iMac display not working, how to access hard drive through MacBook Pro?

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Level 1

4 points

iMac display not working, how to access hard drive through MacBook Pro?

I have an iMac with a broken display (nothing shows up on the screen, although I can hear the iMac running. Since I can't see anything, I cannot access the computer's info to say what year/model this is. I have attached a picture of the ports on my iMac for reference.

I do not want to fix anything; I just want to access the documents and photos that are on this computer to be able to save them. Then I plan to dispose of the iMac.

I have a Macbook Pro that I am trying to use to access the hard drive or boot in target mode, but I'm having trouble. The hard drive does not show up in my finder when the two are connected, and when I boot up in target disk mode, the iMac hard drive doesn't show up. I have a firewire cable, attached to two adapters to be able to connect the iMac to the MacBook.

Do I need different cables? Maybe I'm following the wrong steps to boot up the iMac with my MacBook?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on Jun 1, 2022 7:49 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 1, 2022 8:42 AM in response to glockamy

Your iMac has been sitting "unusable". HDD problem? If the drive is failing or failed, then the whole exercise stops right there.

Your pic appears to show that you have booted your MBP in target disk mode. That is not necessary. You should be booting the MBP normally. For your purpose only the iMac will be booted into target disk mode with the T key held at power up.

I believe you're on the right track as for the connection method. I will suggest that the adapters are probably a weak link, and multiple adapters while necessary will be a potential show stopper, especially if their quality is less than optimal.

For additional info, please see > Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

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Answer 2

glockamy Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 1, 2022 8:17 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

I have a 2017 13-inch Macbook Pro running Monterey.

I have no idea the OS on the iMac. It's been sitting unusable for so long that I have no idea.

I have a firewire cable connected to the iMac that is then connected to a Firewire to Thunderbolt 2 adapter that is then attached to a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter.

Somewhere in the number of things I tried, I got this image on my MBP:

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Answer 3

Jun 1, 2022 8:05 AM in response to glockamy

What model and year MBP are you using?

What macOS is installed on each?

Would you please describe the connection method?

When booting the iMac to TDM, it's best to be using a wired, USB keyboard to trigger the process. You can press the power button while holding the T key, but I find it more consistently successful to wait and press the keyboard keys when the startup chime sounds.

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Answer 4

glockamy Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 1, 2022 8:50 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

It's been unusable because I haven't been able to see anything, i.e. the display is not working. About the time the screen went black, we all went to having our own MacBooks, so we just worked around not being able to access the iMac. I'm ready to dispose of it, but I wanted to make one last-ditch effort to see if I could get the documents and pictures off of it first.

There could possibly be a hard drive issue as well (or perhaps the display is fine but the disk is bad?). I don't know. I can hear it running, but that's it.

The two adapters are Apple products, but the firewire cable could be the weak link. I'm not sure where it came from.

When I boot the iMac in target mode, should my MPB be running or off? In some other mode?

Thanks so much for your help.

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Answer 5

Jun 1, 2022 9:46 AM in response to glockamy

The MBP should already be running and connected to the iMac when you power up that in tdm. You should be looking at the desktop on the MBP.

Also, go into Finder Preferences on the MBP and make sure that External disks is check marked to be displayed on the Desktop. The iMac should appear on the desktop when it connects.

As for the iMac, it def sounds like the display has gone away, otherwise there would likely be some viewable clue at some point.

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Answer 6

glockamy Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 4, 2022 9:36 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thank you so much for trying to help! I couldn't get anything to work, so I ended up pulling the hard drive out of the iMac and connecting it to my MPB with a SATA adapter. I was able to get all of my documents and photos that way.

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Answer 7

Jun 4, 2022 10:00 AM in response to glockamy

You're welcome. Thanks for the update.

So glad you worked out a solution. 🙂

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iMac display not working, how to access hard drive through MacBook Pro?

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