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User profile for user: Shane Evensen
Shane Evensen Author
User level: Level 1
24 points

Target drive will not show up using target disk mode over thunderbolt

I have a 2011 MacBook Pro and 2013 MacBook Pro connected with a Thunderbolt cable. The 2011 has a Thunderbolt 1 port and the 2013 has a Thunderbolt 2 port. I'm trying to connect them using target disk mode but regardless if I put one machine or the other into target disk mode I cannot see or mount the other disk. I've tried booting both machines into target disk mode and I've looked into System Information to verify that they see each other and they do. In the finder I've made sure that network volumes and drives are checked. I've also checked disk utility and the external drives don't show up. Any ideas? The only thing that I see on Apple's site about using target disk mode mentions Thunderbolt 2, Thunderbolt 3, firewire, and USB C. They make no mention of Thunderbolt 1. Is Thunderbolt 1 now unsupported?

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 3:07 PM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Apr 5, 2020 5:04 PM in response to Shane Evensen

What icons are displayed on the MBPro 2011's screen when it is in Target Disk Mode? If it doesn't show a Thunderbolt icon, then you can only use Firewire to transfer the data. If this is the case you can use a Thunderbolt to Firewire Adapter to connect the systems (along with a FW cable).


If Filevault was enabled on the 2011, then you may need to use Disk Utility to manually mount the 2011's drive.


What OS is on the 2011 laptop? Unless it has macOS 10.13+, then it may not be able to understand APFS volumes on your 2013 laptop. If you 2011 laptop is using 10.13, then you may need to manually mount the 2013 laptop using Disk Utility (especially if Filevault is enabled).


You can try removing the hard drive from the 2011 laptop and using an USB to SATA Adapter, drive dock, or enclosure to connect it to the 2013 laptop.



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User profile for user: Shane Evensen
Shane Evensen Author
User level: Level 1
24 points

Apr 5, 2020 7:21 PM in response to HWTech

Thank you for your response. The 2011 shows both the Thunderbolt and FireWire icons when in Target Disk Mode. I'd rather not remove the hard drive as I do still use the computer on a regular basis. Filevault is enabled and the 2011 is running 10.13 (High Sierra) and is also formatted with AFPS with Filevault enabled. I tried to use Disk Utility on the 2013 MacBook Pro to mount the drive but it doesn't appear at all. I'm leaning towards a problem with my Thunderbolt cable but I only have one cable. I'd just like to transfer some large files and it would be much faster to use Thunderbolt. By the way, the 2013 is running the most current macOS Catalina.

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Apr 5, 2020 7:40 PM in response to Shane Evensen

Thunderbolt ports tend to get dirty. Try using compressed air to blow dirt from the port. Then try inserting & removing the cable several times to further clean the contacts. It does sound like you may have a bad cable or one of the Thunderbolt ports isn't working properly.


Another option would be to enable File Sharing and connect the laptop directly to the router using an Ethernet cable (at least on the 2011 laptop). This should work well enough especially if the 2013 laptop can connect with fast WiFi speeds.

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Target drive will not show up using target disk mode over thunderbolt

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