Why doesn't my Firewire 400 drive mount?

Question

Level 1

61 points

Why doesn't my Firewire 400 drive mount?

I just purchased a brand new Mac Pro, and I'm trying to use Migration assistant to transfer all my stuff from my old iMac. First, I tried to connect the Macs using an ethernet cable, but my new computer didn't seem to be able to find my old computer. I tried three different ethernet cables, including a crossover type, but no luck with any of them. Then I tried going through the wifi, which sort of worked, but it was sooooo slow, and then it ended up spontaneously quitting halfway through.

Then it occurred to me that I could just connect the drive that I used for Time Machine backups to my new computer. So I followed the instructions that I found here on the support forums: I bought a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 cable, and a Thunderbolt to Firewire adaptor. So I connected the cable to the adaptor, hooked my drive to my new computer, and nothing happened. Not even a message saying that the drive is unreadable.

So what do I have to do to get this drive to mount? Even if I find another way to migrate my stuff, I really need to be able to use this drive.

Thanks.

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2), 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel, 16 GBram

Posted on Feb 14, 2015 5:47 PM

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Answer 1

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Feb 14, 2015 8:34 PM in response to Jeremy Bell2

It sounds like you're not following the instructions for either method.

To use an Ethernet cable, you need to run Migration Assistant on both Macs. You don't need a crossover cable. http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4889

To use a Firewire connection, the source Mac has to be in Firewire Target Disc Mode. You do this by holding down the "T" key down while restarting the Mac. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10725

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Answer 2

Jeremy Bell2 Author

Level 1

61 points

Feb 15, 2015 1:33 AM in response to Lanny

Thank you for your reply, but I did indeed run Migration Assistant on both Macs, and I did indeed use a standard ethernet cable. I only tried the crossover type after I struck out with the standard one.

And yes, I did indeed try target disk mode, but since my Time Machine backup is on an external drive, it was just simpler to connect it directly. But it didn't work either way.

At any rate, I was finally able to migrate my data by changing my Time Machine settings to back up to a usb drive, and then hooking that drive up to my new computer. But I still don't understand why my firewire drive won't mount. It's a perfectly good drive, and according to the forums here on apple.com, I should be able to connect it to my new computer by using the correct adapters.

Surely there must be someone here who knows how to troubleshoot this issue, right?

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Answer 3

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Feb 15, 2015 3:21 AM in response to Jeremy Bell2

But I still don't understand why my firewire drive won't mount.

Verify that your Finder preference settings allow you to see it:

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Answer 4

Jeremy Bell2 Author

Level 1

61 points

Feb 16, 2015 1:54 PM in response to Lanny

Okay, I tried that, but those prefs are already set as you indicated. My other external drives do show up on the desktop and in the sidebar, just not my firewire drive.

Btw, it's been a while since I've used the discussions on apple.com, and I just noticed that there no longer seems to be any way to get a list of all my forum posts. I just spent over a half hour searching for some way to see my posts, and finally I had to search my browser history to find this discussion. Does anyone know how I can find my discussions?

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Answer 5

byuddy

Level 1

4 points

Feb 16, 2015 2:08 PM in response to Jeremy Bell2

Jeremy Bell2 wrote:

I just spent over a half hour searching for some way to see my posts, and finally I had to search my browser history to find this discussion. Does anyone know how I can find my discussions?

I sign in and click on "activity"

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Answer 6

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Feb 16, 2015 2:28 PM in response to Jeremy Bell2

"But I still don't understand why my firewire drive won't mount. It's a perfectly good drive . . ."

It's possible that the FW port (only that port) on your drive has failed. It happens more often than you would think. Although FW is hot-swappable, it's always best to disconnect the drive from power before you connect/disconnect cables to reduce the chance of shorts and surges. And even if you power down the drive, the FW port on the Mac still carries 25 volts--plenty to cause trouble if a cable is inserted the wrong way.

Connect the drive (by FW) to a different Mac. Will it mount?

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Answer 7

Jeremy Bell2 Author

Level 1

61 points

Feb 16, 2015 3:32 PM in response to byuddy

Byuddy: Thanks, but I already tried that. I checked "all activity" and "unanswered questions" and neither of those shows a list of my posts. Right now, the only thing it lists is one message that I posted about 10 minutes ago in a different discussion; it doesn't show this discussion at all.

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Answer 8

Jeremy Bell2 Author

Level 1

61 points

Feb 16, 2015 3:33 PM in response to mns579

mns579: Yes, it's connected to my old computer right now and it's working fine. I've tried it on my dad's computer, too. It works perfectly on any computer with a firewire port. It's only when I try connecting it via thunderbolt that there's a problem.

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Answer 9

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Feb 16, 2015 3:41 PM in response to Jeremy Bell2

"Byuddy: Thanks, but I already tried that. I checked "all activity" and "unanswered questions" and neither of those shows a list of my posts. Right now, the only thing it lists is one message that I posted about 10 minutes ago in a different discussion; it doesn't show this discussion at all."

Try the "Content" link instead.

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Answer 10

byuddy

Level 1

4 points

Feb 16, 2015 4:16 PM in response to mns579

I click on "activity" and "all activity" to see my own posts plus those that I'm following. If I click on "unanswered questions" I don't see any posts. I posted a couple of questions that have received no answers, and I can only see them with "all activity". I have been exploring the Apple Support Community for only a few days so I'm still learning.

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Answer 11

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Feb 16, 2015 4:32 PM in response to byuddy

@ byuddy

Even long-time users seem frustrated by the system Apple has adopted to run the discussion boards. That's another issue.

@ Jeremy Bell2

Good to know that the drive works.

If--a big if--you're looking at a hardware issue rather than software, process of elimination leaves (1) the Thunderbolt port on the Mac, (2) the Thunderbolt-FW adapter, or (3) the FW800-FW400 adapter cable. If you have access to another Thunderbolt machine, try your chain there. If you don't, I don't know how you could test the Thunderbolt-FW adapter and I have even less of an idea on how to test the Mac's port, but some daisy-chaining of other FW devices might reveal whether the FW800-FW400 adapter cable is working properly.

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Answer 12

Jeremy Bell2 Author

Level 1

61 points

Feb 16, 2015 9:53 PM in response to Jeremy Bell2

For anyone who is interested, I finally called Apple Care about this. I spent about an hour on the phone with them, talked to a few different people, and after all that, they basically came to the conclusion that it can't be done. They said that going from firewire 400 to thunderbolt gives me a tenuous connection, and, depending on the specific model of hard drive I'm using, I have a 50/50 chance of it working.

This is very disappointing, as I did quite a bit of research before buying all this stuff, on apple.com and other sites, and I didn't find a single article that mentioned anything like this.

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Answer 13

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Feb 18, 2015 8:15 AM in response to Jeremy Bell2

Counterintuitively, adding another link to a tenuous chain may seem like a bad idea, but you could try

Mac > Tb adapter > (FW800 port of any FW device with dual FW800 and FW400 ports) > FW400 port on external drive

This arrangement relies on that intermediate FW device to handle the FW800-FW400 exchange.

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