Q: Must an external boot drive be on a port?
If an external volume is to have OS X installed and used as the startup disk, is it a requirement that it be connected directly to a port on the computer, rather than to a port on a hub, such as a USB hub? Where is this documented by Apple?
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 27" iMac 24 GB memory
Posted on Oct 9, 2015 9:16 PM
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Hi bobgoldstein,
Good question whether an external boot drive needs to be connected directly to the computer rather than a hub.
That is mentioned at the bottom of this article.
Starting from an external USB storage device (Intel-based Macs) - Apple Support
Learn more
If you're using an external USB hub with several connected USB devices, the external USB storage device you wish to start from may not be recognized, or, may need to be connected directly into one of the computers USB ports instead. Some computer keyboards that include USB ports may not supply enough power to some external USB hard drives.
Take care.
Posted on Oct 10, 2015 7:58 AM