[G4] booting options with failed hard drive?

[Eric Wood]

Am Dec 4, 2007 um 6:45 PM schrieb YOUR FRIEND, CHRIS:

> hi-
> i have a gigabit ethernet with an owc mercury fw external hd. i am  
> using a non apple keyboard. i made a clone which it will boot from  
> if selected in systems preferences - but will NOT boot by holding  
> down option key at startup, because startup manager isn't supported  
> by the non apple keyboard {i tested with an apple keyboard and it  
> went right to startup manager}.
>
> i don't want to use an apple keyboard. when the internal drive does  
> fail, is there any other way to boot from the external drive? i'm  
> currently on os 10.2.8 with 9.2 also on clone.
>
> also; i would like to back up my installation discs in case they  
> get lost or damaged. can i just drag their images onto the external  
> drive to have a full - and - bootable copy of the os?
> if so, do it put it on the clone partition of the fw drive?
>
> thank you for all your replies.
>
It seems that some third-party keyboards don't get along with open  
firmware, but I know of at least one that does. I have a Logitech  
Internet 350, which is a simple, inexpensive one with a few media  
keys. In OS X 10.4.11, the play/pause, volume up/down and mute all  
work. So, get that or another keyboard that's happy with your Mac and  
you'll be fine.

Eric