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72 Comments
- inagoodcause, on 11/10/2009, -4/+21This seem like a useful tool. An informative submission.
- milesmparker, on 11/10/2009, -2/+14nice - doesn't seem to complicated and seems pretty practical to have a bootable rescue SD card
- tidu, on 11/11/2009, -0/+11Body heat in a pocket should be nowhere near how hot Macbook Pros get....
- moolfs, on 11/10/2009, -2/+11Makes me wish I had a newer Mac! This seems like a solid backup
- swicken, on 11/11/2009, -8/+17I've had a bootable USB key backup/recovery tools for my PC for a long time. I didn't know using flash storage as recovery/backup was a new concept.
- aychseven, on 11/11/2009, -0/+9meh, those types are usually a pain to eject though
- pwarnock, on 11/10/2009, -1/+10Wow. How do SD cards hold up with body heat? This could truly be stored in a wallet.
- swicken, on 11/11/2009, -0/+8I don't get what people are burying me for. I wasn't trying to bash macs, I just was wondering why this is news and why people are reacting like it's a big thing. I had thought you could use a USB stick to boot on OSX. The only time I ever use a mac is when my brother brings his over and I briefly need to look something up on the net.
- MMusick, on 11/10/2009, -0/+7Not sure about body heat. Doubt it would be enough to affect it. Really, SD cards are so affordable you should probably have a backup ready to go if one gets messed up.
- tacojohn48, on 11/11/2009, -0/+7The reason companies don't use flush insert SD slot is that the ejection mechanisms are prone to failure.
- StevieJanowski, on 11/10/2009, -2/+9awesome play by apple who doesn't want a bootable sd slot
- macslut, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6@swicken,
Yes, for many years you could do this. It was doable on the Mac platform before Windows.
"So basically all they did was ease restrictions on carrying bootable data on a flash card?"
No. For many years you've been able to clone the installer disc to any media such as flash cards, external drives, thumb drives, DVDs etc... It's been possible for years. Likewise, you can install OS X on a flash card, external drive, thumb drive, etc... You can also connect a second Mac (Mac B) up to your Mac (Mac A) via FireWire and boot Mac A from Mac B. Hell you could even RAID multiple flash cards together to form a bootable drive off of separate buses, including PCI if you were so inclined. There's been no easing of restrictions, as there haven't been any restrictions in regards to this. Instead what Apple has done is sit idly by while Maclife posted an article stating the obvious. I'm sure it's even in Apple documentation somewhere.
That being said, I think the reason why this is getting some traction here is that for years either Flash was too small or too expensive to use for this in a practical way. When USB powered portable drives came out, they were too big and too expensive. Now you can carry around a 16GB card for cheap. It's small and can contain the installer, backed up files and even installers for other applications like MS Office. This article speaks to people who just haven't been in the position to think about this or think it through. There's nothing new here. - philoking, on 11/11/2009, -4/+10That's awesome, I would like to personally thank Steve Jobs for keeping the SD slot off my brand new 17" Macbook Pro cause I guess there wasn't enough room or the little slot was an eyesore. Douche.
- blorc, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6What the ***** is with these ***** comments?
"Dang! What a great helpful option!"
Really? REALLY? - MarkMontoya, on 11/10/2009, -1/+6Dang! What a great helpful option!
- CaptObvious, on 11/11/2009, -2/+7This is talking about SD cards, not USB thumbdrives.
- CB810, on 11/10/2009, -1/+6Thank goodness for those SD card slots. That will certainly come in handy...
- soopafly, on 11/11/2009, -2/+7Call me when your real OS can run Adobe CS4 and Final Cut Pro.
- macslut, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4Even as a Mac fanboi, I'm embarrassed by this post, and every comment on it except yours. Really, where have you people been the last 5+ years?
- mrBitch, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4RE: " .. for many years you could do this. It was doable on the Mac platform before Windows."
Yeah, but when PC users finally get it, they don't know that Macs were able to do this for years.
Most Windows users have never used OS X.
Most OS X users HAVE used Windows.
You can see which group of users are able to compare and contrast the real differences, and which group of users are mainly ignorant of any platform besides the one they are using. - titoelgato, on 11/10/2009, -3/+7Hells yes.
- CaptObvious, on 11/11/2009, -5/+8It's probably for the people who install windows....
- Drithyin, on 11/11/2009, -8/+11Why would you need to backup anything?
I thought they "just worked"? - formfactor, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2You can build a bootable OS X Install disc based USB drive.
- swicken, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2Then complain to dell about your bios restrictions.
- CaptObvious, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2@swicken, Who made your laptop? AFAIK, my Dell XPS 1340 won't boot from the SD slot. That's why I was trying to help you with the distinction.
- macslut, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2@ Swicken,
Look back at how this thread started in the first place. It started with "I've had a bootable USB key backup/recovery tools for my PC for a long time. I didn't know using flash storage as recovery/backup was a new concept."
So now you're asking "Why does this always have to be a competition?" and stating "***** mac users have a superiority complex."
Sorry, but this was just an article about using and SD card and cloning the installer disc or installing OS X on it to boot Macs. I'm not sure why, upon reading the title, you decided to come in and post what you did, unless....
And in this one area, yes, Macs are superior...any way you look at this.
1) First to implement - by years
2) More options
3) Consistency - This works on any Mac that can mount a SD by any means (USB, slot, ExpressCard, PCI, FireWire).
So when you come into a Mac focused article on Digg and post a comment about PCs being able to do something and how it's not a new concept, don't be surprised when the responses bitch slap you by showing that Macs did it first and do it better.
Oh, and:
http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/12/install-windows-x ... - CaptObvious, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2Well that might be the difference then. Perhaps my SD card slot is connected to the mainboard on my laptop in some other way than USB....
- swicken, on 11/11/2009, -2/+4IT HAS TO LOOK LIKE A CYLON SPACECRAFT!
All seamless and alluminumy. - scorpioX, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2Or buy a 16GB USB stick instead. They work exactly the same.
There's nothing special about the install procedure in the article. It's the same used to install on any disk attached to OS X. (Unless you are a newb, then the info about how to deselect printer drivers and such might be useful.) - MtheoryX, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2ITT: Trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls...
- macslut, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2So spend the $19.95 on the ExpressCard:
http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_read ...
I have one and it works great. The best part is that if you really are a PRO, you're better off with the ExpressCard slot since it can work with other things like eSATA, 3G Wireless, Gigabit Ethernet (for secondary networking), FireWire, GPS and any other type of flash card...MMC, Compact Flash, Memory Stick Duo, etc... - danielwsmithee, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2The SD card reader is attached via USB. There is no difference between an SD Card and USB thumb drive to the Mac or OS X.
Very useful but you could always do the same thing with a USB drive. - tacojohn48, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2That is the only thing I don't love about my Mac Book.
- tacojohn48, on 11/11/2009, -6/+8I have never had a major crash in about 2 years of use. Can you say that about your first 2 years with Windows?
- swicken, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1It's still flash memory. Storage accessed in the same way.
If you want I can change what I said in the first place. Pretend I have an SD Card reader attached via usb with an SD card in it. My PC sees it the same. Huzzah!
Your point isn't valid but uninformed people are digging you up.
And still no one has answered my question. - ssttuu, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Could you get a 64GB SD Card and use it as the main hard drive? Then I could take all my data with me. Use any Mac with my Home directory and apps all there?
- BossKey, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2with cheese they are
- wilhoitm, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1There are things called Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Alien Invasions, Nuclear Wars that your Mac cannot protect you from so in these cases you may need a rescue SD card!
- mrBitch, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2@ Drithyin, RE: " .. Why would you need to backup anything?
I thought they "just worked"?
You believe that hard drive failures only occur on PC hardware?
Are you an idiot? - sekander94, on 11/15/2009, -0/+1But ... Macs never break!
/s - mrBitch, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1While this is a nice article... something like this is really only required for PCs running Windows or Linux...
OS X does not need this, since you can boot into target disk mode on any Mac or MacBook. - MtheoryX, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1You can run Final Cut Pro via Wine? Bloody amazing. /s
- hoodedrobin, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Yeah you can also do this with a USB flashdrive, for the same price or less on any mac (including my hackintosh)
- SteveMax, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1When did Apple release Final Cut Pro for Windows?
- MtheoryX, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Oven in Nazi Germany * should be nowhere near how hot Macbook Pros get....
- mrBitch, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1@ scorpioX, RE: " .. Or buy a 16GB USB stick instead. They work exactly the same.
There's nothing special about the install procedure in the article. It's the same used to install on any disk attached to OS X. (Unless you are a newb, then the info about how to deselect printer drivers and such might be useful.) "
Good point. - MtheoryX, on 11/11/2009, -1/+21) SD cards aren't as large as 64 GB
2) Using that kind of flash memory for the OS is a dumb idea.
3) Your apps aren't in your Home directory, and the support files can potentially be in one of several different locations.
tl;dr This isn't the truly portable home directory you're looking for - doshindude, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2@tacojohn48
Actually, I can say that. My XP install on my desktop is rock solid. -
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