Clone only OS X

[Mike1]

I want to clone only OS X from my MacBook Pro.

- How can I do it with SuperDuper without erasing any data in my external drive?

Then I want to boot from an external drive.

- Can the external drive be formatted with GUID or APM partition scheme to boot with Intel Mac?

- Please give me some good requirements for a bootable external drive working with a laptop: FW/USB2/SATA?

Thanks

[dnanian]

Only OSX? It's really hard to know what that includes. What are you trying to accomplish?

The external drive can be either GUID or APM. External drives should, in general, be of high quality and based on a TRUE Oxford chipset. SATA/eSATA, though, I don't know... you'd have to check with the manufacturer to see if it's supposed to be bootable.

[Mike1]

Sorry my bad explanation.

- I tried to make a clone of my MBP's HD with a known program to an external drive and I can select the system in startup prefs but my Mac boots only from the HD even if I press at "option" key. Bad clone?

- "The external drive can be either GUID or APM." It's good news for me. Can I be sure that SuperDuper makes a clone in my "old" external FW drive with one partion APM schem formatted working with my Intel Mac?

- May I choose "New Copy Script/Scripts Command/Add Item ... select all itens OS X related? Or is it better "Backup all files" and this is a backup or a clone too?

- SATA because the speed. A bootable FW drive is slower than internal HD?

[dnanian]

Your copy might be bad, your external might be partitioned wrong, or it might be an incompatible drive. What brand/model of drive is it?

I don't understand the second question.

You should always use "Backup - all files" to create a full bootable copy... but your previous question implied you have other files on there. You don't need to create a copy script to do it... again, not quite sure what you're asking.

A bootable FW might be a little slower than the internal, but not a lot. I'd certainly stuck with FW for now if you've got one, unless you're certain that a SATA is bootable.

[Mike1]

My second question is:

Someone told me that my first clone doesn't work because my drive is APM and I should reformat it to a GUID partition scheme "to use the disk to start up an Intel based Mac".

- If I repeat the clone with SuperDuper to my external drive (LaCie Big Disk USB/FW) with one partition APM scheme formatted can I be sure that it will be a bootable drive with my Intel Mac?

- If so, I will try once with SD but I don't want to repeat the clone of Apps and Users folders already copied in my first backup. Ignoring them with a script command is not recommended?

[dnanian]

Your LaCie should boot as long as your drive is APM or GUID. But "should" doesn't guarantee it'll work: for example, some drives don't spin up quickly enough during boot to work as easily as they should.

If you use SD!'s Smart Update, it won't re-copy things that are already copied. So just use "Backup - all files" with Smart Update. NOTE, though, that any files on the drive that ARE NOT on the source will be removed...

[Mike1]

>Your LaCie should boot as long as your drive is APM or GUID.
Ok. I want to believe it: Is not mandatory the partition schemes to use the drive with Intel Mac.
(in Disk Utility/Partition/Options/GUID there is a note saying the contrary).

>But "should" doesn't guarantee it'll work: for example, some drives don't spin up quickly enough during boot to work as easily as they should.
This may be the problem. I will contact LaCie about the "spin up" namely.

I ask you for drives exactly for the speed because I can see my actual drive is not fast enough with FW or USB2 connetions.

I don't want to buy a drive with a bad spin up.

I'll pay attention to your SD instructions.

[dnanian]

Internal drives need to be GUID, yes. But externals work as APM.

Sometimes, spin-up can be fixed simply by sitting at the Option-boot screen and refreshing over and over until the drive comes up...

[Mike1]

Thank you for your help.

I'll contact the drives manufacturers.

If externals work as APM I'll use it for PPC and Intel Macs clones in different partitions.

I'll try SD and I hope to have a dual bootable drive in the next days.