Can't boot from external hard drive

macgruder · 08-13-2003, 11:18 PM

I have 2 hard drives by the same manufacturer (not the same model).

I've done psync of my hard drive to both of them, however one of the two cannot be booted from.

I've done bless -folder PATH -bootinfo PATH, held down the option, select the hard drive from the Start Disk control panels, but still it won't boot from it (either Firewire or USB).

It's strange because it's the older drive that can boot fine.

My computer is a G3 Powerbook Firewire.

Any suggestions of other things I could try would be welcome!

hayne · 08-14-2003, 01:33 AM

You could look through the document by Mike Bombich about what steps are needed to create a bootable clone of a drive:
http://www.bombich.com/mactips/image.html
Maybe that will suggest something.

macgruder · 08-14-2003, 02:30 AM

Actually I came here from there

I'm wondering if there can be hardware issues to prevent a certain make of drive becoming a bootable drive, apart from the firewire/usb issues that can sometimes occur.

Because essentially I have two identical external drives (in terms of data), but one is bootable and the other not, so I'm inclined to think that it is an issue with the drive itself. I'm in Japan, and the maker (melco) doesn't have any English support so I can't check with them easily. I'm wondering if some kind of reformat (all to zeros, say) might change stuff.

mclbruce · 08-14-2003, 04:43 PM

These are FireWire hard drives? You didn't mention what kind they are.

The first thing I do with a firewire drive is to reformat it with Apple's Disk Utility. If you haven't done that yet then definitely give it a try. I recommend checking the "install drivers for OS 9" box.

After that you can use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a bootable copy of your internal HD and see if it will boot.

macgruder · 08-15-2003, 12:54 AM

The OK one is firewire. The other is hybrid Firewire/USB. I did format it when I bought but not OS9 drivers. I will try that.

pmccann · 08-15-2003, 03:40 AM

Yep, I've seen the same sort of behaviour with external firewire drives. Once they've *had* an OS on them any other installs/syncs/clones all boot without difficulty, but getting the first image onto there is the key. Easy way out is either to do as suggested above and use disk utility to format the thing (and maybe partition it at the same time), or just install a bare-bones OS onto the drive --say, from the OS X installation CD. Any overwrites via psync (for example) will then maintain that bootability forever more.

Cheers, and good luck
Paul

08-13-2003, 11:18 PM	#1
macgruder Prospect Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 45	Can't boot from external hard drive I have 2 hard drives by the same manufacturer (not the same model). I've done psync of my hard drive to both of them, however one of the two cannot be booted from. I've done bless -folder PATH -bootinfo PATH, held down the option, select the hard drive from the Start Disk control panels, but still it won't boot from it (either Firewire or USB). It's strange because it's the older drive that can boot fine. My computer is a G3 Powerbook Firewire. Any suggestions of other things I could try would be welcome!

08-14-2003, 02:30 AM	#3
macgruder Prospect Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 45	Thanks Actually I came here from there I'm wondering if there can be hardware issues to prevent a certain make of drive becoming a bootable drive, apart from the firewire/usb issues that can sometimes occur. Because essentially I have two identical external drives (in terms of data), but one is bootable and the other not, so I'm inclined to think that it is an issue with the drive itself. I'm in Japan, and the maker (melco) doesn't have any English support so I can't check with them easily. I'm wondering if some kind of reformat (all to zeros, say) might change stuff.

08-15-2003, 12:54 AM	#5
macgruder Prospect Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 45	Thanks for suggestion The OK one is firewire. The other is hybrid Firewire/USB. I did format it when I bought but not OS9 drivers. I will try that.

08-14-2003, 01:33 AM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 32,473	You could look through the document by Mike Bombich about what steps are needed to create a bootable clone of a drive: http://www.bombich.com/mactips/image.html Maybe that will suggest something.

08-14-2003, 04:43 PM	#4
mclbruce Hall of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 3,878	These are FireWire hard drives? You didn't mention what kind they are. The first thing I do with a firewire drive is to reformat it with Apple's Disk Utility. If you haven't done that yet then definitely give it a try. I recommend checking the "install drivers for OS 9" box. After that you can use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a bootable copy of your internal HD and see if it will boot.

08-15-2003, 03:40 AM	#6
pmccann Major Leaguer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 470	Yep, I've seen the same sort of behaviour with external firewire drives. Once they've had an OS on them any other installs/syncs/clones all boot without difficulty, but getting the first image onto there is the key. Easy way out is either to do as suggested above and use disk utility to format the thing (and maybe partition it at the same time), or just install a bare-bones OS onto the drive --say, from the OS X installation CD. Any overwrites via psync (for example) will then maintain that bootability forever more. Cheers, and good luck Paul