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    Can a macbook pro boot from an express card?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Alchemist, Jul 16, 2009.

  1. Alchemist

    Alchemist Notebook Deity

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    I was thinking of setting up an XP environment on an express card and was wondering if a macbook pro (unibody, 15", last gen) could be configured to give the option to boot from the express card?
     
    Alchemist, Jul 16, 2009
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  2. irishhenshin

    irishhenshin Notebook Consultant

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    Apparently you can, as long as you partition the SSD as GUID.

    Here's a lot of information on it I found:

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=714310

    Sorry I don't have the time to read all of it,
    But I think basically if the read and write speeds match up and you partition it correctly, there should not be a problem.

    People have booted unbuntu off of an express card and as MAC OS is derived from UNIX there shouldn't be an issue. I've never done anything like this before though so sadly I don't have any hands on experience.
     
    irishhenshin, Jul 16, 2009
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  3. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    What kind of express card adaptor are you considering , I supposed SDHC , not a lot of option.
     
    Tinderbox (UK), Jul 16, 2009
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  4. irishhenshin

    irishhenshin Notebook Consultant

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    irishhenshin, Jul 16, 2009
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  5. Alchemist

    Alchemist Notebook Deity

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    I havent really settled on a card, just thinking of using the ExpressCard slot on my unibody macbook pro and put XP on an express card ssd.

    Basicially Im a developer and would really like to have MacOS, Windows7 and XP all available on the same box without alot of partitioning.

    So thinking i could bootcamp windows 7 (once its officially out) in a dual boot on my HD and install XP SP3 on the express card so i could boot to any of the three as needed.
     
    Alchemist, Jul 16, 2009
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  6. irishhenshin

    irishhenshin Notebook Consultant

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    irishhenshin, Jul 16, 2009
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  7. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    SD card in an express card slot uses USB 2.0 interface, that's why it's slow. The card reader is usb based and does not touch any of the PCI-E connection inside the express card slot.
     
    jackluo923, Jul 17, 2009
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  8. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    i would try to consolidate operating systems instead of adding hardware to cope with the 3 you selected.

    windows 7 + windows xp? drop xp.
     
    masterchef341, Jul 18, 2009
    #8