Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by feelin_googley 3141 days ago
Would this allow a user to have a "diskless" Mac?

I create bootable media, e.g. USB sticks or SD cards, for PCs and RPis and I can thus run "diskless"; no disk access is required and the full system fits in RAM.

I can insert the media into any available PC and use the computer, without disturbing anything on its HDD.

This can also be very useful for emergencies where a computer with a HDD will not boot due to some problem with what is on the drive.

Is this flexibilty possible with today's MacIntosh?
2 comments
hrrsn 3141 days ago
Not quite, this is just creating the installer ISO. However, macOS is perfectly happy to be installed on an external hard drive or USB drive, and that can be booted on any Mac that supports the macOS version on the drive.
link
alwillis 3141 days ago
You’ve been able to boot Macs over a network connection for many years… here's an example using a Linux machine as a netboot server for a Mac: https://www.blueboxmoon.com/wordpress/linux-based-mac-bsdp-a...
link
feelin_googley 3140 days ago
I used the term "diskless" but did not intend to imply booting from a network. It probably was a poor choice of words as "diskless" may have a loaded meaning.

The media I create require no network to boot. They only require 1. a computer with an appropriate USB or SD card slot that can boot from USB or SD card, respectively, and 2. sufficient RAM to hold the system.

This sort of usage is what I am curious about on the MacIntosh.

link