

Run OS X from a USB Drive - patrickk
http://lifehacker.com/5739259/how-to-create-a-portable-hackintosh-on-a-usb-thumb-drive

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Groxx
I have a feeling they're doing things entirely incorrectly.

1) this is for Hackintoshes (should be in the title here, but isn't), and it
uses a 10.6.2 hackintosh distribution, not your standard install disks.

2) they're using CopyCatX, a drive duplicator, instead of the disk utility.
Does this matter?

3) CopyCatX is a $60 piece of software, though it shows it in what appears to
be the disk image containing the portable 10.6.2 image... I wonder if this
could be construed as supporting piracy.

4) If you're running on Mac hardware, you can just install to an external
drive of any type, or image your drive to another, and it all works happily.
CopyCatX isn't necessary there, why would it be necessary for copying a disk
image in another case? It's an _image_.

~~~
Zev
_2) they're using CopyCatX, a drive duplicator, instead of the disk utility.
Does this matter?_

It matters; Disk Utility doesn't create a bootable image.

~~~
borism
it doesn't matter

 _$ man bless_

~~~
Zev
It matters because you need the extra step and the article didn't mention
doing so. Not that there isn't a way around it.

~~~
Groxx
Actually, it does:

> _Hit Options and make sure you're using the Master Boot Record option. Then
> hit Apply to format the drive._

~~~
Zev
That doesn't say anything about making a bootable partition. Just that it
involves the MBR (rather than EFI, which Mac uses by default), somewhere.

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aristus
Hey, cool. I used a thumbdrive as my primary Mac for a few months in 2009:

[http://carlos.bueno.org/2009/12/soul-of-portable-
machine.htm...](http://carlos.bueno.org/2009/12/soul-of-portable-machine.html)

It was pretty nice, not having to lug a machine around. But there were enough
minor annoyances that I gave up. I think eventually your computer will be an
image you carry around on your phone.

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thought_alarm
Short version:

    
    
        % sudo ditto -VX / /Volumes/My\ USB\ Drive

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xentronium
It's not that easy to launch a hackintosh. And to launch a _snow leo_
hackintosh from a _USB stick_ means to take your experience to a whole new
level of pain.

I'm fairly certain you should not try this if you value your time and aren't
going to use this with a mac. And if latter applies, you don't need that guide
at all, effectively rendering whole article pointless.

YMMV.

~~~
alnayyir
Tried to insist that I'd been there done that with Hackintoshes to a kid that
saw me in the hostel lobby using my macbook and that it wasn't worth my time
to fuck around. (Only reason I'm not using Arch or FreeBSD) He didn't seem to
'get it'.

Maybe it's a contractor thing, I don't know.

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NiloParedes
Has anyone one found a solution for older Macs not running on Intel? I've been
successfully with a firewire external HD but not a USB key. (The machine could
still be useful with a USB.)

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adolph
I'm trying to imagine why anyone would find this useful. Does anyone have any
idea?

~~~
watchandwait
I would love to be able to build my own PC that runs OSX.

~~~
jacquesm
No need to, they sell them at the apple stores.

~~~
bane
Not the "build my own PC" part.

~~~
jacquesm
If you want to stay legal and use OS/X you'll have to forego that part.

That's not how I would like to see things but that is how Apple wants you to
use their software, and if you abide by their terms of service that is how you
should use it.

That you _ought_ to be free from such restrictions is something that I agree
with but if it were ok to run OS/X on 'foreign' (i.e. non apple) hardware then
the apple clone factories would spring up like so many mushrooms.

And I'd expect that to not just be limited to the mac and OS/X but to be
applied to Ios in a heartbeat.

Apple has chosen not to license their software separate from their hardware
and that is their right. So it becomes our right to either buy apple hardware
or to go elsewhere.

~~~
bane
Apple licensed OSX to clone makers in the past, but that was one of the first
things Jobs put a stop to if I recall correctly. There's a strong thread in
Apple's strategy to prevent computing from becoming a low margin commodity.
This helps Apple with its image of high-end or well-crafted devices, increases
profit etc. Which is a smart move if you don't own the entire market (but can
differentiate yourself from your competitors)

Apple was profitable before the iOS devices hit and much of that was due to
this kind of smart thinking. It reminds me of Nintendo, who, despite not
dominating the market, still manages to be quite profitable (especially
compared to their competitors) with a very similar strategy.

Letting anybody build any ol' system willy nilly would cannibalize Apple's
profits, plus give them quite a bit more work since ensuring drive
compatibility with random hardware would become a major priority.

As a user I think it sucks, but I have to respect that as a business strategy.

~~~
hxa7241
> As a user I think it sucks, but I have to respect that as a business
> strategy.

No, I do not think _respect_ is quite what it deserves. It does not flow from
their capability, but from particular exploitation of given laws that allow
market restriction. Respect them for making good products, not for avoiding
competition. Respect them for persuading you to buy _their_ products, not for
preventing you from having more choice.

~~~
evilduck
I've ran a hackintosh since 10.4 and I've never seen Apple do anything to
actively prevent users from doing it or pursue anyone for a non-commercial
EULA violation. They stop resellers like Psystar, and they've broken a few
things which appeared to be ancillary to moving their own products forward
(Atom CPUs), but they could be far more annoying about it every point release
if they really felt like it. Early on, they also needlessly released a few fat
binary hardware drivers for ethernet, sound, and wifi devices that have never
been bundled in a real Intel Mac.

Apple certainly has the means to stop it, but I don't think they mind the
fringe hackers running OSX. I've seen a few people converted by it, and I own
a few real Macs plus the hackintosh as well, and I suspect most people who
hackintosh are Apple customers of some degree. Getting stuffy about it could
be pretty damaging to their perceived good will.

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hackermom
This is for "hackintosh" setups, just to point out. Mach/OS X itself, on a
real machine, actually treats all block devices identically - without hacking
around, you can boot a Mac off of anything, be it a USB stick, a harddrive
attached over USB or FireWire, even booting one Mac from another Mac's
internal storage by directly linking the two via FireWire (so-called Target
Mode).

~~~
GeneralMaximus
I've successfully installed Snow Leopard from a USB drive. You can also
install it _to_ a USB/FireWire drive. If you're particularly adventurous, you
can put the installer on a partition of an external USB/FireWire drive and,
from there, install it to a partition of _another_ USB/FireWire drive.

You will, of course, need a Mac to do all that. In some cases you might also
need a working OS X install.

EDIT: I realize everything I mentioned above is possible with a Linux distro,
but doing this is far easier on a Mac. You just go to System Preferences,
select a boot volume and you're good to go.

