong with the drive or with the MB. The drive seems to be OK. If the MB can boot from other USB drives, it's OK too.
The MB does boot from USB2.0 drives. Just not either of my LaCie USB3.0 drives. I haven't yet tried another brand of USB3.0 drives. Perhaps that's the next step (to see if it's just the LaCie firmware that is incompatible or ALL USB 3.0 drives that have incompatible firmware).
Your Mac, when you start from the external drive connected by USB, can't load the kernel. So strange (and I would start thinking about a hardware incompatibility)
Can older Intel Macs with USB2.0 boot from USB3.0 external hard drives?