Boot up from target disk mode doesn't work. (Why?)

I have a 2010 Macbook Pro, and a 2013 iMac. I connected the Macbook pro with the firewire cable to the iMac, and enabled target disk mode on the laptop. (It is successful because I see the hard drive appear on the iMac desktop.
I restart the iMac and hold 'option' to show the hard drive list, and sure enough the Mac Book Pro hard drive appears. I select it, and this lovely icon greets me.
From this point, I have no idea what to do.
Would you happen to know why it doesn't work and/or how to fix it?

I am able to do that... this is not the problem.
I have seen people boot up from the hard drive using target disk mode. When I try to do it, it doesn't work. Does this feature still exist?

Similar Messages

  • Booting from target disk mode

    I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro on the way with a 500 GB internal HD. My old mid 2007 MBP has a 1T hybrid drive that I would like to install as is in the new machine. Both on latest Mavericks....will the new machine boot up with the 2007 1T hard drive. Can this be tested via booting from target disk mode ?
    Thanks

    1. Yes.
    2. Yes, it can.
    (113529)

  • G4 PM will not boot after using Target Disk mode connected Intel iMac.

    Hi,
    We have some new Intel iMacs and have transferred some information from our previous G4 PM (one MDD and one Quicksilver) to the new iMacs. For some reason the G4's will now not boot up and kernal panic on the gray Apple boot screen. This has happened to all the G4's we have in our office. They are running OSX 10.2.8 and the iMacs are running OSX 10.4.4. We can still mount the drives from the G4's using FireWire Target Disk mode.
    I have tried zapping the PRAM etc but they still wont boot. I have also tried running the OSX 10.2 Installer disks to try and reinstall OSX on the G4's but the installer cannot see the drives?
    Anyone have any idea what is wrong. Never had this problem before using the FireWire transfer.
    Thanks,
    Nick.

    I had an experience with a mini mac after booting in target disk mode while connected to a blue and White G3 via Firewire. After attempting a restart, all I got was a blinking ? which usually means the startup disk or system folder can not be found.
    I fixed this problem by booting using the originall install CD and then using the startup disk menu to reselect the original system disk/system folder as the startup disk. On reboot. all was good. Only took a couple of minutes.....

  • G4 450 Sawtooth - Won't Boot to FW Target Disk Mode

    Running 10.5.8
    Upgraded NewerTech 2G Processor
    ATI 9800 Pro Video Card
    Original WD 20G Drive with 10.5.8 (Back Up Boot Disk)
    New Seagate 500G SATA - Primary Boot drive
    FirmTech SATA Controller Card
    New Seagate 1.5T - Misc Storage
    Disk Utility and Disk Warrior both report no problems on either boot drive.
    The machine will boot in any form I choose.
    Any available boot drive / disk using Start Up > Option key
    To the Install DVD using Start Up > C key
    Using single user mode - Start Up > Comm and S key
    Using USB Thumb Drive (Has 10.5.8 and Disk Warrior)
    The machine will not boot to Target Disk Mode using the T key. Before getting beyond the Black screen the computer shuts down.
    I've tried:
    alternately using each boot drive while the other is disconnected
    removing RAM
    removing the SATA controller card
    checked all connections
    Zapped Pram and reset PMU (had to reset Mac OSX Firmware for the NewerTech Processor after pram set)
    The only other thing I can find is a reference to Firmware Password Protection, but from what I read the computer should show start up problems beyond just TDM. Additionally, I am not familiar with FPP. All I know is it would be set (reset) from the Install Disk.
    Any thoughs please?

    Make sure there is a hard drive available as Master on the ATA 0 bus.
    FireWire Target Disk Mode: Target Computer Shuts Down at Startup
    How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode

  • Safely copying files from Target Disk Mode to External USB. Advice?

    Just got a new iMac and transferred my system and important files to it from my old iMac. However, a partition on my old iMac has files I want to move to my new iMac so they can be included in Time Machine backups while others I want to move to another external hard drive since I have physical copies of most of those files elsewhere.
    I can connect my old iMac to the new via Target Disk mode and copy the critical files from Mac-to-Mac easily and quickly enough. What I want to know is if I’m safe to copy the other files from the TDM-connected iMac to a USB drive.
    I’ve read that having other devices connected to your Mac while another Mac is connected via TDM can result in corrupted files. Is this true? Is it unsafe to copy files from a TDM Mac to an external USB drive?
    If it is safe, is it best to connect the USB drive to the new Mac or to the old one while it’s in TDM? There’s a lot of data so I’m wondering about transfer times. One method would see files going over Firewire through the new iMac to a USB drive, while the other would go from TDM-connected Mac directly to a USB drive connected to its own USB port. That is:
    TDM iMac > New iMac > USB Drive connected to New iMac
    or
    TDM iMac > USB Drive connected to TDM iMac
    I have limited space on my internal drive and I also don’t want to copy-hop from TDM iMac to New iMac then copy from New iMac to USB drive. I'd like to go directly from old drive to external USB drive if it's safe.
    So I’m looking for advice on the best way to connect devices in order to cut down on copying time and number of copies, and to do it safely without corrupting data. Any advice is appreciated!

    I've used Migration Assistant already to move all of my immediately necessary data and settings over. This other data was on a separate partition and I'm unable to copy all of the data over to my new drive due to lack of space.
    Things are complicated by the fact that I need to change some of my externals over to Time Machine ready backups. Previously I was using 1 TB and a 2 TB drive for TM and another 2 TB drive for general backups/archiving. Now I need to juggle things around so that both 2 TB drives are for TM and the 1 TB is used for archiving.
    An important point I should have mentioned is that I can't use my old iMac normally due to a GPU problem that seizes the system up. This is the reason I can't just copy stuff directly from old iMac to external USBs.
    I'm interested to know if what I described above is safe and if there are any time savings or benefits for copying through my new iMac or connecting the externals directly to the old iMac in TDM.

  • Target Disk Mode no longer working

    I've never had any problems connecting my PB G4 to my desktop G4 in target disk mode until today. The PB simply starts up in the Mac OS and doesn't appear on the host computer.
    I haven't changed anything. I checked the firewire cable on another device and it's fine. Only thing that's happened since I last connected was I travelled with the PB and played lots of DVDs on my trip. Can't imagine that would have done anything...but even after repairing permissions on both PB and host computer--it's still not working!
    Any ideas? Can the firewire port on the PB be damaged somehow? Many thanks for any suggestions.

    Resetting the PMU might light the firewire port back up.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
    Joe

  • Old MBP won't boot, not even Target disk mode

    Hi all,
    My 2009 MacBook Pro was being used by a student to prepare some material for me while I worked on my new(ish) Retina MBP. The system was sluggish, despite numerous attempts to use disk repair on it, throw out unused programs, etc. It finally got so slow (we were scanning large files, and even the attempt to open Finder on a directory with the large files would cause it to freeze) that we re-installed the operating system. That didn't help, so we reformatted the disk (losing a lot of work) and started again. Things were working just fine (although it was getting slower again) and then out of the blue it would not boot.
    We tried everything: Safe boot, single user, resetting *RAM, the whole kit and kaboodle.
    We then set it us as a Target disk - and were happy to see some files. But happiness was only short lived. Two files could be copied before the disk refused to continue, noting errors. We turned it off and back on in Target mode - the firewire symbol appears, but it is not seen in the Finder. The disk utility can see it, but as soon as we try to verify or repair it, it disappears.
    I've tried connecting it to a Windows machine - it dings, but does not appear. I've tried booting with the Install CD (won't move), I've tried booting with Linux (I get an error). Every now and then after a looooong time, it gets mounted as a Target disk. I've managed to scrape 3 (three) files from the disk, it is soon unresponsive, and then it won't mount again. Every now and they I can use the disk utility to access the disk, verify says I need to repair it, repair says I need to re-format the disk. I've done that a few weeks ago.
    Any ideas for something else I can try? Thanks!

    You have a hardware problem. Probably the drive has failed. But if the system does not turn on at all, no sounds of any kind, then the problem is more serious. Like the logic board has failed.
    Connecting a mac hard drive to a windows system wouldn't work unless you have a program that will allow windows to read mac formatted drives. Windows can't do that itself. You need something like macdrive (I think it is called) or some other program that can read mac formatted drive on a windows pc.
    But from reading your whole post the drive has completely failed. If the system still starts up, you hear the startup chime, all you have to do is replace the failed hard drive and reinstall the os and program to get the system working again.

  • Target Disc  Mode doesn't Work - what do I do?

    So my old Apple (2004 G4 Powerbook) went out on me. It will start it up but it won't advance past the start up screen. So I bought a new Apple. I have followed the instructions on how to transfer data from the old one to the new one using the Target Disc Mode, and the Migration Assistant. I can start my old one up in Target Disc Mode (the FireWire icon shows up on the screen). However, my new computer won't recognize it. In the migration mode, all it says is "searching for disc". It doesn't show up on my desktop either (my understanding that it should when in that mode). Any ideas of what I can do? I really want to be able to transfer that data over...Thanks in advance!

    Hi and Welcome to Apple Discussions ...
    Sounds like the drive in the PBookG4 has failed but I never say die. If by chance you use Airport and have a wireless network set up, you might be able to access the PBook drive with the new Mac. On the new Mac, make sure Airport is turned on. Open a Finder window, select Network in the Sidebar on the left and then click Network.
    On the PBookG4. You say it starts up but not past the start up screen. Have you tried using the restore disk that came with the PBook and using Disk Utility to possibly repair the drive? If not, and you have the restore disk, post back and I'll give you the instructions to do this.
    Carolyn
    Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

  • Pressing D on boot to get into Diagnostic mode doesn't work. Macbook Pro with OSX 10.6.8

    My charger has stopped working all of a sudden for my MacBook Pro. I tried my friends charger and it works. I've seen a few people mentioning that their charger started working again after running a Diagnostic test at boot up by pressing "D" after powering up the computer.
    I see this instruction all over the web, but it doesn't work for me! I have the OSX DVD in the drive. Holding down "C" while booting makes it boot on the DVD, and holding the Option key will give me a boot menu. But it just boots normally while holding down "D".
    Am I missing something?

    Press D during startup
    Start up in Apple Hardware Test (AHT).
    Apple Hardware Test is included on the DVDs that are shipped with some Macintosh computers. If the copy on your hard drive becomes unavailable, use the DVDs to run Apple Hardware Test.
    For Intel-based Apple computers that shipped with Mac OS X v10.5.4 or earlier, Apple Hardware Test is located on the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 and should be included with your computer.
    For Apple computers that shipped with Mac OS X v10.5.5 to 10.6.7, Apple Hardware Test is located on the Applications Install Disc 2 and should be included with your computer.
    For some Apple computers that shipped with OS X Lion, if Apple Hardware Test cannot be found on the hard drive, an Internet-based version starts up instead.

  • TS3775 Target Display Mode doesn't work

    I have a similar issue. I am trying to connect iMac 27" to Macbook Pro 13" (both 2011 models). I am using mini displayport Male-Male cable to connect both computers. After connecting I have pressed Command + F2 key but nothing happens. Any suggestions?

    Hello Varun,
    Requires Thunderbolt...
    Resolution
    iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) and iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) and later computers support Target Display Mode via Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable (2 m) when the source is another Thunderbolt-equipped computer.
    iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) computers do not support Target Display Mode via Mini DisplayPort cables.

  • HT1661 restoring normal mode from target disk mode on imac?Will it do it automatically on restart?

    Booting from a 2002 Imac to a 2003 Imac via forewire. It is reinstalling sys sw as I write this. will 2002 revert to normal mode on restart? or how/what do I need to do?
    Thanks,
    Al r.

    Yes, it will.
    (67159)

  • Boot OS9 in Target Disk Mode on iMac G5

    Hi! Wonder if any of you good people can help. I have an application which will only run on a native OS9 platform, but I would like to be able to boot OS9 off an external Firewire drive for ease of use from an iMac G5.
    How can this be acheived? I have a dual boot eMac. Is it possible to use carbon copy cloner to copy this drive and install it on the external firewire HDD?
    I would very much appreciate any help anyone can offer.
    Many thanks,
    Andrew

    Hi, Andrew -
    I'm looking for ways to future proof my equipment so if the eMac dies, I atleast have an alternative.
    As far as I know none of the current lineup of new Macs is OS 9 bootable, and this won't change in future releases.
    I'd suggest doing two things -
    Check on eBay or other sources, like on-line dealers of used Macs, for an OS 9-bootable machine of adequate speed - a G4 Quicksilver or early MDD model, for example, or another early eMac. Get it, refurbish it if necessary, and keep it safe as a backup. If it's going to sit for a while, get a spare internal battery for it.
    Investigate alternative software, something that will do the job and that will also run in OSX. For the long term this would be a better solution.

  • Help: Windows XP on MacBook Pro Boot Camp Partition via Target Disk Mode

    Firstly, let me lay out my situation. I have an old MacBook Pro (2,2) with a broken disk drive. It was dropped in its youth and can no longer read from or write to CDs or DVDs of any kind. I have just recently bought a new MacBook Pro to replace it (6,2) and am currently trying to convert the old computer into an XP machine through Boot Camp. I'd like to be able to do so without having to buy an external disk drive.
    After a clean install of OS X (10.6.3) onto the old machine, I successfully partition 85GB of space (although I previously attempted the same with a 32GB file system to no avail as well) for XP to be installed upon. Because I cannot boot my XP install disk directly from the broken disk drive, I then close Boot Camp Assistant and shut down the computer. I start it up in Target Disk Mode to be accessed from the new MacBook (6,2).
    Once the old MacBook is connected, I insert my XP install disk into the new MacBook (6,2) and boot from the disk. After allowing the XP (Professional) boot to load the install files, I arrow-key down to my 85GB partition (FAT32, named standard as "BOOTCAMP") on the old MacBook (2,2)'s hard drive and select it as the partition I would like to install to. This is where I am directed to a new boot window that tells me in a series of paragraphs that the XP installer cannot reach the selected partition for what seems to be a number of reasons. What it seems to be trying to say to me is that it cannot do a remote install of XP on a Target Disk Mode-connected machine, while not "knowing" that I am trying to do so. It's a similar message to the one that Boot Camp Assistant shows when one tries to create a Boot Camp partition on a machine that is being accessed via Target Disk Mode (Apple puts it much more clearly than Microsoft).
    I'd be perfectly content, albiet slightly vexed, to conclude here that it is not possible, shuttle over to the nearest Best Buy, and purchase an external disk drive if it weren't for one thing: I tried the same thing two weeks ago with Ubuntu 10.10 and it installed perfectly on the Boot Camp partition I had created then (I have since wiped all and installed OS X cleanly on the laptop).
    Here comes the point/questions:
    If the Ubuntu boot disk can access the partition, why can't the XP boot disk?
    Is there some way to convince the boot system that the drive is local, rather than being accessed via Target Disk Mode?
    Is there an easy solution that doesn't even require that, and will allow me to install to the disk over a firewire connection?
    If anyone's knowledgeable and/or brave enough to tackle this one, I'll be eternally grateful. Heck, I'll be grateful if anyone even attempts to tackle it.
    Thanks,
    -Alec Page

    Windows XP will only install from the optical drive. Target Disk Mode does not work with Windows volumes. Windows will not install from any external device.

  • Installing in Firewire Target Disk mode

    I know this is a kind of silly question, but is it advisable to install OS X on my iMac when it's booted into Firewire Target disk mode? I mean, would it get funky stuff in there that the iMac doesn't need if i install from, say, my PowerMac? I know it's quite possible to do this, as I used to do it when I had two identical iMacs. But those were, of course, identical, so the target machine had the same specs as the one that was installing.
    Any thoughts?
    Oh, and let me say a quick "hi" to all the regulars. I haven't really been on this baord too much the past year or so. Who's still around?

    Hi, Trey.
    I installed Tiger via Target Disk Mode, but my G3 has been having kernel panics in the couple weeks since the upgrade. On another post someone said that they'd heard that the Target Disc Mode can be a problem. So I'm checking the posts to find out more.
    My G3 has a CD-R/W drive, so I didn't have an alternative, other than to buy an external drive, or to send Apple my commercial Tiger DVDs and pay them MORE to convert it to CDs. I just paid big bucks for the G5 a month before they came out with a cheaper upgraded version, which I am unhappy about. Of course those Tiger disks are for G5 ONLY, so I couldn't install to my G3 from them, so I coughed up the cash for the DVDs. I couldn't fathom giving them even more for a CD transfer.
    Of course, if the G3 keeps crashing, and I hear from others that a direct install from CD may cure the problem, what choice will I have? As much as I've loved Apple over the years, there's starting to be a more corporate (and dare I say it, Gates-like) vibe from their method of doing business. Now the kid wants an iPod for Christmas, and I have to check those boards to see how they're performing. As helpful and fun as all this technology is, it is also quite stress-inducing...
    Good luck with your upgrade! --kat
    iMac G5 20" (ALS); 2G RAM | iMac G3 500MHz slot-load CD-R/W CRT; 1G RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.3)   Using Apple since IIe, and Macs since 1984
    iMac G5 20" (ALS); 2G RAM | iMac G3 500MHz; slot-load CD-RW; 1G RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.3)   Using Apple since IIe, and Macs since 1984

  • Gracefully exiting target disk mode?

    Hi all,
    I just purchased a new 2011 Mac Mini and have been using it in target disk mode for some stuff and was wondering how do I exit target disk mode on the Mac Mini. I eject the Mac Mini from the computer it's connected to and then the only way i've found to exit target disk mode on the Mac Mini is to hold down the power button, but i've always thought this wasn't a good idea to shut off the computer this way or is it acceptable to do this when your booted up into target disk mode?
    Just curious maybe there is another way to exit it that i'm overlooking but all I see is the floating Firewire and Thunderbolt icons there isn't any shutdown button or anything.
    Thanks for your help

    I would not worry about it.  Using the power button is the proper way to exit.  If for some reason, the shorter ~1 sec press doesn't shut down for you, feel free to hold for the 3-5 force shut down.  I've been around mac users for a very long time and have never actually heard of anyone 'actually' have a negative effect (that full reboot couldn't fix) from force shutting down.
    I wouldn't lose any sleep over using it.

Maybe you are looking for