My understanding is that Target Disk Mode is Firewire only, so this is not possible with this MacBook. You can, however, boot from an external USB drive, which sounds like the best solution to me.
Bill Spears wrote:
Just to add to my earlier posting. Does anyone know of a workaround not using another machine to access your machine in target mode if the operating system won't start?
Return the new MacBook and get your old one back. I am keeping my 07 2.4.
I have to say that I'm advising all the MacBook users here to do the same - "keep your current MacBook until either Firewire comes back or the laptop dies". If they need a new one, get the previous model while it's still available.
No TDM and a bunch of useless Firewire backup drives is not moving forward, it's moving backwards. USB 2.0 is not a replacement. Sorry, Apple, you're wrong this time. Hopefully, like the original MacBook Pro with no FW800, you'll reconsider and add it back on the next rev.
mhmcfee wrote:
I have to say that I'm advising all the MacBook users here to do the same - "keep your current MacBook until either Firewire comes back or the laptop dies". If they need a new one, get the previous model while it's still available.
No TDM and a bunch of useless Firewire backup drives is not moving forward, it's moving backwards. USB 2.0 is not a replacement. Sorry, Apple, you're wrong this time. Hopefully, like the original MacBook Pro with no FW800, you'll reconsider and add it back on the next rev.
I concur, this is a Major step backwards. Did Billy Gates and Steve Ballmer get involved in the Apple R&D Department at Apple???
My main use for target disk mode is repair and troubleshooting. I have to maintain a lot of computers and they don't always run - but they always seem to be able to boot into target disk mode using firewire (or SCSI disk mode before that). Once they're connected to a good computer I can either run DiskWarrior or just get all the files off. A number of times it's been the only way to get stuff off a computer teetering on the edge of disaster.
Until there's a replacement for target disk mode, I can't see getting one of these things. Personally, I find OSX networking to be surprisingly fickle, besides the fact that it only works if you have two extremely healthy computers to start with. Why can my OS9 computers mount the disks and manipulate the files of my OSX machines, but not vice versa? Makes no sense. Why do brand new OSX machines have such a hard time seeing other OSX machines on the same local network - sometimes it takes minutes for one to simply appear? Then they appear and disappear - connection lost with no reason. Meanwhile, the Powermac 8600 with OS9 sees all and has no trouble with anybody.
While I'm griping, Apple ought to have an option with decent battery life. As I need to go all day on a single charge, I am still using my Powerbook G3 pismo from 2000 (with G4 upgrade) with its 10 hr life (holds two batteries). But it's 8 years later, why hasn't Apple been able to find a way to even get an honest 5 hours ever since?
Then you're not using "Net"restore over the network. That's the whole point of "Net"restore. What you're doing is simply "restoring" the Mac. If it's not over the network, then you don't actually need "NetRestore".
Apple users are going to have to do what PC users have been doing for years to service their hard drives:
1. Pop out the hard drive
2. Pop the hard drive into a USB 2.0 external hard drive case or SATA-usb bridge
3. Connect the case to the USB port of the other mac and mount as external drive
"pop out the hard drive" will not work on most of the Apple notebooks of the past years. Even an Apple technician needs 20 minutes to "pop out" the hard disk from a MacBook Pro.
It doesn't look like it. And this is the thing the annoys me the most. I don't mind not having FireWire for the most part, as most of my external FireWire drives also have USB, and I don't own a video camera and such. But TDM was one of those really great universal features that made it much easier to help fix someone else's Mac. And since the Macbook is Apple's most popular computer, it just seems like such a stupid move.
Perhaps the average person won't miss it, but those that fix the average person's computer sure will. I think it shows that perhaps Apple is a little out of touch with their user community?
Whining MacbookPro wrote:
Apple users are going to have to do what PC users have been doing for years to service their hard drives:
1. Pop out the hard drive
2. Pop the hard drive into a USB 2.0 external hard drive case or SATA-usb bridge
3. Connect the case to the USB port of the other mac and mount as external drive
IT JUST WORKS!
We should go to all that trouble rather than just plug in a cable, why exactly? Not to mention having to buy new equipment...
I work purely in education and manage over 2000 macs, our primary means of deployment is to create an image and deploy this. For creating the image we only use Firewire for a Target mode transfer and then deploy from server.
Removing firewire from the MacBook is the biggest mistake from Apple I've seen in years, having used macs for the past 16 years. Most of my sites will not purchase MacBook Pros for staff and students as they cannot afford the cost and they will be left with no alternative since the Air is completely useless for any corporate or business application with its lacking feature set.
Most of my sites have also purchased Firewire backup drives for their staff and servers along with Digital video cameras, all Firewire. Although the new iMovie 7 supports USB, iMovie 6 is still the preferred iLife movie option for all of my sites and that goes hand in hand with Firewire cameras.
A definite step backwards for Apple and as everyone can clearly see from any apple forum, a huge disappointment for the majority of Apple users.
