Hard Drive not showing up in Target Disk Mode

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Level 1

9 points

Hard Drive not showing up in Target Disk Mode

Hopefully someone can assist me.

I have the Mac OS 10.5.6

One day I came into work and I had the grey screen with the beach ball of death.

I have gone through the whole process of tech support and have been told that a technician will be out to look at my system later on next week. However, I need to continue to work until then and was told that I can and will be able to download the information from my hard drive. I would have to do the following in the Target disk mode.

My problem: I have done everything that I have been told to do.

1. Make sure my system is turned off
2. Have one system hook up by Fire Wire to my system
3. Turn on my system while holding the T key until the FireWire icon appears
4. Hard drive should appear on host computer.

This is where I am stuck; my hard drive does not appear on the host computer.
The tech I spoke to stated that as long as I have the 'Y' I have access to the hard drive.

I have tried different systems (laptop and desktop) and still cannot find my hard drive.

Any help is appreciated.

Imac Intel, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 16, 2009 12:59 PM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,314 points

Apr 16, 2009 1:10 PM in response to AFmom

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

You got the order wrong:

2. Have one system hook up by Fire Wire to my system
3. Turn on my system while holding the T key until the FireWire icon appears

Should be:

2. Turn on my system while holding the T key until the FireWire icon appears
3. Have one system hook up by Fire Wire to my system

Target Disk Mode works by first setting up the machine to work in target mode, then wiring the machines. Not the reverse.

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Answer 2

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Apr 22, 2009 8:30 PM in response to a brody

a brody:

You got the order wrong:

2. Have one system hook up by Fire Wire to my system
3. Turn on my system while holding the T key until the FireWire icon appears

Should

2. Turn on my system while holding the T key until the FireWire icon appears
3. Have one system hook up by Fire Wire to my system

Target Disk Mode works by first setting up the machine to work in target mode, then wiring the machines. Not the reverse.

That is incorrect. The Target disk must be turned off, else you risk a short circuit and consequential damage to the Host computer. See Firewire Target Disk Mode.

😉 cornelius

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Answer 3

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Apr 22, 2009 8:41 PM in response to AFmom

AFmom:

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

Let's review the procedure and see if this is what you are doing.
• Turn off Target computer
• Connect firewire cable to Target computer and connect to Host computer (Host can be on)
• Hit Power switch on Target computer and immediately after chime hold down "T" key. Firewire symbol will flash on Target computer's screen.
• Look on desktop of Host computer for a yellow disk icon. It sometimes takes a little while, but it should come on. If it does not show up after a couple of minutes you may have a defective cord or firewire port(s) that are too loose to make a secure connection. The firewire cable must fit tightly.

😉 cornelius

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Answer 4

May 1, 2009 4:17 PM in response to AFmom

Have you tried using Disk Utility?

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Answer 5

May 3, 2009 3:36 PM in response to AFmom

Certain types of problems can cause a disk not to appear on the desktop.

I would first try using Disk Utility on another Mac. Sometimes you can see the parent (the hard drive model number) but not the volume(s) belonging to that drive. You should see a healthy example of this in the left pane of the Disk Utility application.

If you Disk Utility cannot repair the drive, I'd try something called DiskWarrior. DiskWarrior can often fix problems that Disk Utility cannot. If you can get DiskWarrior to gain you access your data, you should backup all your important information ASAP. You could be about to suffer a hard drive failure.

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