Level 1

67 points

Target disk mode with external hard drive?

Hi all,

I have a very annoying problem. I've just bought a new Mac Mini, previously I had an iBook G4 600 (about 6 years old). My Mac mini works perfectly, but...

1) I don't want to copy everything over from the iBook with Migration Assistant, I'd rather pick and choose what to copy. Is buying a firewire cable and using Target Disk mode the only quick way to do this?

2) I was intending to transfer files using my external HD. But the Mini doesn't recognise my poor old external drive. However, all my iTunes music is on the external HD. It seems by far the fastest way to get the music off (as long as I can't get the mini to recognise the HD)would be to boot the iBook in Target Disk mode then somehow be able to read from the external HD as well. Is this possible? If not, what on earth can I do??

Thanks in advance,
Suz

Message was edited by: Suz

iBook 600, new Mac Mini (intel), Mac OS X (10.5.7), Freecom Classic SL external HD

Posted on Jun 17, 2009 3:08 AM

33 replies

Suz Author

Level 1

67 points

Jun 18, 2009 2:22 AM in response to bphendri

Wow, so many questions! Some of those I won't be able to answer till after work, but here's trying. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Ok, Cornelius:

+Have you tried this:+
+Start up MacMini+
+Connect iBook G4 to Mini+
+Connect external HDD to iBook G4+
+Boot iBook G4 into FW-TDM+

I haven't tried that, I can give it a go when I get home. BUT, my hard drive is usb (did I say that already?), so I'm not sure it would help.

bphendri:

+You can only share the macs Users/Public folder over the network, UNLESS you log in as the admin user of that machine. Then you should be able to mount any connected volume.+

I saw that written somewhere too. That's something else which is confusing me, since I've always had the only user account on my iBook, and now also on my Mini. Doesn't that mean I'm always the admin?

And for your other points:

I haven't checked in System Profiler, but I did check Disk Utility on my Mini, and the ext drive DOESN'T show up.

As for using TDM with the hard drive connected to the iBook already, I don't think that would work for me as, for some unknown reason, I foolishly bought a USB EXTERNAL DRIVE, not firewire.

And finally,

+Have you also tried resetting the NVRAM?+

What does that mean?!

Suz Author

Level 1

67 points

Jun 18, 2009 2:28 AM in response to dechamp

dechamp, as I said further back in the thread, I downloaded Sharepoints and tried that. I followed the instructions to set up a share. I tried selecting the external volume as the shared folder, then selecting just 1 folder on the external drive as the shared folder. Neither worked. When I browsed the iBook from my new Mini, all that showed up was my user folder, and a folder mysteriously called "postfix". When faced with trying any more advanced options in Sharepoints, I was daunted and gave up.

It seems to be one of those GUIs that assumes you know more about what you're doing than the likes of me!

Suz Author

Level 1

67 points

Jun 18, 2009 2:26 PM in response to Suz

Update - I haven't tried anything else tonight, as I haven't got a Firewire cable yet. I suppose I really should at least try it.

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Jun 18, 2009 4:30 PM in response to Suz

Suz:

I foolishly bought a USB EXTERNAL DRIVE, not firewire.

I tried the same thing I posted with a USB drive, but it didn't mount on the MBP. In terms of the USB, depending on what kind of drive it is and how hard it is to pull it out of the case, you could purchase a firewire enclosure, pull the drive out of the USB case, and install the raw drive in the firewire enclosure. Some cases are easier to crack than others, so you would want to check out the case first.

Problem is, I don't understand why the drive won't mount on the MacBook. Try this:
• connect USB drive to MacBook
• Power up drive and startup MacBook.
• Launch Disk Utility in Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
Does the USB Drive icon show up in the sidebar?
If it does click on the icon to select, then go to menu at top of pane and click Mount.

😉 cornelius

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Jun 18, 2009 4:32 PM in response to Suz

Suz:

I foolishly bought a USB EXTERNAL DRIVE, not firewire.

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Jun 18, 2009 4:33 PM in response to Suz

Suz:

I foolishly bought a USB EXTERNAL DRIVE, not firewire.

bphendri

Level 1

119 points

Jun 18, 2009 6:41 PM in response to Suz

Another question.. Does this USB hard drive have an external power supply or is it drawing off the USB port.

If it work on one it SHOULD work on the other, but my mom has the same issue with a USB hard drive (It works on her PB 17in, but not on a PB15in), the only thing I can think of is that it is not getting enough power from the 15in's USB port.

If it has 2 USB plugs, see if you can get a USB extension cable somewhere, and plug it into the second port. (If it doesn't have it's own power supply unit.)

Suz Author

Level 1

67 points

Jun 19, 2009 1:29 AM in response to bphendri

Hello again.

Cornelius, I think I said earlier that the usb drive DOES NOT show up in disk utility when connected to my Mac Mini.

bphendri, it has an external power supply, and I've tried connecting in to a couple of different usb ports on the Mini, no joy.

Thanks for the help, but I don't think there's much more I can do! I've emailed technical support for the company who made the drive (Freecom), and also enlisted my brother on the case, who works in IT. If neither of those two can help me by tonight, I'm giving up and copying everything off the HD.

<sighs>

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Jun 19, 2009 6:41 AM in response to Suz

Suz:

Take a look at the tutorial Common fixes for USB device issues (unrecognized, etc.)

😉 cornelius

bphendri

Level 1

119 points

Jun 19, 2009 6:53 AM in response to cornelius

Okay I feel flipping ******** for not thinking about this!!!!

Suz, we tried sharing your external drive through Tiger, but what we didn't try and do is setting up sharing on the NEW mac, (That I am assuming has 10.5), Set up sharing on the NEW MAC.

Log in from your old mac that see's the external drive, copy the files to your Public volume (OR whatever volume you choose to mount), then copy them from there..

I am actually bloody embarrased to tell you the truth!

bphendri

Level 1

119 points

Jun 19, 2009 7:01 AM in response to bphendri

WAIT!!!

Hold the danged presses!!!!

While I'm on this great eppiphany of mine, screw file sharing.

Put the NEW mac in target disk mode
Connect it to the OLD mac via firewire.

KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!

You should see the new mac hard drive,
have access to the old mac, and the external drive on the Mac the recognizes it.

See.. I can think now that I'm not stressing about passing my Apple cert exam!!!

Suz Author

Level 1

67 points

Jun 19, 2009 7:09 AM in response to bphendri

Calm down there! I'm wondering if you're getting a little carried away! Thoughts - your first option would still mean copying everything off the incredibly slow external drive back onto the old iBook, which I estimate would take an entire day almost.

Second option - sounds worth a try, but isn't TDM for sending files by Firewire rather than receiving them? Or am I missing something? I'm definitely picking up the Firewire cable after work though.

bphendri

Level 1

119 points

Jun 19, 2009 7:16 AM in response to Suz

Either way your going to hit the speed limitation of the USB BUS, no way around that. Even if it was directly connected (Transfer speeds will always be the at the limmiting factor of the actual bus.) It will be as fast or as slow as it always was.

Trying to phrase the TDM question as best I can, but basically TDM allows you to access the firewire bus and drive as if it is an actually firewire hard drive. As far as the Mac your connecting it to is concerned it is a normal external firewire hard drive.. (Hope that makes sense).

You have FULL read write capabilily, just like it was just another firewire drive.

bphendri

Level 1

119 points

Jun 19, 2009 7:18 AM in response to bphendri

In fact. not to confuse you.

IF your other mac was an Intel Mac, and could support the system version, you could even boot a computer off the hard drive drive connected via TDM.

Just one of the COOL features of TDM.

bphendri

Level 1

119 points

Jun 19, 2009 7:19 AM in response to bphendri

Carried away? Naw.... Only if this doesn't in fact solve your problem.. 🙂

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Target disk mode with external hard drive?