brickpit
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Can I connect a (black screen of death) Macbook Pro to a PC for the purpose of backing up some files to an external harddrive?

My Macbook Pro won't boot due to what I believe is "the black screen of death" problem ( http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377?viewlocale=en_US ).  I am planning on getting it fixed but before I do, I want to copy some of the contents of the hard drive -->  external harddrive (Fantom GreenDrive).  

 

I also have an old Windows laptop (think it has Windows XP on it).

 

Is it possible to connect the PC to the Macbook Pro through USB or Ethernet cable to copy the files (mostly MP3s and some pictures that I haven't backed up in 6-8 months) over to the harddrive using Windows explorer?


I've seen posts about buying a "harddrive enclosure", and putting your Mac harddrive in that, but before I take apart my Macbook Pro to do that (which I've never done and am unsure even how), wanted to just see if could connect through USB\Ethernet first.

 

Thanks,

-eric

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.4GHz (T7700) Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive @ 7200 rpm

Posted on Jan 17, 2012 4:52 AM

by ds store,Solvedanswer
ds store ds store
Level 7 (30,400 points)
A:

brickpit wrote:

 

Thinking of just buying a male\male USB cable and just trying to connect the PC to the MBR to see what happens. 

 

 

Won't work.

 

 

brickpit wrote:

 

If that doesn't work I'm told I can remove the harddrive and put it in an enclosure, which I should be able to see if I connect it to the PC?

 

That will work, but you don't need a enclosure, a IDE/SATA to USB adapter for $20 online will do the trick for your needs and not cost as much as a enclosure.

 

You will also need to install MacDrive on the PC to read the HFS+ format of the Mac boot drive.

 

 

 

You can also use the computers at the Apple Store, just bring (or buy) a Firewire 800/400 cable (plus adapter if needed), hold T and boot the problem Mac and use their machines and a external drive to transfer/delete the files.

 

Just know that Apple Store computers reboot nightly and reset to a certain state, so don't save your data on thier hardware.

 

Just tell a Apple employee what you need to do and they will assist with power needs etc.

 

I've cloned entire hard drives in Apple Stores, takes over a hour.

 

If you want to clone the entire boot drive, use the donationware (free) Carbon Copy Cloner and format the external drive GUID with OS X Extended Journaled first in Disk Utility, this way if the hard drive is replaced, you can hold option key and boot off the external drive and  reverse clone back onto the new drive.

 

However you can't use a OSX clone on another type Mac, only the same model.

Posted on Jan 17, 2012 8:59 AM

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brickpit

Q: Can I connect a (black screen of death) Macbook Pro to a PC for the purpose of backing up some files to an external harddrive?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by brickpit,

    brickpit brickpit Jan 17, 2012 7:46 AM in response to brickpit
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 17, 2012 7:46 AM in response to brickpit

    Someone here must know the answer.  Pretty please?

  • by Zyriab,Helpful

    Zyriab Zyriab Jan 17, 2012 7:49 AM in response to brickpit
    Level 4 (3,319 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 17, 2012 7:49 AM in response to brickpit

    If you have another Mac then you can connect the faulty one to it using a firewire cable and boot it into Target Disk Mode.  This doesn't work with Windows PCs tho'.

     

    Another alternative is to connect your MacBook pro to a TV using a minidisplayport to HDMI cable which will at least give you a display so that you can carry out the operation you intend.

  • by brickpit,

    brickpit brickpit Jan 17, 2012 8:17 AM in response to Zyriab
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 17, 2012 8:17 AM in response to Zyriab

    Thanks for the response, Zyriab.   I did try connecting to external TV, but no luck.  Guess the Nvidia graphics card failure issue is effecting that too.


    And unfortunately, I don't have another Mac (and don't know anyone else who does) so unsure what to do... 

     

    Thinking of just buying a male\male USB cable and just trying to connect the PC to the MBR to see what happens. 

     

    If that doesn't work I'm told I can remove the harddrive and put it in an enclosure, which I should be able to see if I connect it to the PC?

  • by Zyriab,

    Zyriab Zyriab Jan 17, 2012 8:46 AM in response to brickpit
    Level 4 (3,319 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 17, 2012 8:46 AM in response to brickpit

    Don't bother with the USB cable thing, it won't work! 

     

    Yes you can put the HD in an enclosure and connect it to a PC, but it's not that simple.  Because the drive will be formatted for Mac the PC won't be able to see it.  You need to get third party software for the PC that enables it to read a Mac formatted drive.  Google 'read mac drive with windows' to find your options.

     

    A better option might be to take the faulty machine into an Apple store and ask them to connect it to a working Mac in Target Disk Mode and get them to allow you to transfer the files you want to your external drive.  I'm sure they'll be quite accomodating, especially if you're taking it there for repair.

  • by ds store,Solvedanswer

    ds store ds store Jan 17, 2012 8:59 AM in response to brickpit
    Level 7 (30,400 points)
    Jan 17, 2012 8:59 AM in response to brickpit

    brickpit wrote:

     

    Thinking of just buying a male\male USB cable and just trying to connect the PC to the MBR to see what happens. 

     

     

    Won't work.

     

     

    brickpit wrote:

     

    If that doesn't work I'm told I can remove the harddrive and put it in an enclosure, which I should be able to see if I connect it to the PC?

     

    That will work, but you don't need a enclosure, a IDE/SATA to USB adapter for $20 online will do the trick for your needs and not cost as much as a enclosure.

     

    You will also need to install MacDrive on the PC to read the HFS+ format of the Mac boot drive.

     

     

     

    You can also use the computers at the Apple Store, just bring (or buy) a Firewire 800/400 cable (plus adapter if needed), hold T and boot the problem Mac and use their machines and a external drive to transfer/delete the files.

     

    Just know that Apple Store computers reboot nightly and reset to a certain state, so don't save your data on thier hardware.

     

    Just tell a Apple employee what you need to do and they will assist with power needs etc.

     

    I've cloned entire hard drives in Apple Stores, takes over a hour.

     

    If you want to clone the entire boot drive, use the donationware (free) Carbon Copy Cloner and format the external drive GUID with OS X Extended Journaled first in Disk Utility, this way if the hard drive is replaced, you can hold option key and boot off the external drive and  reverse clone back onto the new drive.

     

    However you can't use a OSX clone on another type Mac, only the same model.

  • by brickpit,

    brickpit brickpit Jan 17, 2012 9:11 AM in response to ds store
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 17, 2012 9:11 AM in response to ds store

    Great.    Thanks for all the info ds.

     

    I guess I'll go the enclosure\MacDrive route.   Sounds fairly clean\painless.

     

    I did travel an hour to closest Apple Store to get my "diagnosis" but guy didn't really offer the option to use the store's machines.   He said he could do it for $99 OR recommended a small repair shop that would do it for $50-60, and added that was probably something I could do myself.  Wouldn't want to travel all the way back there and get "turned down".

     

    Only other question I have is that, rather than purchase MacDrive and use Windows PC, has anyone tried using Ubuntu or other Linux O/S?   I have boot disk of Ubuntu that I could run on PC.  Not sure if Ubutu O/S would be able to read the Macbook's drive?

  • by Zyriab,Helpful

    Zyriab Zyriab Jan 17, 2012 9:15 AM in response to brickpit
    Level 4 (3,319 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 17, 2012 9:15 AM in response to brickpit

    Linux is a good option, the ability to read HFS+ (Mac format) drives is built into the kernel so any distro will do.

  • by ds store,

    ds store ds store Jan 17, 2012 9:22 AM in response to brickpit
    Level 7 (30,400 points)
    Jan 17, 2012 9:22 AM in response to brickpit

    brickpit wrote:

     

    Only other question I have is that, rather than purchase MacDrive and use Windows PC, has anyone tried using Ubuntu or other Linux O/S?   I have boot disk of Ubuntu that I could run on PC.  Not sure if Ubutu O/S would be able to read the Macbook's drive?

     

    Linux can read the HFS+ formated drive and the NTFS/FAT of Windows, but you would be better off using PartedMagic cd instead of a Ubuntu live cd.

     

    PartedMagic loads directly into RAM so its faster, then spits the disk out so you can use the cd/dvd drive as well.

     

    One can boot a Mac off the Partedmagic cd too.