macbook pro external hd boot

[matraf]

Hello,
I'm a macbook pro owner; i'm trying to get BT4 working on an external USB HD, but i'm not able to make it bootable. For the installation procedure I followed the video guide and i think to have done it correctly.

If I press the "alt" button on startup the only hd that appear is the internal mac os x hd....thus, following some guides found on the net, i tryed installing refit...now, on the startup page, i have 3 disk (one is my internal hd and the other two are for the 2 partitions (i think...) on the external hd (bt4 and casper))...in any case i wasn't able to boot...after some seconds of waiting the boot was interrupted with a list of error like:

Error: Not found while loading legacy loader
...

so, looking around on the net i found that i should run the gptsync tool..but after that nothing changed (but now i have a 4th disk in the startup page )

for the moment i removed refit...but now, if i press the alt button on startup (with no external hard drive connected) i have two disks...the first is the one of mac os and the other one is named "windows"...

i hope someone can help me...(and i'm sorry for my bad english)
thank you

[Gitsnik]

One supposes it doesn't count as double posting when you do it in English and otherwise, but don't do it again I think.

On with the show: First, if you are a Macbook owner, you can probably afford a copy of VMware Fusion 2 - which I recommend. There is no actual good idea to run BT as the main OS on a Macbook - OS X works better and, to be perfectly honest, the wifi chipset is generally a broadcom and thus unhelpful when you try to crack your neighbours network - so you need a USB wifi adaptor anyway.

If you still insist on installing it to the HDD without a Fusion option, we're going to need a bit more information - specifically what bootloader did you select, what formatting of the HDD did you choose and such.

If you cheated and split the HDD into [OSX]+[32GB_Windows] using bootcamp, you might actually be able to install BT that way, but I've never tried it and, well, see my first point.

If you are going to use something, look at Bootpicker. It only works with 1 OS X install, 1 Linux install and 1 Windows install (or mixes of the singulars), but it's a very simple tool to use - install it as a pref pane into OS X.

[Barry]

Compatible laptops are less than $100 on fleabay.

[ABQBY2]

You can use refit but I would also recommend using VirtualBox or VMWare or Fusion respectively.

The MacBookPro doesn't really work with Ubuntu. I've tried hard and gave up.

[matraf]

One supposes it doesn't count as double posting when you do it in English and otherwise, but don't do it again I think.

Ok, i'm sorry, i won't do it again

On with the show: First, if you are a Macbook owner, you can probably afford a copy of VMware Fusion 2 - which I recommend. There is no actual good idea to run BT as the main OS on a Macbook - OS X works better and, to be perfectly honest, the wifi chipset is generally a broadcom and thus unhelpful when you try to crack your neighbours network - so you need a USB wifi adaptor anyway.

i have a macbook PRO, not a macbook...i already installed bt4 on vmware fusion but it doesn't recognise my wifi airport card....the wifi chipset is an atheros, and i saw other guys on this forum saying that bt4 works perfectly on their macbook pro

If you still insist on installing it to the HDD without a Fusion option, we're going to need a bit more information - specifically what bootloader did you select, what formatting of the HDD did you choose and such.

i followed the backtrack-usb-install-video on offensive-security for the installation...
so, my fdisk /dev/sdb -p output is this one

   
Device     Boot      Start       End      Blocks       Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1         192     1542208+   b   W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb2             193        1498    10490445   83  Linux

the first partition is named "BT4" and the second one "casper-rw".

If you cheated and split the HDD into [OSX]+[32GB_Windows] using bootcamp, you might actually be able to install BT that way, but I've never tried it and, well, see my first point.

Never used bootcamp, nor i want to use it...

If you are going to use something, look at Bootpicker. It only works with 1 OS X install, 1 Linux install and 1 Windows install (or mixes of the singulars), but it's a very simple tool to use - install it as a pref pane into OS X.

Ok, i'll try it...but, with bootpicker is possible to boot also from an external usb HDD??

Thank you very much for the reply...

You can use refit but I would also recommend using VirtualBox or VMWare or Fusion respectively.

The MacBookPro doesn't really work with Ubuntu. I've tried hard and gave up.

This guy, in the italian subsection says:

MacBook PRO 15' 2.4GHz
Wireless card: AirPort Extreme
Working. Injection supported in monitor mode

Graphic card: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT
Working. 3d acceleration disabled by default.

other components seem to work properly...

the installer crashes

i would try to ask him how he did...but i can't send PMs

[Barry]

You can use refit but I would also recommend using VirtualBox or VMWare or Fusion respectively.

The MacBookPro doesn't really work with Ubuntu. I've tried hard and gave up.

It really depends on the model of MacBook. Some work better than others, but virtual machines and just using a normal windows based laptop are the best routes to take.

[ABQBY2]

Why that? Why should a Windows PC be better than any other OS hosting a VM? Really doesn't matter, if you use a Linux, Windows, OSX or whatever OS.

[Archangel-Amael]

Ok, i'm sorry, i won't do it again

This is your official warning. Do not double post use the edit button located in the bottom right hand corner of each and every one of your posts.
It is your responsibility to read/understand and follow the rules.

[Barry]

Why that? Why should a Windows PC be better than any other OS hosting a VM? Really doesn't matter, if you use a Linux, Windows, OSX or whatever OS.

I guess I worded that wrong. It doesn't matter if it's a mac or a windows computer hosting a virtual machine. Now backtrack support is a different issue. Some macs work better than others. Some will just plain refuse to boot linux in general.

i have a macbook PRO, not a macbook...i already installed bt4 on vmware fusion but it doesn't recognise my wifi airport card....the wifi chipset is an atheros, and i saw other guys on this forum saying that bt4 works perfectly on their macbook pro

Once again, if you're using a virtual machine it WILL NOT see your internal wifi card as a wireless adapter, unless you have one of those weird laptops that use an internal usb wifi card. Macs don't.

[ABQBY2]

Correct, Barry.

You can use the MacBookPro Wifi card, but it appears as a usual network card in the vm.