Vsquared Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Has anyone tried installing leopard on an external drive and booting it on a different machine then they installed from? Is this even possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 you can generally boot any Mac OS installation on any machine which supports that version of Mac OS X (for the same processor architecture). Ie you could install to a USB drive on a MacBook and boot it on a Mac Pro, or install to a Firewire drive on a Power Mac G5 and boot it on an iBook G4. Note that (afaik) Intel macs can boot from USB but not firewire (anyone confirm this?) whereas PPC macs are the other way round - can boot from FireWire but not USB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vernie's garden Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 you can generally boot any Mac OS installation on any machine which supports that version of Mac OS X (for the same processor architecture). Ie you could install to a USB drive on a MacBook and boot it on a Mac Pro, or install to a Firewire drive on a Power Mac G5 and boot it on an iBook G4. Note that (afaik) Intel macs can boot from USB but not firewire (anyone confirm this?) whereas PPC macs are the other way round - can boot from FireWire but not USB. Intel macs can boot from both USB and Firewire as PPC can only boot from firewire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsquared Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 So I can't go from a G4 to a C2D then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor_C Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Nope. Completely different processor architecture and partition maps. Intel Macs use GUID where as PPC machines use the Apple Partition Map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsquared Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 Figures... Alright! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcat Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Note that (afaik) Intel macs can boot from USB but not firewire (anyone confirm this?) whereas PPC macs are the other way round - can boot from FireWire but not USB. As a previous poster said, and I can confirm, my Macbook Pro can boot from Firewire or USB external disks, as long as they are formatted as GUID Partition Table. My Powerbook G4 can boot from an external Firewire drive, as long as it is formatted as Apple Partition Map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsquared Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 So I should be able to install onto a USB from my G4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackShadowWolf Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Im almost positive Intel Macs can boot off Apple Partition Map as the Tiger Install dvd is that format. The only thing is Boot Camp will not work if your internal drive is APM. So in theory you can install Leopard from the dvd to a Firewire drive thats formated APM and boot both types of machines. You can boot off USB 2.0 on a PPC machine, but it requires changing Open Firmware variables. For those who want USB Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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