Problem using a "Sandbox" partition made with SuperDuper!

[CBAnthony]

Hello:

As this is my first post, I'd like to thank all the contributors to this page; your information has been invaluable in my journey to getting my hackintosh running smoothly.

 

And it was! Until I tried to updated from 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 using the sleep string method (I got the "Still waiting for..." error). After that, I tried to restore from a time machine backup using Disk Utility on the Kalyway DVD. For some reason, when I selected "Restore from Time Machine Backup" the program would just hang, and I could never select my backup.

 

So I discovered SuperDuper! and thought the idea of using a Sandbox as a protection for my stable OS was a really good idea. However, this is where my current problem starts:

 

I have 3 SATA drives on my machine: one with Vista, one with my Kalyway install and another one which I had intended to partition and use as a sandbox drive. However, when I tried to create the Sandbox Drive using SuperDuper!, the files copy ok but it gets to the part where it wants to make the Sandbox drive the boot disk and it fails.

 

I've looked around quite a bit but I just don't have the know-haow to know what needs to be changed to make this work. Any help in this regard would be most appreciated, as the Sandbox system is a very attractive option for testing updates without having to reinstall the entire operating system from scratch when they fail.

 

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions. I'm happy to provide whatever information may be needed.

 

Chris

 

Asus PK5-E

Nvidia 8800 GTS 512

currently running 10.5.3 (via Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD + 10.5.3 Combo Update)

[intrax]

I don't think it will work as SuperDuper was designed to run on 'real' MAcs and as we are using EFI-Boot now on our Hackintoshes the sandbox would have a hardtime booting unless you prepare the SuperDuper drive to use EFI as well.

 

A better strategy imho is to make a backup of your boot partition using a sector backup app like acronis true image before a major update. If the update fails you can allways restore the partition.

 

As a second precaution you can use OSX86Tools to backup your kext's and kernel to a safe directory so you can allways revert to your previous running system.

 

Hope this helps...

[CBAnthony]

intrax:

 

I thank you for your response. I'm still fiddling with the best way to do this. In fact, at this point, I'm perfectly find with keeping a back up image that I can restore easily from. However, these are the problems I have encountered when trying to restore from various backup methods.

 

When I boot using the Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD:

 

1) I try to use "Restore System from Backup..." but after I press "Continue" it hangs infinitely (I have time machine backups but I cannot access them due to this problem);

2) I have tried to restore from a SuperDuper! backed up image. While the installation/restore goes fine, I can't get past the Apple logo screen with the spinning wheel (it eventually just reboots on its own and does the same thing over and over)

 

I thank you for your suggestion re: Acronis True Image. After I reinstall, I will test that out. I'm guessing that Acronis True Image runs outside of any operating system? Perhaps that could be the solution to my problem. Then I can just restore the partition, boot using the install disk trick, and then install the Chameleon bootloader using OSX86 tools. Is this what you had in mind?

 

Thanks again for your time

[CBAnthony]

Well I didn't exactly solve my problem, but I bypassed it. And I thoght I would post here in case it can be of any use to anyone. While I couldn't get SuperDuper Sandbox to work on a separate drive, I was able to partition my boot drive and use Sandbox on the new partition. Then, I'm able to select the new partition from the Darwin Bootloader. So the following is my backup scenario:

 

Use partition 1 as my original install. Use SuperDuper to install copy my original install to the second, smaller partition as a Sandbox. In doing so, the Sandbox contains only OS software; all applications and documents are saved on the original install (but are used and visible in the Sandbox).

 

Now, when I want to test an update to see if it will break my install, I log into the Sandbox partition and run the update with the appropriate method (i.e., the sleep string in terminal) and if it breaks my install, I simply log back into my original install and use SuperDuper to re-copy the Sandbox install to partition 2.

 

Using this method, there should be no reason for me to ever break my install with an update (unless I'm not paying attention after too much red wine!). I hope this is useful for someone, as it's extremely painful to waste hours reinstalling your OS and getting all your apps and docs back in order.