renyay
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Firewire or Thunderbolt Cable?

Hello All,

 

I have 2 questions. One relates to my 2007 MacBook on which the CD drive no longer works. I need to reinstall the OS, and I have heard I can do this by using target disc mode and connecting the MacBook to my iMac. My first question is: What cable do I need to do this with? Do both of these predate the Thunderbolt Cable? If I do need to use a firewire cable can someone include a picture of what I should buy? There are pictures of my MacBook and iMac ports below.

 

My second question relates to installing Microsoft Word onto my brand new Macbook Air, which has no CD drive (I have word on DVD). Again, I figure I'll do this with target disc mode on the iMac, but again, I don't know which cable to use. The Macbook Air has a thunderbolt port. What does the iMac have?

 

Obviously I'm a novice, so feel free to respond in laymans terms! Thanks.

Macbook ports.jpgiMac ports.jpg

Posted on May 17, 2014 12:25 PM

by Kappy,Solvedanswer
Kappy Kappy
Level 10 (271,850 points)
Desktops
A:

The iMac is FW800. The MacBook is FW400. You will need a cable with a FW400 plug on one end and a FW800 plug on the other end.

Posted on May 17, 2014 12:56 PM

Close
renyay

Q: Firewire or Thunderbolt Cable?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 Next

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 17, 2014 12:32 PM in response to renyay
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 12:32 PM in response to renyay

    Your MacBook only supports USB and Firewire. Your iMac has a Firewire port, it's the one with the "Y" icon above it.

     

    Assuming you have an Office license, you can download and activate a trial version  of Office 2011 from Mactopia.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 17, 2014 12:39 PM in response to renyay
    Level 6 (14,582 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 12:39 PM in response to renyay

    Both computers pictured have FireWire ports.

     

    You'd need to get a cable with the correct version FW plug

    on the ends; if they are both FW800, that'd be easier. Other

    wise, if you had an older Mac with FW400, the cable would

    need to have a ends that match each computer.

     

    For a Thunderbolt-only equipped computer w/o FW ports,

    you'd need to buy the TB to FW cable. There also are

    other cables for use with TB, since displays also connect.

     

    •FW Target Disk - How to use and troubleshoot FireWire Target Disk Mode:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

     

    Good luck !

     

    edited

  • by renyay,

    renyay renyay May 17, 2014 12:46 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2014 12:46 PM in response to Kappy

    My stepfather is a faculty member at a local college. He sent me this version of Office. It has an MFG reference and Part number on the packaging. Is that enough to mean it's liscensed? If it is, and I download a trial version... how does that become my permanent liscensed version?

  • by renyay,

    renyay renyay May 17, 2014 12:49 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2014 12:49 PM in response to K Shaffer

    Thanks,

     

    How do I know if they are FW800 or FW400? The only ports I'm working with are those pictured, and the thunderbolt port on the MacBook Air.

     

    Is it possible for someone to tell me specifically what cables I need? I need to connect the iMac to the MacBook; then I need to connect the iMac to the MacBook Air.

  • by renyay,

    renyay renyay May 17, 2014 12:51 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2014 12:51 PM in response to Kappy

    Oh, I have a product key on the Office discs too.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 17, 2014 12:53 PM in response to renyay
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 12:53 PM in response to renyay

    It's licensed to the school. Not the same thing. You don't require a license to use the one from the school. And, if you are not a student at the school then you would be using it illegally. If you are a student at the school, then you or your stepfather should be able to have the DVD cloned to a USB flash drive. Note that the DVD version must be for a Mac; not for a PC. The latter will not work on your Mac. Be sure you partition and format the flash drive for use on your Mac before cloning the DVD to it.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 17, 2014 12:55 PM in response to renyay
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 12:55 PM in response to renyay

    Yes, I think that's what you need to license the copy for you. A license key is usually a series of hypen separated character groups consisting of five or six characters in each group.

  • by renyay,

    renyay renyay May 17, 2014 12:55 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2014 12:55 PM in response to Kappy

    I think he bought these, just with a faculty discout. It includes a product key also. In that case am I able to somehow download an Office trial and then install it permanently?

  • by Kappy,Solvedanswer

    Kappy Kappy May 17, 2014 12:56 PM in response to renyay
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 12:56 PM in response to renyay

    The iMac is FW800. The MacBook is FW400. You will need a cable with a FW400 plug on one end and a FW800 plug on the other end.

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy May 17, 2014 12:59 PM in response to renyay
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 12:59 PM in response to renyay

    OK. Gotcha. I believe that copy came with three license keys. In fact you should be able to use the key with a downloaded Trial version as well as the version on the DVD which is also a trial version until you enter a license key.

  • by K Shaffer,Helpful

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 17, 2014 1:07 PM in response to renyay
    Level 6 (14,582 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 1:07 PM in response to renyay

    If both ports are the same size, FW800 is a smaller port; FW400 is larger

    The System Profiler (About this Mac) then 'More Info' should show the

    hardware configuration of the computer(s) in question, the ports & the

    connection speeds usually are listed in Sys Profiler> Hardware.

     

    {By looking at the picture, looks like FW400 on the portable, and FW800

    on the white desktop machine; whatever model/year these are.} My old

    MacBook1.1 has FW400, as do my all older macs.

     

    FW800 is backward compatible to 400 via correct cable or adapter.

    Was writing when you already had reply. Slow low-end internet here.

     

    Good luck!

     

    edited 2X

  • by renyay,

    renyay renyay May 17, 2014 11:02 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2014 11:02 PM in response to K Shaffer

    Thanks for the clairification! My iMac is from June 2011 and the MacBook is from late 2007 if that helps. I will look up the specs as you have advised. I feel like I have a better idea of what to buy now.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 17, 2014 11:06 PM in response to renyay
    Level 10 (271,850 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2014 11:06 PM in response to renyay

    I can assure you from personal knowledge:

     

    Your iMac has FW800 port.

    Your MB has FW400 port.

     

    They make cables with each plug on each end. You can buy them in most computer stores.

  • by renyay,

    renyay renyay May 17, 2014 11:09 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2014 11:09 PM in response to K Shaffer

    So in 'about this mac'  for the iMac, I got to info saying:

    FireWire Bus: Maximum Speed:    Up to 800 Mb/sec

     

    For the MacBook I see:

    FireWire Bus: Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec

     

    So that means that I'd need to buy a 800mb/s firewire cable and then and adapter for a 400mb/s?

Page 1 Next