Back up drive will not boot

[sue_l]

Hi all!

Backing up my system drive to external (OWC) drive... it's worked in the past; however this time although it shows up as a bootable drive when I restart my computer (option + power), it only gets as far as the grey Apple screen and then the system just hangs.

1st attempt was as a Smart Update... then tried Erase, then copy option... then erased the entire drive via Disk Utility and tried Erase/copy option again. All to no avail.

Again, the drive does show up as a bootable drive, it just simply won't complete the boot process.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance!

-- Sue

[dnanian]

Well, try the "Backup boots but all applications crash" fix pinned at the top of this forum, Sue. Let's see if that helps.

[sue_l]

Well, try the "Backup boots but all applications crash" fix pinned at the top of this forum, Sue. Let's see if that helps.
Thanks Dave... but I'm wondering if the same fix applies if I'm still running Tiger?

-- Sue

[dnanian]

Ah, no, it doesn't (you didn't mention you were using Tiger). Perhaps try renaming the backup drive to the *same* name as the source drive before starting up from it?

[sue_l]

Hmm... well, I can try that... but somehow I thought it was inadvisable to give two drives the same name.

Sorry I neglected to mention Tiger in my original email... I'm finally getting around to installing Leopard, but don't want to do it until I make sure that I have a working backup of my system drive.

I suppose that it could be a drive problem... I just haven't had any issues with the OWC drives (or SuperDuper, of course) before.

Thanks.

[dnanian]

Well, in this case we're trying it under controlled circumstances to determine if that might be the problem...

[cfb22]

My backup does not boot, either...but I don't even see it as a bootable option in StartUp Disk preferences. The drive is an EZQuest. Am I correct that Shirt Pocket has said that only OWC drives are "pretty much" guaranteed to make bootable backups? If so, why? (Yes, I told SuperDuper to back up all files, not just my user, so it should have a complete copy of the drive, I believe.)
Carol

[dnanian]

Your problem, Carol, is very likely that the drive is mispartitioned (or, possibly, is a USB drive on a Power PC Mac -- I can't tell). The FAQ about drives that won't boot will likely prove helpful -- see "Help > Frequently Asked Questions" inside SD.

[dnanian]

Your problem, Carol, is very likely that the drive is mispartitioned (or, possibly, is a USB drive on a Power PC Mac -- I can't tell). The FAQ about drives that won't boot will likely prove helpful -- see "Help > Frequently Asked Questions" inside SD.

[Papa Art]

The FAQ about drives that won't boot will likely prove helpful -- see "Help > Frequently Asked Questions" inside SD.

An excerpt from your response to an FAQ inside SD: "The most important thing is to have an Oxford-based FireWire bridge chipset. Prolific and Initio "Oxford compatible" chipsets often have problems with OSX, both when copying and trying to boot."

My question, then, is how/where to tell which bridge my enclosure has? I have been unable to find that information in any documentation or online.

[BTW, I would have responded within the FAQ but was denied that ability -- do I need to do something else with my membership in order to do so?]

Thanks!

[dnanian]

In general terms, the drives we recommend have true Oxford chipsets. Contacting the manufacturer can also provide this information.