Could boot from Firewire... Can't now ?!?

[bigbod]

Hi,

I used SuperDuper! to do a full backup of my internal disk (120 Gb) to a Maxtor OneTouch III 500Gb FW400/USB2.0 drive. I tested that I could boot from the Maxtor (no problems).

I then replaced the internal drive with a new 200Gb Seagate 7200.2 drive, and partitioned it using disk utility (GUID).

Now, I cannot boot off the Maxtor. I can select it as the boot drive, but the grey screen icon just eventually changes to a circle\slash icon :(

Any ideas, I really don't want to pull apart the Macbook Pro again to put back in the old drive.

BTW, I did try a complete install of OS X (Tiger) using the original restore disks, and that worked fine, so I don't think it's an issue with the new internal Seagate drive.

Thanks
Rod

[dnanian]

Are you sure you really started up from the Maxtor the first time? It's possible it actually started from the internal.

In any case, I'd suggest using the "alternative" restore method in the User's Guide (using your DVD and Disk Utility). That should do it.

[bigbod]

Yeah, I'm reasonably sure it booted from the Maxtor (cause the order of HD icons was reversed).

Anyway, for a really silly question, how do I "drag" the disk/volumes in Disk Utility to define the source/destination disk/volumes?

Cheers
Rod

[dnanian]

If it was able to boot before, it certainly should boot now. But another option is to use the Migration Assistant (after the clean install) to migrate from the copy to the internal.

You should be able to use your mouse to drag the volumes; if it doesn't work, it's a bug in your Intel DVD -- see the Shirt Pocket Watch (http://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog) blog -- specifically search on "Intel Mac DVD" -- for a description of the issue and a workaround.

[bigbod]

That bug is tragic... well I'm simply doing a:

asr restore --source "/Volume/Macintosh Backup" --target "/Volume/Macintosh HD"

No options. Will that get me out of trouble?

Cheers
Rod

[dnanian]

It should!

[bigbod]

It seems to have worked, although I can see a few links on "Macintosh HD" that I couldn't previously (etc, tmp, var). I've done a Repair File Permissions using Disk Utility, but these remain ?!?

Otherwise, all seems good. MacBoook Pro feels much faster with new 7200 RPM disk.

Cheers
Rod

[dnanian]

An unfortunate although minor bug in Disk Utility... won't hurt anything (unless you delete them -- so don't)!

[bigbod]

For anyone interested, the solution to the visible files can be found here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301677.

Once again, thanks for your help. Your support is second to none !!!

Cheers
Rod

[dnanian]

Nice find, Rod! :)