Accessing internal hard drive from externally located osx.

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Level 1

8 points

Accessing internal hard drive from externally located osx.

Hello.

If you install Yosemite on an external hard drive, can you then access the main (onboard computer) hard drive from this set-up?

Thanks!

Matt

Imac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on May 22, 2015 3:02 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,917 points

May 22, 2015 3:07 PM in response to mattfox

Yes, unless something's wrong with the internal one.

(127732)

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 22, 2015 3:09 PM in response to mattfox

You would need to boot from the external drive as follows:

Boot Using OPTION key:

1. Restart the computer.

2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

"OPTION" key.

3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.

4. Select the external disk icon from which you want to boot.

5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.

Accessing the computer's hard drive this way assumes that the internal drive is accessible.

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Answer 3

mattfox Author

Level 1

8 points

May 22, 2015 3:18 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for the feedback. What if the internal hard drive is locked…? Can I unlock it using terminal?

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Answer 4

Niel

Level 10

726,917 points

May 22, 2015 3:20 PM in response to mattfox

You'll be able to boot the external drive; whether or not you'll be able to unlock the internal one, and the method required, depends on how it's locked. If you're trying to install an OS from Apple's Internet Recovery system and the Disk Utility on it doesn't see the internal drive, it's probably dead.

(127733)

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Answer 5

mattfox Author

Level 1

8 points

May 22, 2015 3:50 PM in response to Niel

Thanks. I'm hopeful its not dead, as it shows up on the recovery as greyed out (locked). I use an external drive for all personal docs, its just there are one or two on the hard drive that I would like to retrieve before a fresh install of yosemite on a newly formatted internal drive… :-)

I don't have a second mac with a firewire or thunderbolt port… hence this strategy!

Thanks for the help. Matt

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Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 22, 2015 4:10 PM in response to mattfox

That would depend on why it is locked. It could be a major disk failure. Then it could be a permissions problem. If you open Disk Utility notice if the internal disk drive is listed in the Disk Utility sidebar. If it isn't, then it's definitely a goner. If it is still listed, then possibly you can fix things by fully erasing the drive then reinstall OS X to see if it is still working.

Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

Partition and Format the hard drive:

Open Disk Utility from the external drive's system.
After Disk Utility loads select your internal hard drive (this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
You can then clone back your external drive to the internal drive:

Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility

1. Select the destination volume from the left side list.

2. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.

3. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag

it to the Destination entry field.

4. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to

the Source entry field.

5. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

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