Cursor and dash on boot (from image)

[crazybilly]

Hey. I've done some research, and as far as I can tell, osX ought to run on my hardware (amd sempron, sis laptop chipset (getting everything to work WELL will be a different story, hehe). I'm trying to install to my external usb drive, using the tech-recipie guide.

 

Everything seems to be going smooth till I try to boot from the drive. When I do, I get a black screen w/ a dash and a blinking cursor underneath it. I've searched the forums (and googled), and haven't really had any luck finding a solution...I'm sure I'm missing something.

 

I've tried two different versions of the image file, no luck, and if I boot (via live cd) into linux, I can see all the os x files on the imaged partition.

 

The one thing I HAVEN'T checked is whether or not this machine will boot usb drive with something I know will work...ubuntu, perhaps. Sounds like a project to get started on.

 

Any other suggestions? Thanks!