trying to boot a macbook as a slave drive to a mac mini

Are you connecting the two Macs with a Thunderbolt Cable? This is now required if either Mac is running macOS 12.x+ as mentioned in this Apple article (must use the Thunderbolt port on both Macs):

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

Also, on the new Apple Silicon Mac, you may need to approve the external device to be connected which is a new default security setting for the Thunderbolt ports with macOS 13.x+.

Allow accessories to connect to Mac - Apple Support

In Finder Preferences>Sidebar & General, is external drives checked?

paulflute wrote:

Thanks..

Its a 13in MacBook Pro from late 2011 running High Sierra 10.13.6

and a new mac mini M2 from this year running Ventura 13.2.1

I want to get lots of files onto an external drive connected to the mac mini from the old laptop..

I didn’t want to use migration because there is so much junk from over a decade I want to go through and only import the files I want.. music pics etc..

The main problem is that the laptop will only work with a formatted external disk drive and the mac mini an unformatted one.. or the other way around.. so i can’t simply drag onto a drive and then off again..

hence trying the slave..

any other suggestions gratefully received..

thank p

You should be able to move an external hard drive between the machines. I'd suggest using HFS+ (Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)) format. HFS+ hasn't changed in a long time, whereas APFS may have evolved a bit between High Sierra and Ventura.

Note that you might have to change Finder {Settings/Preferences} to get the drive to show up on the Desktop, or in the sidebar.

You could simply set up file sharing on the older Mac and transfer files over your home network. No disks needed and no special cables or adapters other than maybe an ethernet cable which would not be needed if your home network has WiFi.

You can use an Apple USB-C to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter, then use an older style Apple Thunderbolt Cable to connect from the adapter to the older Mac.

You can remove the internal drive from a 2011 laptop and use a USB to SATA Adapter such as this one:

https://tripplite.eaton.com/usb-3-0-superspeed-sata-iii-adapter-cable-uasp-2-5in-3-5in-sata-white~U33806NSATAW

What is the MacBook model?

What is the MacMini model?

What version of macOS is on each machine?

What are you actually trying to accomplish as there may be a much simpler way to do it?

paulflute wrote:

Thanks for your links.. That's an expensive way to transfer info.. I'd prefer not to spend nearly $100 on something i won't use again.. Do you think this cable would also work..? I'm a little confused about the difference between thunderbolt 2 and mini DP cables.. From what I can tell they can be compatible depending on the use..

thanks paul

can't add a link here.. tried every way it jsut says "You have included content in your post that is not permittable"

anyway there is a cable on AliExpress for €12 called

USB C para Mini DisplayPort 4K @ 60Hz Thunderbolt 3 para Mini Displayport Cabo para MacBook Pro MacBook Air Surface Livro 2 Galaxy S22

do you think it will do that same job..?

thanks paul

It will not do the same job. That is an adapter cable that takes USB-C (DisplayPort) output from a computer, and puts it onto a Mini DisplayPort connector for a monitor. It does not carry Thunderbolt. The physical connectors will fit, but you will not get the signal needed for a Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode connection.

The vendor is just reassuring customers that the cable will work with computers that have Thunderbolt 3 ports – without going into details. (It will work with computers that have Thunderbolt 3 ports because those computers also support DisplayPort ALT mode on the same USB-C connector.)