Is it possible to run an iMac on an external drive?

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Is it possible to run an iMac on an external drive?

I have a 27" iMac running OSX 10.6.8. I have done all the 16 steps, gotten a bootable (not so much ) WD 1TB My Passport (which has OSX installed on it), Made a Thumb Drive (Also has OSX). SMART was failing and the HD (internal SATA 1TB ) I had partitioned to save the info before I had found All you good people. Now I can not boot from any recovery option, I did get into verbose last night finally and I now have kernel panics. When I try to boot from either external I immediately have the kernel panic. So is there a way from verbose or GRUB to tell it (the Mac ) to boot from one of those? Or do I have an expensive paper weight now?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Feb 19, 2016 6:12 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

92,302 points

Feb 19, 2016 7:26 AM in response to 4scahill

Yes, but the external drive (USB or FireWire) must be Partitioned "GUID Partition Map" and Formatted "OS X Extended" before your iMac can startup from it.

Partitioning "GUID" and Formatting "OS X" will erase all of the data stored on the drive. So if your WD Passport already has backups or data stored on it, you will want to use another empty drive.

To set up an external drive or thumb drive, see > Starting from an external USB storage device (Intel-based Macs) - Apple Support

Additionally because it sounds like you have a 2010 OS X 10.6 or earlier iMac. Another option is to startup from the OS X install disc that originally came with that iMac, navigate to Utilities and use Disk Utility to setup a new bootable external drive or thumb drive.

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Answer 2

4scahill Author

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Feb 19, 2016 7:59 AM in response to den.thed

Thank you 🙂 I did partition and install the Snow leopard Os 10.6.8 onto the Passport. I also have a thumb drive which has been partitioned accordingly. When I try to boot up (with and without ) the original disk, as soon as I get to the apple logo It dumps the grey screen for kernel panic. I was able to get into verbose mode, But I know little about GRUB. Willing to learn tho 😝 Pretty sure the internal HD has failed.....

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

92,302 points

Feb 19, 2016 8:23 AM in response to 4scahill

If it does not startup into Startup Manage holding the Option key (preferably using a USB keyboard), then it may have a more serious hardware problem than a failed HD. see > How to choose a startup disk on your Mac - Apple Support

Will it start in Safe Mode...? see > Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

What does the Apple Hardware Test say...? see > Using Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support

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Answer 4

4scahill Author

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Feb 19, 2016 8:57 AM in response to den.thed

Trying safe mode now... first time I have heard the hd in days...... oh noooooooo.............. grey restart your computer screen of death................

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