[andreas_g4]

Since I'm on a tight (and I mean really very über tight) budget but needed storage I bought a cheap 200 GB USB 2.0 HD (120,- €). I realized that booting is not possible via USB 2.0. That is not a main concern, since HD hardware failures are pretty rare. If my system screws up, I can boot from DVD, format the drive and mirror from the backup. But what I want to know is wheather this is due to technical reasons or indtended by Apple to push Firewire. Anyone?

[tooki]

Considering that OS 9-capable Macs can boot OS 9 from USB*, I doubt there's anything in the hardware or firmware prohibiting it. It appears to me that the OS X bootloader simply hasn't been written to support USB. Frankly, someone outside Apple could probably do it, since at that point, it's still entirely Darwin, for which the code is available.

tooki

*As with FireWire booting, USB booting works only on AGP Macs.

[andreas_g4]

Thanks. I guess I'll keep my USB 2 HD then, 'cause booting is not too improtant for me and a FW+USB2 drive would cost 30-40 € more... And while Frewire speed would be better, the USB solution is plenty fast enough for my occassional storage/backup purposes.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Since Apple is now shipping all iPods with USB and not firewire I don' think it is political reasons.