Asus G73jh - boot from a WD external Hd

[gnegno]

Hi everybody,

i'm quite a noob around here...so please have patience

I've read different posts (expecially the one related to my notebook here "G73jh 100% working") but i havn't found the solution to my problem. I need to install osx on an external usb drive due to the fact that either my internal hdd drives are full of data.

So i've bought a new WD External Usb 3.0 (2.0 compatible, and, in fact, connected on a 2.0 USB port) hdd and i've tried to install OSX on it, following the informations on the post i've linked before.

 

I've managed to install Osx on the ext hdd using [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] (with Chimera 1.4.1) placed on a thumb USB drive with the dumped retail disk image on it (i've done that because the only osx dvd's that i've are the ones of my brother's mac book pro...that during install says "You cannot install Osx on this computer...", so i've asked to a friend his retail dvd's dump and i've put it on an usb drive).

 

The problems starts after the installation. I'm triyng to boot from the freshly installed OSX (from the WD external hd) but [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] refuses to start or to recognize the external hd! I've also tried using an [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD (not the usb thumb), without any luck.

So i've checked some of the bios'settings and i've discovered that this WD hdd has some strange bios behaviour...in the boot menu i've found an Hdd bootable entry (WD My Passport) and a Floppy Drive one (WD SES Device 1015). So i've decided to try different combinations of those two elements...without any luck...

These are all the tests i've made (consider that i've removed the G73jh's two internal hdds), with the Bios set-up used for each test:

 

With the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD

 

1)

+Boot Order:

- DVD

- Wd My Passport

 

+ WD Ses Device entry enabled

+ Result: [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] freeze at startup, with this error: Memory allocation error Addr= 0xDEADBEEF

 

2)

+Boot Order:

- DVD

- Wd My Passport

 

+ WD Ses Device entry disabled

+ Result: [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] starts, but it doesn't recognize my ext hd (no icon on the boot menu, even after plugging and unplugging, then hitting F10)

 

3)

+Boot Order:

- DVD

- Wd Ses Device 1015

 

+ WD My Passport HD entry disabled

+ Result: like in test 1

 

+Boot Order:

- DVD

- Wd Ses Device 1015

 

+ WD My Passport HD entry enabled

+ Result: like in test 2

 

 

With the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] USB thumb drive

Same as before, but the difference is that

[url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] freeze before the boot menu while saying "Mounting: done!"

or

It doesn't recognize the ext hdd.

 

The strange thing is that if i boot from the thumb USB drive (so i can get to the OSX install program) i can clearly see the wd ext hdd...

 

Other two notes are that

- it tooks some time (order of 5-10 extra seconds) to go on after the bios screen if i have the external hdd drive plugged in the usb port.

- sometimes i lose the possibility to enter in the bios setup even if i've repeatedly pressed the canc button on the keyboard

 

Finally, i have the 209 Bios version (with an updated vbios, v012),

Can anyone please tell me where i'm making mistakes? Am i'm trying to do something that is strange or impossible? But from what i've read around some people has already tried and installed osx on an external hdd...

Thanks to anyone for the help (even a simple link will be very appreciated), and sorry for the long post and the bad english

[gnegno]

Ok...i've tried resolving my way...i've managed to install osx using my desktop pc where, luckily, the external hd was read without any issues.

I've installed the 10.6.7 combo update, [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] ([url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]) and chameleon with it's prefpane (anyway, what's the main differences between chameleon and chimera?) as written in the G73jh post, but i've made a mistake...i've tried to open the chameleon prefpane before logging out (as requested) and the os went bananas

So i've rebooted using the pc's reset button but, from then, if i connect the usb external hd, wheter is on my notebook or on the desktop pc, the system freeze. If i left it connected while turning on the pc, it just doens't go beyond the ram check...what's happened?!?

Could it be a problem with the GUID partitioning scheme and my pc's? Or it's just a broken boot record caused by the reset?

Anybody has some info?

Thx to all =)

[gnegno]

I'm talking all alone in this post =) Anyway, for future reference and to help anyone who has a similar issue, i've discovered a truly excellent page that manages to explain the problem related to the legacy bios and usb problems.

 

http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/bios.html

 

Particularly, i've used the first method described in the "Sticking with the bios" section, using linux and fdisk.

I've successfully corrected the problem that was affecting my usb-hd and now i can boot again using this.

Hope that helps