[OmniX]

this may be a question that could be filed under the OS forum, but since it relates directly to external drives I thought I'd post here:

My question is can modern maces using the latest Tiger boot from external hard drives connected via the USB 2 interface?

I recall hearing a while ago that this was not the case, due to some limitation somewhere, but wonder if this has at all changed.

also, if indeed booting off USB2 devices is not possible, out of curiosity does anyone know why this is? is there some fundamental hardware limitation on current Macs? or is this a driver/OS issue, in which case Apple has been laggard in getting us an adequate USB2 implementation?

tx,
ox

[waffffffle]

Some Macs can USB boot, some can't. There is no official support for this so you have to just try out your Mac to see if it works.

[chefpastry]

Originally Posted by waffffffle

Some Macs can USB boot, some can't. There is no official support for this so you have to just try out your Mac to see if it works.

Have you done this before? On which model of Mac? How was it done? Did you choose it from System Preferences/Startup Disk or did you boot up holding the option key?

Thanks for the info!

[OmniX]

Originally Posted by waffffffle

Some Macs can USB boot, some can't. There is no official support for this so you have to just try out your Mac to see if it works.

thanks for the info, but can you be any more specific? For example, can you name any specific models which have been confirmed to possess USB2 booting capability?

[tooki]

Originally Posted by waffffffle

Some Macs can USB boot, some can't. There is no official support for this so you have to just try out your Mac to see if it works.

Yes and no: OS X cannot boot from a USB hard disk. (OS 9 can, on Macs with AGP graphics.)

tooki