Mac OS X on x86 Hardware 2008–2024 Technical Archive
InfiniteMac OSx86 › OSx86 Core & 10.X › Would this work
5,256 reads · 2009-05-21 – 2009-05-22
Note 10.X Core

Would this work

Instead of installing a osx86 distro to my harddrive could i buy a 16 gig USB and install and boot it from there ? I was googling around and i think theres a way to do it by downloading and buring the .iso to a dvd, insert your USB and…

Primary Author
@Ryoukii Published 2009-05-21
Collection
OSx86 Core & 10.X
Archival Footprint
5,256 historical reads · 2 curated field notes (from 5 dispatches) · 2009-05-21 – 2009-05-22
Credited Voices (3)
@Ryoukii (3)@thorazine74@MoC

Instead of installing a osx86 distro to my harddrive could i buy a 16 gig USB and install and boot it from there ?
I was googling around and i think theres a way to do it by downloading and buring the .iso to a dvd, insert your USB and then boot from the dvd and install the same way you would normally but install it to the usb and it will install to the USB and be able to boot from it ?
this is the tutorial i saw pcwiz computer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=32
Can i do this with any distro or is there a particular one ?
And will i still have my windows bootloader if i do this ?

Author Updates & Technical Revisions

Follow-up dispatches by @Ryoukii

Author Update #1 @Ryoukii 2009-05-22

Thanks man.Does anyone know since iDeneb has charmeleon has a deafult bootloader so if i install iDeneb on my USB i wonder would it overwrite the windows booloader on my harddrive or just have the charmenleon bootloader on the USB ?

Author Update #2 @Ryoukii 2009-05-22
Yes it would work, I've done it before. Works with any distro, and doesn't touch your internal HDD's MBR.

Brillant thanks for clearing that up. Il download a distro as soon as the leopard Vmware image finishes

Synthesized Community Field Notes

2 technical responses curated from 5 original dispatches

Field Note #1 @thorazine74 2009-05-22

You should be able to do that, you would need to repartition your USB Drive so it has an MBR or GUID style partition setup, by default most drives dont come like that.
It can be done from OS X Disk Utility or using a third party tool like Parted Magic.
Dont know about the distros but they should not touch the harddrive bootloader if you are installing to a USB disk but I havent tested this. In doubt you can always disable the disk before doing the installation.

Field Note #2 @MoC 2009-05-22 ↳ Re: @Ryoukii
@RyoukiiInstead of installing a osx86 distro to my harddrive could i buy a 16 gig USB and install and boot it from there ? I was googling around and i think theres a way to do it by downloading and buring the .iso to a dvd, insert your USB and then boot from the dvd and install the same way you would normally but install it to the usb and it…

Yes it would work, I've done it before. Works with any distro, and doesn't touch your internal HDD's MBR.

Sources & Contributor Provenance (3 credited usernames · Thread #2943)
UsernameDossier ContributionDispatchesActive Window
@RyoukiiPrimary Author32009-05-21 → 2009-05-22
@thorazine74Contributor12009-05-22
@MoCContributor12009-05-22