iMac to Macbook Air with Ethernet cable

Question

gigapapa Author

Level 1

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iMac to Macbook Air with Ethernet cable

I need to connect my 27" iMac Mid 2010 and 13" Mid 2012 Macbook Air with ethernet cable.

Something went wrong during the update of the OS X 10.10.3 on iMAC, and now it crashes during the reboot.

Disk utility can not repair the problem.

I need to start iMAC in Target Disk Mode, connect it to Macbook Air to save some files from the harddrive.

This method was also suggested by Apple store Genious. He suggested to a buy USB/Ethernet adapter for the Air, which I did.

Problem:

When I connect iMAC in TDM and connect it to Macbook Air with ethernet cable, I can not see the iMAC drive on Air.

Wifi is switched off.

I can assign IP address to Air but can not do the same on iMAC.

Please suggest how to solve the problem.

Thank you in advance.

George

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), problem connected with ethernet

Posted on May 29, 2015 7:42 AM

Reply

Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,478 points

May 29, 2015 8:15 AM in response to gigapapa

gigapapa,

Don't proceed attempting to connect the two machines together just yet, there likely is no need to. First attempt to restart in the Recovery Partition on the iMac, hold down Command + R on startup. Then re-install OS X, this will not overwrite your data so don't worry about that. However I hope you do backup your computers, especially prior to doing system updates. Just in case there is a problem, it's always wise to have a backup you can restore from.

Once you have re-installed OS X attempt to restart the iMac normally and it should work just fine. Please report back after doing so and let us know the status.

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Answer 2

gigapapa Author

Level 1

0 points

May 29, 2015 12:27 PM in response to rkaufmann87

rkaufmann87

First of all, thank you for replying to my message.

Of course, I tried all possible tricks with a restart.

Disk Utility says -

"File system check exit code is 8."

And my attempt to Repair Disk ends with this message:

"Disk Utility can't repair the disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat disk, and restore your backed-up files."

So, I have no chance to recover the current OS X this way.

I discussed my issue with an Apple store Genius in Santa Monica, and he advised to reboot iMAC in Target Disk Mode and then to connect my Macbook Air to it with ethernet cable using USB/Ethernet adapter, as iMac of Mid 2010 has no other port for that. Absolutely the same advice I've got from an Apple Genius in Chicago store.

So, after I returned back home to Georgia-country (there is no local Apple support) I'm trying to arrange this connection with the ethernet cable but without any success. As a matter of fact, I still have some information on the hard drive I would like to rescue. Thank you again for your efforts to help me.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,478 points

May 29, 2015 1:04 PM in response to gigapapa

I'm not sure I understand but it sounds like the iMac HD has crashed and you are attempting to connect your MBA and the iMac together to recover some data. Is that correct?

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Answer 4

gigapapa Author

Level 1

0 points

May 29, 2015 2:30 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Yes, absolutely correct.

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,478 points

May 29, 2015 2:59 PM in response to gigapapa

Can I assume you did not back it up? If my assumption is correct. then you're beating a dead horse. You would be best served to remove the hard drive and take it to a data recovery service, this is likely the ONLY way you are going to recover any data. If the had disk is damaged and the computer won't boot you are not going to be able to get data off of it by yourself.

If my assumption is incorrect, then simply replace the HD in the iMac if you want to continue using it. Then you can restore the backup to the MBA if you want or so the iMac once repaired.

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