Does Disk Utility work in FireWire Target Disk Mode?

I have the dreaded "overlapped extent allocation" disk error on my PowerBook G4 FW800, which I discovered when attempting to install Tiger. I can still boot into 10.3.9.
My question: Can I run Disk Utility from my G4 PowerMac (Tiger10.4.7) with my PowerBook in Target Disk Mode? I have seen this mentioned in some discussion threads, but others say it won't work.
Alternatively, is there another way (e.g. ethernet) to connect the two to fix the problem?
PowerBook G4 15" 1GHz FW800 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Thank you.
I ran Disk Utility via TDM and it repaired the problem. Luckily, the corrupted files were not important.
PowerBook G4 15" 1GHz FW800 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Disk Utility Unable to Probe Target Disk

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Target computer not appearing on host computer during Firewire Target Disk Mode

My 2009 iMac recently started getting stuck on the white Apple loading screen and disk utility said it has an error that it can't repair. I asked a question on here about this and was told I can back up my iMac files on my Macbook Pro using a Firewire cable.
I bought a 9-pin to 9-pin Firewire cable and have been trying to use Target Disk Mode to connect my two computers but my iMac is not showing up on my Macbook Pro anywhere (desktop, finder).
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Am I doing something wrong? Please help me with this!
(I wasn't sure which community this issue belongs to so I'm sorry if this is the wrong place for my question!)

Try the ones at > How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode

Firewire Target Disk Mode - Secondary Internal HDD?

Hello great collective of knowledge.
Does anyone know if there is a way to target the secondary internal hard disk in Firewire Target Disk Mode?
Thanks,
Clint

FireWire Target Disk Mode will only work with the master Ultra ATA drive. To access other drives, change the position of them in the computer or use File Sharing, with SharePoints if necessary.
(23400)

Firewire Target DIsk Mode Mac partition not Boot Camp partition

Hi I'm having issues starting up my Mac and would like to Firewire mount the drive then image it. However, when I do so the Boot Camp partition mounts instead of the Mac partition. I've tried using Disk Utility on the host machine to mount the Mac partition (it does show up in Disk Utility) without success, Is there anything I can do.
(Yes I have yesterday's Time Machine backup, but would still prefer to do a full image before wiping and installing the OS).

Are you talking about starting up one computer in Target Disk Mode and then seeing it with a second computer (and if so, which model computer and which OS)?
[How to use FireWire target disk mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661] includes description of hardware and software requirements.
[What to do if your Mac doesn't enter FireWire Target Disk Mode|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75414], also read about [Open Firmware Password Protection|http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/openfirmwarepassword.html] which can disable Target Disk Mode.
[Technical Note TN 1189|http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1189.html#TargetMode] - driver details for TDM

IMac G4/800 in FireWire Target Disk Mode shuts down, hard drive hopeless?

I have found myself in possession of a 12 year-old iMac G4/800. The machine looks stock and was nice and full of dust when I took it apart, so I'm going to assume nothing has been upgraded on it. The person who the computer belongs to has had issues booting the machine and when it does boot, the machine will throw up the "grey screen of death" after a few seconds, I suspect when the hard drive starts to get hit.
I've attempted to start the machine in FireWire Target Disk Mode and the machine will mount on my 2011 MacBook Pro, however once I begin to copy files the machine will abruptly shut off.
I have also attempted to remove the hard drive from the machine and connect it to my MacBook Pro via an OWC Drive Adapter, but it won't mount from the adapter in Disk Utility, Terminal or Disk Warrior. I've connected other (non-IDE) drives with the adapter before, but no luck with this one. Perhaps the IDE connector is faulty on the adapter?
I may look for another drive adapter and I've made an Apple Genius app't for later this afternoon, but I'm curious if anyone has any further advice. Is it more likely that it's a motherboard issue that's causing the machine to shut of in FTDM or a hard drive issue? In any case, this may be one for the Data Rescue Experts. I imagine I may get a few looks at the Apple store with such an old machine.

Another contributory issue to booting in an older PPC Mac is the PRAM battery.
If the battery is more than four years old, it would likely be a partial cause of odd
startup issues and some settings that are required for the computer to start &
run correctly would not be available. The battery is a 3.6V. 1/2AA Lithium cell.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAA36VPRAM/
A few companies such as macsales.com show them on their web site... sounds
like your old iMac G4 800MHz could use one. Note there are takeapart instruction
pages online such as one from XLR8Yourmac from years ago. The 800MHz is
similar to the later models with faster G4 processors of the same appearance.
The hard drive type utilized is the older ATA/IDE or PATA; uses older formatting.
Tools, thermal paste, and some other tedious details need to be attended to...
•iMac G4 Take-apart for Drive and RAM upgrades:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/imac_g4/imacg4_takeapart.html
And another fairly good page w/ larger images:
•Mr Totes' iMac G4 -- taken apart:
http://www.mrtotes.co.uk/page1/page1.html
Sometimes the power supplies and other components can be the cause of issues
in these iMac G4 models, you can test the power output by using the test ports
that are located in the same compartment as the upgrade RAM slot & wi-fi card.
You may be able to find a copy of an original Apple service manual for that iMac.
Those are harder to get, and used to be available to Apple trained technicians.
Good luck & happy computing!

Firewire target disk mode only recognizes 128GB of my 400 GB external drive

I am using an old Powermac G4 with a Seagate 400MB internal secondary drive as a n external drive via firewire target disk mode. I have used disk utility to format it but only 128 GB of the 400 GB is recognized? Any thoughts?

More than likely your old G4 has a disk controller only capable or recognizing drives up to 128Gb size. If it's an original G4 model with no additional ATA card in it, that would be normal.

Firewire Target Disk mode confusion

Alright, so after 1.5yrs my PowerMac decides to crash...after spending time on phone with Apple support and internet, only option is complete reinstall. So I was told about Firewire Target Disk Mode and the ability to transfer all data from crashed computer to a working one, and after reading countless post on this forum as well as others, Im still a little bit in the grey on which is the Host and which is the target, so I felt that I would see if I could get a case-specific answer from my friends here...
If please could someone select correct answer.
Both computers off, start the (crashed/working) computer while holding the "T" key.
Also, is there any way I could cause any data loss to the working computer? Its my roommates and it would be terrible in if fixing mine it destroyed his!!!
PowerMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Thank you very much in advance...and please flame me if I didnt make any sense, but hopefully will understand what Im trying to do and help a desperate man out. Thanks again!!!

I'm still a little bit in the grey on which is the Host
and which is the target, so I felt that I would see
if I could get a case-specific answer from my friends
here...
The "Target" in Target Disk Mode ("TDM") is the computer that is placed into TDM. The paradigm is that, by booting the TDM computer with the "T" key depressed, it becomes just a fancy Firewire disk (with the TDM icon on the screen) just like any other Firewire disk, and can be mounted on any other working Macintosh computer (the "Host") as an external drive.
In most cases (but not yours), it actually can be done with either computer as the "Host" and the other one as the TDM (Target). Because you can't boot your computer, it will have to be the Target so that the boot ROM can do the Firewire magic to make the drive be a Firewire TDM drive.
If please could someone select correct answer.
Both computers off, start the (crashed/working)
computer while holding the "T" key.
In your case (see above), it should be the "crashed" computer that is put into TDM mode by booting with the T key depressed.
Also, is there any way I could cause any data loss to
the working computer?
Oh sure, just like you could operating on any Computer. You could drag all of the files on the Host computer to the trash, and many would go there (some would need the admin password). You could erase the disk (Mac OS won't let you erase the boot disk, but you could boot from a CD/DVD on the Host computer and erase the boot drive. And you could make the mistake of copying the files from the TDM drive (the crashed computer) on top of similar but possibly different files on the Host. But connecting the TDM computer as a mounted drive, without more, won't cause data loss. It will require some mistake by the person at the keyboard (you).
Hope this helps,
Russ

Firewire Target Disk Not Found...?

Hi, got a first-time problem withe FW Target Disk Mode...
I have an IMac running 10.4.10, (2.16 Intel Core 2 Duo) as well as a
MacBook running Tiger... I put an older G4 Dual Boot 1.25 MDD drive,
booted into 9.2.2., in Firewire target disk mode and it does not appear/
is not recognized by either the IMac Or the laptop as Host computer!
Any idea what's causing the lack of recognition? I have used Target Mode
with the G4 many times in the past, though i can't recall if i did it
using either of these host computers.. Would there be any issue as far
as the OS being used on the Host machine since the 'slave' machine is
an OS 9.2 OS?
Appreciate any advice!
Thanks,
Mike in Mich.

BDAqua wrote:
before i know it a day flies by trying to figure out...
Yep
Did we try that cable FWTDM on the others?
Do one of the others have OS9 drivers installed to try it reverse?
I guess you don't have a FW case laying around?
Did we try that cable FWTDM on the others?
Do one of the others have OS9 drivers installed to try it reverse?
I guess you don't have a FW case laying around?<<
Tried different cables. Cables being used are okay.
Haven't tried reversing this on an OS 9 machine.
Don't have any other computers with OS 9 drivers installed...
Starting to look like this is one for the Cold Case Files.

My G4 AGP won't startup after turning on firewire target disk mode

Can any one help me on this? I have a G4 AGP Graphics Mac running 10.4.11.
I turned on firewire target disk mode in the startup utilities to transfer files to my G5. The G4 started up in Firewire just fine and I could open it up as a drive on my G5, but the problem now is that the G4 won't startup in anything but firewire mode.
So my question is: How do you shut off the firewire target disk mode? I have tried all the keyboard commands at startup and inserted the Tiger install disk and holding the C key, but nothing will let me get me passed the Firewire Icon at startup.
Any help would be appeciated, Thanks.

Hi Steve, and a warm welcome to the forums!
More things to try...
Does it boot into Open Firmware with CMDOption+of ?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42642
reset-nvram (press Enter)
set-defaults (press Enter)
reset-all (press Enter)
Have you done a PRAM reset...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Tried resetting the PMU?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

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

Disk Utility works for FAT but fails for Mac OS Extended

Hi Folks,
I have a 2TB WD My Book drive that I am trying to format as Mac OS Extended for Time Machine. Disk Utility will cheerfully format it as FAT (the FAT drive shows up in finder and seems to work fine), but won't format it as Mac OS Extended. I'm trying to figure out whether this is a hardware error, or whether I am doing something wrong.
To format it for Mac OS Extended, I am going into the partition tab, removing the current (FAT) partition, and adding a new Mac OS Extended partition. When I do this, Disk Utility shows the new partition as "grayed out" and it does not mount in Finder.
If I run Verify and Repair, I get the following errors:
Verify and Repair volume “Untitled 1”
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Invalid node structure
Invalid B-tree node size
Invalid record count
Invalid B-tree node size
The volume could not be verified completely.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Am I doing something wrong here, or does this sound more like a hardware failure?
Thanks!

@kbd1: Yes, if I erase the disk from the erase tab and format it as MS-DOS (FAT) the disk works just fine. If I erase and format it as Mac OS Extended, I get the same errors listed above and it doesn't mount.
@Thomas: Yes, if I set the format to GUID I get the same errors. I've even tried setting up two partitions: one FAT and one GUID and the FAT one mounts and the GUID one doesn’t.
So, from both of your responses it sounds like hardware, which makes sense. What is strange to me is that it works as a FAT drive...
Message was edited by: terpfan

Install Leopard Server Onto Mac Mini via Firewire Target Disk Mode?

From the answers I have seen, so far anyway, the short of it is this can be done. Other than partitioning the Mini's hard drive as a GPT, which I don't know how to do.
Is there anyway to install via firewire target disk mode? The Server Assistant on my MacBook Pro wants to connect to the Mini via a network connection... but, the Mini has no monitor and no OS installed (it has an empty 500 GB hard drive). Thus, I can't get them to talk to each other over a network connection, can I?
I could try and plug it into a monitor and install locally, but the Install disc is on my MBP and currently it is in Firewire TDM, with the Mini's hard drive mounted on the Pro.
I don't want to have to get a monitor to do this... The Mini is brand new 1.83 with 2 GB of RAM and a Samsung 500 GB internal hard drive. It is mounted and the Server Installer sees it, but cannot use it because it just sees it as a firewire drive (the installer won't install to these drives I guess).
Any suggestions?
Message was edited by: Ryan Vetter1

you can configure it using server admin and workgroup manager running on another machine. you can also use screen sharing/ard if you need to see what you're doing. as long as it has a valid address on the lan, you can configure it. just be sure to give it a static address is you're going to use it as a server.
you could have installed the os from your dmg with the mini booted in target disk mode, too. the installers are in /System/Installation/Packages. you should be able to run them by double-clicking the OS installer or using the /usr/sbin/installer command from the command line.

Firewire target disk mode question

I am using firewire target disk mode to copy some files, but can only see the system drive on the slave computer, what do I do so I can see the secondary hard drive on the slave computer?

You'll have to swap drives. TDM only sees the MASTER drive. If your drives are jumpered MASTER and SLAVE then switch them. If the computer uses CABLE SELECT then swap the position of each drive on the ribbon cable.

Firewire Target Disk Mode Battery Icon

When trying to enter TDM with Lacie drive connected by firewire I get the TDM yellow icon and an icon at the bottom that appears to be a charge or battery icon. It appears red.
Note:
-Power is connected (third-party ac adapter by macally)
-When in Leopard, I can access the Lacie drive and the files (I want to start up in Tiger)
Thanks.

Hi, Rob. Quoting from Apple's article How to use FireWire Target Disk Mode:
"Important: Unplug all other FireWire devices from both computers prior to using FireWire target disk mode. Do not plug in any FireWire devices until after you have disconnected the two computers from each other, or have stopped using target disk mode."

Does Disk Utility work in FireWire Target Disk Mode?

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