Buying new mini, want to use 2009 mini as external. Don't necessarily want to partition as a drive, just want to be able to transfer docs between minis and use as extra storage. It's a perfectly good machine and I'd rather not just shelf it.
Mac mini (Early 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
You can just startup the old Mac normally and connect to network and use file sharing.
or
Connect the two Macs via FireWire and boot the old Mac in Target Disk Mode. You will need to purchase a Thunderbolt to FW 800 adopter and then a FW 400 to FW 400 to 800 adopter. The gender of the FW 400/800 adopter depends upon the cable FW 800 or 400 you will use
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support
You can just startup the old Mac normally and connect to network and use file sharing.
or
Connect the two Macs via FireWire and boot the old Mac in Target Disk Mode. You will need to purchase a Thunderbolt to FW 800 adopter and then a FW 400 to FW 400 to 800 adopter. The gender of the FW 400/800 adopter depends upon the cable FW 800 or 400 you will use
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support
Or, you could remove the hard drive from the MacMini and install it in a USB3/Firewire external enclosure.
See, as an example: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/External-Enclosures/2.5-Inch-Drives-H D-SSD
You could just put it on your home network in "headless" mode and
be able to access from all devices.
Initially, enable Screen Sharing and File Sharing and set up some shared
folders and your good to go.
I'd like to connet my Mac Mini to my home network, but I ran into a different problem with my Mac Mini that I posted some time ago and got no resolution for. My Mac Mini essentially floods the network traffic and crashes my internet connection. It worked fine as my only device when I lived in a different home, same city. However now, it connects for a few moments then completely disconnects. Consequently, I am not able to connect any other devices, even after shutting down my Mac Mini, until I power down all devices including the router and modem. I won't go into that issue again here, but I'd like to know if it's possible to connect the Mac Mini to the network somehow WITHOUT the Mac Mini having Internet connectivity. This way, I can at least get the resources I have on that device.
i was pleasantly surprised target disk mode worked with an older mini and old OS X, but it did. Only downside of leaving it hooked up all the time as an external is needing to plug in a keyboard every time I want to boot it up.
Mac mini as external hard drive
