Does Carbon Copy Cloner Really Make a "Bootable" Hackintosh HD?

[mint13nts]

I used the latest version of Carbon Copy Cloner today to make a "bootable" copy/clone/image of the original hackintosh hard disk drive.

CCC said that the cloning process was successful. But when I plugged in the cloned drive in place of the original drive, I am not able to boot.

I made absolutely no changes to hardware, firmware, or application software.

The original and duplicate HDDs are exactly the same size and model number. The BIOS does not even sense the change in drives!

I am using the latest version of Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac as a 15 day trial.

As I was reading threads on this topic, I came across an email that stated that Carbon Copy Cloner cannot make a clone of a Hackintosh drive.
To make the Hackintosh drive bootable, he suggested using Chimera or Chameleon bootloader. Really???

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Rick5]

Yes

 

[ashman70]

While disk cloning apps like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper DO actually make clones of your drive, they cannot clone the boot loader part of the drive. Its always a good idea to keep a bootable USB key around so that in the event of a failure, you can boot off the USB drive onto your cloned partiton or drive, then simply install the boot loader of choice and you are done.

 

[DBP]

I use Super Duper! instead of CCC, but I don't think CCC does anything extra in this regard.

After cloning the filesystem using these tools, you still need to install the appropriate bootblocks (which aren't really part of the filesystem per se). I keep the Chimera install package around. After making the clone, run the installer and make sure you change the Install Location so that instead of installing on the current boot drive it installs on the clone.

You can do this with MultiBeast (which contains Chimera) but you can do it directly even more simply.

 

[mint13nts]

Rick5, Ashman70, and DBP,

Thank you all for this good information. I am sure that others will benefit as well from your answer(s).

I will remember to install the bootloader after cloning the hackintosh hard disk drive.

 

[konjow]

Im useing CCC 3.4.4 last free version and Super duper 2.7.1
My backed up OSX partition is bootable and never need to instal boot louders on any of them Never.
It could be same preferences settings. I dont remember now.

 

[nbhms]

My CCC copies have never been bootable. Clonezilla however does make a bootable copy, but you have to boot to Clonezilla rather than your standard OS, so the machine is offline while the copy is made.

 

[defbref]

As has been disussed elsewhere in the forum, you still need to copy a bootloader onto the clone disk after it has been cloned to make it bootable for hackintosh.

The people who claim they don't need to do this on a CCC backup are usually testing by using the bootloader on the original disk they cloned, so not actually testing the clone boots alone.

 

[Olivier75009]

I installed the boot loader once after my first clone, then daily cloning (deleting old files) and CCC always kept the boot loader.
So, just install the boot loader once and you'll be safe for a bootable clone disk.

 

[bamim2]

Great idea. Here are a couple of other apps that I've used that work great too...

As a long time engineer with a few years of disc cloning experience, UNIX experience & as a user on the tonymacx86 site, I have to say that "technically" if you're not getting the boot block you're not actually cloning the disc. You are "ALMOST" cloning it. The problem is most likely that the since the system is up & fully running, it can't copy the boot block. The thing to do then is to boot from something else & truly "clone" the drives.

I use EaseUS "Disk-Copy", but there are a few others that one can burn to a bootable CD/DVD & use that way. It may take a bit longer to do the whole disc booting from a CD, but when you're done, you're done. It does a sector by sector copy of the disc, a true clone of the disc: give you an EXACT copy of the original disc. Not just almost clone the disc.

EaseUS Disk-Copy is free for home use. I use their Windows Products for my Windows systems & their version that says "copy any File system" does just that. I've used it MANY times on my Mac, my Hackintosh (that I built with help from the site we're on) & Linux HDD too. The software can be downloaded here:

http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/home-edition/#Title5

There are also instructions on how to make a bootable CD/DVD so you can make a true Clone of any disc. It works great. I've been using it for years without any problems. These guys make a whole line of free stuff (I don't work for them OR get any commission. I promise) for home use & they make a whole line of Professional IT, server type software too.

I've also used, Clonezilla. It is LINUX based, is free for individual use & can be found here:

http://clonezilla.org/downloads/download.php?branch=alternative

I used Clonezilla on my last clone & it took a little over 2 hours to do a 1.5TB disc, that has 3 slices. I think it's a bit faster because it calculates the bland space on the disc & knows it doesn't have to copy it to the other drive. Clonezilla is open source so they keep coming out with new versions all the time & there's a 32-bit & 64-bit version made with Ubuntu LINUX & the same from Debian LINUX, so it can be a bit confusing if you're no a UNIX/LINUX geek & you're just looking for something that works on a Mac. Just remember that underneath our cool looking Desktop beats a heart of UNIX/LINUX. I used the Ubunitu 64-bit "alternative stable release" & chose ISO. I was able to download the .ISO & burn a CD within 5 minutes. It goes quickly & works great.

Once the disc is burnt & you're ready to clone your hard drive, you just need to remember which disc is which. It IS made for the more "LINUX Geek" types though, so there are lots of choices for things to get off & cause problems.

JUST choose the defaults all the way through AND set up your hard drives correctly in the BIOS first. I ALWAYS make use my boot drive is "Disk 0" & the other drive is "Disk 1". Your system can boot up with other setups & it's usually possible to change your hard drive boot order in your BIOS too, but DON'T. Cloning your blank HDD to your good HackintoshHD will result in two blank discs & REALLY **** you off, so BE CAREFUL. No matter what software you use, there's NO WAY to undo the cloning process.

I just had to add my 2 cents (as we say in the US) worth. Cloning everything but the boot block & then having to dd that to the new drive or something can be tricky. Simple is good.

Good luck. I hope this will help somebody. MANY people on this site have helped me over the last few years. I'm just trying to pay it forward if possible. Sharing is also good....