I'm using a Late 2010 27" i5 iMac and a Late 2009 15" MacBook Pro. I'm going to reformat and reinstall the iMac this weekend but need to grab all my Music/Documents (you know the drill) from it. Last time I did this, I did it over a 100mbps network, needless to say it was absolutely horribly slow. So, today I'm going to pick up a cheap-ish firewire cable and target my laptop as a disk using target disk mode.
Which type of Firewire cable do I need to buy? It's either a 4-pin or 6-pin choice, no 9-pins available at the shop I intend to visit. I have no idea what the difference is between them - hardware is definitely not my game. Both ports look like this (taken from Apple's docs, Firewire 800):
I have an original MacBook1,1 running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. It will not start up, I have tried everything on this Apple web page , Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup, besides an erase and reinstall and I don't know what to do. It won't read the Snow Leopard update disk (My other two Macs do). When I restart In Verbose Mode, it always stops right after 'Airport: RSN handshake complete on en1'. When i started my other Mac in Verbose Mode, after 'Airport: RSN handshake complete on en1', it went straight to the login window. I called Apple support and they said that I need to perform an erase and reinstall but first I need to get an install disk for Mac OS X Tiger 10.4. and get some things off using Target Disk Mode. I do not have a FireWire cable and do not want to have to go and buy one. I have an Ethernet cable and a male - male USB cord. The two other Macs that I have are an iMac7,1 running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, and a MacBook6,1 running Mavericks 10.9.4.
...why does Target Disk Mode (let's call it TDM for short) depend on Firewire? TDM first went away with the MacBook Air, and now we've lost TDM for the latest non-pro Macbooks.
Since I don't think Apple would invite all of the subsequent grief caused by the lack of TDM if USB were an easy out for more or less the same job, what is it that I'm missing?
I have a bit of a problem: I cant access my Mac because I lost the password. I recently changed my passwords on several macs, including an old PPC PowerMac G5 from ca 2005. I run 10.5.8 on this and it works flawlessly. I need to use this machine for important work.
So this is what I have tried so far:
1) Tested with all known passwords I have used in the past.
2) Tried to boot from a 10.6 install DVD
3) Tried to boot from just C and later Command C
4) Tried a different install DVD 10.4 (I dont have the original 10.5 DVD)
5) Tried to use T and Target Disk Mode from an iMac with Lion. (disconnected all other FW disks etc.)
6) Tried different Firewire cables
7) Tried different Firewire connections.
It starts obediently and show every sign of Mac-Happiness. But I simply can't get the darn thing to boot. I think it normally should have booted using 10.6?
I want to copy files from my old PowerBook G4 (12") to my self-built Windows PC. I've connected the PB to my tower's Firewire PCI card, put the PB in target disk mode, and Windows prompts me with the found new hardware wizard. After the wizard finished, I did not see my PB in My Computer. It does not show up in Disk Management, either. It does appear in the Safely Remove Hardware window as "UNKNOWN MODEL AND VENDOR IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device", and in the Device Manager as "SBP2 Compliant IEEE 1394 device". How can I get this to show up so I can backup my old files?
I tried to login to my brand new iMac (running Lion 10.7) via Target Disk Mode so as to transfer my data from my old machine. However, the passwords didn't work. This is not a disaster, however, I am now unable to exit Target Disk Mode. I have tried removing RAM and restarting holding down alt+cmd+R+P to reset the PRAM but it just goes straight back to Target Disk Mode. No matter whjat I do it goes back to Target Disk Mode with the padlock and opassword box.
My iMac won't boot up. I think its HDD is dead . Is there a way for me to use target disk mode to boot from my laptop HDD so that I can rescue my iMac HDD?
I'm trying to sort out a problem with a mid-2007 iMac. When trying to start it up normally it would get past the Apple screen, then go onto a blue screen with a cursor and stay there.
I made a bootable Snow Leopard USB drive to try and repair the disk / re-install the OS. Plugged in the USB drive, and tried to boot the iMac into startup manager by holding down the option key. But instead of showing the volumes to launch startup manager, it keeps bringing up a grey screen with the Firewire logo on, which I believe is what happens when launching into Target Disk Mode.
I want to buy the 27" iMac - but only if I can use it as external monitor for my Lenovo laptop when working from home. A the Apple store in London they said that this is possible with a Belkin converter from hdmi to mini display port (with a USB power caple to turn it into an active signal). The laptop also has a displayport.
We have some new Intel iMacs and have transferred some information from our previous G4 PM (one MDD and one Quicksilver) to the new iMacs. For some reason the G4's will now not boot up and kernal panic on the gray Apple boot screen. This has happened to all the G4's we have in our office. They are running OSX 10.2.8 and the iMacs are running OSX 10.4.4. We can still mount the drives from the G4's using FireWire Target Disk mode.
I have tried zapping the PRAM etc but they still wont boot. I have also tried running the OSX 10.2 Installer disks to try and reinstall OSX on the G4's but the installer cannot see the drives?
I tried running the disk utility. It finds the hard drive but wont let me verify/repair permissions (the option is grayed out). It will only let me verify/repair the disk, but it finds no errors. The installer cannot find the disk at all.
We have more than one hard drive in the G4's and the target disk mode will only mount the system drive, it doesnt see the others, so we cannot retrieve out information. Whats going on. Never had this problem before.
Anyone have any idea what is wrong. Never had this problem before using the FireWire transfer.
I have a 15" mbp with 10.6 Intel core duo, 4gb ram with a boot camp and ubuntu partition through parallels. The other day I was installing xcode from apple's website, which failed 3 times after downloading saying the package couldn't be expanded. I left my computer for a while and came back where i then had to log in again. it rejected my password numerous time (i'm positive it was correct). when i restarted my computer i got a kernal panic screen when the apple logo came up. it told me to restart the computer which i did. didn't work. i restarted with the osx cd to use the disk utility. when it checked the drive it found a bunch of errors, which i then tried to correct. it went for a couple minutes then told me they couldn't be fixed and i should try to back up my data and reinstall osx. i don't know how to back up my hard drive when i can't log into my account. i've tried to boot in target disk mode and copy some files that way, but the only disk the other computer sees is my windows partition- no mac partition.
i've also tried these, none of these have worked: restarting in safe mode resetting the ram and pram booting with different sticks of ram all result in a kernal panic.
my windows partition still works fine though (as much as i hate to say it) the only things I really care about on my computer are my files from school and my itunes library. is there any way i can get these files off my computer?
I have a Macbook Pro with an inoperative slot-loading Superdrive. I purchased Snow Leopard today, planning to use my Mac Pro w/working Superdrive in Firewire Target Disk Mode to install the OS on my Macbook Pro. I can mount the Snow Leopard install via TDM, but the installer informs me that I cannot install Snow Leopard from "this volume" (presumably because the Target Disk Mode connection isn't recognized as an optical drive?). I've also tried to use "Remote Install OS X," but because my MBP is not an Air, it doesn't have the necessary firmware to select a network boot on startup by holding Option. Am I out of luck until I get access to a firewire external DVD drive?
Trying to troubleshoot a macbook pro 2.4 ghz with c2d so I start it up in target disk mode connected to my imac. (The current issue I am having are kernel panics on start up asking me to power off and restart). I am trying to see what the console output for the mbp is, but when I choose the mounted disk and go to applications there and run console, I get the console messages of my imac? What am I doing wrong guys?
edit: for the time being I ll just restart it in verbose mode, see what I get from that.
this isnt fully a mac problem but my windows 7 laptop cant see my g5 in target disk mode any ideas how to make it work? i have macdrive installed so even the hfs hd should show up
I have a friend who's oldish-Unibody MacBook Pro started giving him the folder with question mark-flashing symbol on boot-up. I guess it could be PRAM, but in any case, he wants to get his data off the hard drive. The computer wouldn't boot up from the install disk (holding 'c' on boot), all I have managed is to put it into Target Disk Mode, with my own MPB. The funny thing is, that it works, but all that mounts on my computer is the Install Disc (in his disk drive) and his hard drive shows up in my disk utility (see below), but it will not mount, and if I try to repair it, it gives me an error and DUPLICATES the original 'root' drive. Does this mean the hard drive itself is damaged and we need to go to a 'data specialist' to get everything off or is there anything else I could try?
I need some pictures from my g4 digital audio onto my macbook, so I started the power mac up in target disk mode with the firewire cable attached, and it didn't mount. I have restarted both computers, and still the disks don't show up in disk utility. Could I have a bad cable, or is something else the problem?
I'm purchasing a new MBP and I'd like to migrate my files using target disk mode, rather than Migration Assistant. Are there any good support articles online that outline best procedures for doing this?
Transferring my documents should be pretty simple, but I just want to make sure that when I transfer my iPhoto/iTunes libraries and the like that I'm transferring the right files to reconstruct those libraries, without transferring over any old files that are unnecessary from my previous system.
Is it possible to boot a macbook pro retina using an external usb3 hdd (=hdd of my previous macbook pro), and boot via target disk mode, so I can carbon copy everything to the flash memory of the new macbook ?
In principle it sounds simple, but does anyone know if it can really happen? Can it boot from usb3 in the first place? (it's faster than usb2 and fw800 so I don't see why Apple wouldn't support it).
It's important to find out before I go ahead and buy the new laptop.
I thought having a Macbook and a PC and keeping data sync'd between the two would be easy, or so Apple et al would have me believe. So far I've not only found out that their IP over FireWire, the only feasible way to transfer the large amounts of data I have, is seriously lacking (i.e. I haven't been able to get it to work!) but also that when I try to ease my woes by connecting the Macbook as a FireWire drive in Target Disk Mode, it fails to deliver again. The first time I connected my Macbook to my PC over FireWire in Target Disk Mode, it popped up in My Computer no bother. Alright, so the only partition I could access was my XP partition on the Macbook (thank goodness I have that or I'd be right up the creek!), but I suppose it's to be expected, what with OS X and Windows having different file systems ETCETERAH.
So I'll copy all my media files to the XP partition and then copy them to my XP PC from there, I thought. Every following time I've connected in Target Disk Mode, I've received nothing but a 'removable disk' icon in My Computer which, when clicked, asks me to 'insert media'. WTF, Apple?! So not only can I not have my OS X drive show up in Windows on my PC, but now I can't even have the XP drive show up?! I didn't change anything, I didn't do anything differently, I literally just rebooted OS X to copy the files I wanted from the Apple partition to the XP one. Sorry to come across all 'angry like', it's just not the first, second, or third problem I've encountered since 'switching'. For a company who prides itself on how its products 'just work', it's becoming an eye-opening experience. However, I understand it's probably something I've done incorrectly, rather than the fault of Apple or Microsoft. So I ask you, what am I doing wrong?
I'm just curious if it's possible to put my Mac Pro into TDM, connect it to my MacBook Pro, start it up holding option to choose a start-up disk, and use the Mac Pro's HD to boot up. I'd experiment myself, but the Mac Pro is packed at the moment, and I'd like to know if anyone knows for sure that it will or will not work before digging it out.
I'm trying to zero the data on an iBook hard drive before selling it. When I connect it to my Powermac via firewire in Target Disk Mode, it shuts down completely about 30 minutes into the proceedure (and yes, the power adapter is connected).
I've got an early '08 MacBook and an iBook G4. The iBook will only work for a few minutes before freezing completely.
I want to use my MB to get info off the iBook, but when I follow the instructions to start the iBook in Taget Disk mode, the MacBook asks if I want to 'initialise' the harddrive. What's that about?
How can I get the data off my iBook (ideally without re-installing the OS)?
I need to get an iBook G3's system profile (CPU speed, memory, drive config., etc.), but have no video (black screen). Hard drive is ok. Can this be done in Target Disk Mode somehow? I have NO external monitor.
