John Lepp

Q: target disk mode, home folder empty

As was suggested by a guru at the apple store, i have my iMac 2012 mounted on on my wife's MBA via Target disk mode. However all of the files in the application folder and more importantly my home folder all show and copy as empty. a "get Info" shows me all my files and folders are there. But I can't see them. I was not using file vault or anything like that on the iMac. Any suggestions? thanks in advance. jl

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 17, 2016 3:11 AM

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Q: target disk mode, home folder empty

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  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jan 17, 2016 5:36 AM in response to John Lepp
    Level 5 (6,372 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jan 17, 2016 5:36 AM in response to John Lepp
  • by Duane,

    Duane Duane Jan 17, 2016 7:28 AM in response to John Lepp
    Level 10 (124,018 points)
    Jan 17, 2016 7:28 AM in response to John Lepp

    So you have the iMac 2012 booted in target disk mode and you see a disk icon on the iMac's screen.

     

    From the MacBook Air you view the iMac's disk.

    - You see the files in /Application and /Users/username/

    --> If you "Get Info" on a file does it show as having a size greater than zero?

     

    - You copy the files to the MacBook Air's drive but the sizes are zero.

    Is the above correct?

     

    ... and more importantly my home folder all show and copy as empty. a "get Info" shows me all my files and folders are there. But I can't see them. ...

     

    I don't understand this statement.

    • If you can't see a file or folder, you can't do a "Get Info" on them.
    • If you do a "Get Info" on a folder it doesn't show the files it contains.