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Moving USB HDD install to SATA HDD

mactester

By mactester,
in OSx86 10.4 (Tiger)

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mactester
mactester
Posted
Posted

Hello everyone!

 

Could you please help me with this one, if what is described below is possible at all.

 

The only way I can install OSx86 on my laptop is to install it on an external USB HDD, since my two SATA disks (not in RAID) are not seen by OSx86 installer.

 

Now, for some reason I cannot boot to OSx86 on USB, after it has been installed there.

 

So what I did, is that I've formatted my whole second SATA disk to HFS+, using "Mediafour MacDrive", and have copied all that has been installed onto my USB disk (by OSx86 installer) to SATA HFS+ disk.

 

So now, on C: SATA disk I have Windows, and on D: SATA disk I have OSx86 files.

 

To boot OSx86, I have tried to copy "chain0" file to root of C: disk, and have added this line to the end of boot.ini - C:\chain0="Mac OS x86"

 

But I could not boot OSx86 - "Chain booting error".

 

Would anyone please tell me, what do I need to, to be able to boot OSx86.

 

Thank you!

 

To add, during "Customized" OSx86 install, I have chosen to install SATA drivers.

supernovafan
supernovafan
Posted
Posted (edited)

I had a similar situation on my Dell. Your first problem is booting into OS X. I fixed this by changing the boot order on the system BIOS, setting USB to boot before my SATA drives and installing OS X on the first partition on the USB drive.

 

So assuming that you can boot into OS X on the USB drive. To fix the SATA issue, you have to do some research and find out what SATA controller you have on your computer. Then come back to this forum and do a search to figure out if it's supported and for instructions on how to get it working. Once you have this resolved, you should be able to "see" your SATA drives under the disk utility, even though you booted off the USB drive.

 

At this point you should be able to copy your OS X partition to the SATA drive. I used Acronis Disk Director and I copied it to the first partition on my second SATA drive (just to keep the drive geometry the same) and I also use Acronis to boot into OS X (you can Google for instructions on how to do this).

 

Anyway, I really can't be more specific without any details on your hardware. Coincidentally, If you're using a Dell XPS 400, let me know and I'll post more detailed instructions on what I did.

 

BTW... I believe the SATA option on the customized install is only necessary if you have a particular type of SATA controller (I cant remember which off the top of my head). I have an Intel based controller on my PC and didn't need to select this.

Edited by supernovafan
mactester
mactester
Posted
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I have now used Acronis Disk Director to copy USB install onto SATA disk (on VIA controller), instead of my previous OSx86 copy method, and it worked now!

 

Only I could not get past the 1st screen with the Apple logo and the running circle at the bottom of the screen, but at least that's a start, and guess I need to try different customized installations, to find the right one for me.

comune
comune
Posted
Posted

High, I'm interested in trying to install OS x86 on a usb HDD, just because I can't succeed in installing it on my laptop HDD (basically because the disk utility only permits me to partion the whole HDD, and not the specific partition i had created to install OS X).

 

So, the questions are:

 

will OSX work when installed on a usb HDD?

will Acronis selector be able to boot both XP and the OSX installed on the usb HDD?

 

Anyone experienced such a solution?

 

Thanks

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