IMac in Target Disk mode won't mount on Mac Pro via Firewire

My iMac (intel Core 2 Duo) won't start up - it has the question mark in a folder icon.
I can't find the Apple Snow Leopard disk, so I've started it in Target Disk mode, connected it to my Mac Pro, but it doesn't mount on the Mac Pro even though it appears in System Profiler on the Mac Pro.
Both running 10.6.8
Can I force it to mount? I have tried front & back firewire ports and restarted several times to no avail.
I'm hoping to repair the iMac disk using Disk Utility or Diskwarrior on the Mac Pro, but need it to mount first.
Any ideas? Thanks.

I want to copy everything off the iMac before re-installing Snow Leopard & starting again.
I do not have a backup of the computer (I've had a backup hard drive on order for 7 weeks that has been delayed due to the shortages...) I am aware that this is very stupid of me.
The disk is obviously in very bad shape as Disk Utility can't do anything with it.
Diskwarrior v4.2 on a DVD will make a 'Preview' of a directory of it, but will not 'Replace' the directory as the disk is damaged.
1. Does anyone know how to make a startup DVD of Diskwarrior v4.4 (I have the v4.4 update but can't find out how to make a new startup DVD using the old v4.2 DVD and the software v4.4 update) and I think Alsoft must now be on holiday as they're not answering... (I would like to use v4.4 as it should be more capable).
2. Assuming I can get Diskwarrior (hopefully on a new v4.4 DVD) to make a 'Preview' again of the iMac directory, how do I copy everying off the computer? My only guess is to connect my Mac Pro in target mode to the iMac. Will the Mac Pro disk show up in the 'Preview' directory & therefore allow me to copy all of it's contents across to the target mode disk?
3. Assuming all the above works, is there a best way to copy all of the iMac contents to a folder in the Mac Pro? i.e. is there a way of Carbon Copying it so that after wiping the disk I can simply copy it all back? Or is it all too late for that
THANK YOU very much for any help.

Similar Messages

HT1661 Problems mounting Imac in target disk mode on retina laptop with a solid state drive as host

I'm trying to use an Imac in target disk mode to copy files from it to a new retina display laptop with a solid state drive, but the target drive will not mount even tho it does start in target disk mode. I have all the proper firewire connection. The Imac will not respond for more than a few minutes before crashing when started from its own system. I would like to salvage a few files from it before I perform a clean install of the system.
Anyone has any idea why it wont mount in Target mode onto the retina laptop? Help!
Thanks in advance. :-)

Mac OS X doesn't offer a "clean install" option.
I'm assuming your target Mac is running 10.6?
And you setup the target Mac without adding a Firewire cable until after the Firewire logo appears on the screen?

Using DVD drive in iMac G4 for iMac G3 in Target Disk Mode-- won't read DVD

Hello,
I have an iMac G3 without a DVD driver. I'm trying to use the DVD driver in my other iMac G4 using the Target Disk Mode feature. But when I start the iMac G3 holding down the option key, it only lists the hard drive of each computer and not the DVD that I'm trying to install.
I have done my best trying to search on here to no avail. I also posted this same topic in the iMac G3 forum without any success. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
AJ Nealey

Hi,
Have you tried doing FTDM with a different DVD/CD in the iMac G4's drive?
Have you ever changed the Optical drive in the iMac G4?
Try disconnecting both machines from the mains power for an hour or so. This has been known to reset the FW ports (I accept that this is probably not the issue as the HDDs are working; no harm in trying though).
mrtotes

Why can't Disk Utility wipe my old iMac in Target Disk Mode?

I want to donate my old iMac G3 with all my personal data removed.
As all my old start up disks are long gone I went online and followed advice to wipe it remotely. I connected the G3 via FireWire to my 15" MacBook Pro (late 2008, running OSX Lion 10.7.5) and restarted the G3 in Target Disk Mode. I opened Disk Utility, selected the drive (not the iMac partition), selected Erase, renamed the drive and chosen the 7 pass option. And waited...
After leaving it overnight, I awoke to find it was still preparing. I then Skipped that stage (it gave me the option) and left it for 24 hours. It was still skipping, so I had to Force Quit Disk Utility. The G3 is perfectly fine, and Disk Utility works as I just erased a memory stick as a test.
What's going on?

You need to do the following:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Only use a single-pass to zero the data. Any more is overkill and will take many hours to complete.

Can I install FROM a working iMac TO an iMac in Target Disk Mode?

Hi.
I have a distressed iMac - it's in Target Disk Mode (the Firewire logo is on its screen), and it's hooked up to another iMac. I can see and navigate to the distressed Mac's hard drive via the good one. Can I insert the SL install disk on the good mac and install it on the bad one? I've tried the other way...but the distressed iMac stalls out when booting the install disk visa-versa.
The distressed iMac's internal optical drive is dead, and for some reason it WILL NOT recognized an external firewire/usb optical drive.
Thanks.

Sure, the working mac should see the other one as a firewire connected hard drive, nothing more - so long as the working one is an intel, and the target drive is partitioned suitably; 10.6 ought to install no problem.

Target Disk Mode won't see my dvd

Hi,
I have a iMac (2011, Mac OS X 10.7.4) with the dvd of Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) in it, that is in firewire target disk mode.
This one is connected to a iMac G4 Flat Panel (1ghz, 1,25 SDRAM, Mac OS X 10.4.11) to install leopard on it.
Now my iMac G4 can see my hard drive of the new iMac but don't see any dvd/cd/...
anyone knows a solution for this?
Thanks in advance
Spywurm

Hi, cavenet -
I know Apple added 128+ GB support to the ATA bus halfway through a model, but if this is the older version, why does it report the higher number in some placess?
Your G4 533MHz machine is a G4 (Digital Audio) model. Native large drive support for drives larger than 128GB was not added until the second model series (the 2002 models) of the QuickSilver machines.
I suspect the differences in reporting have to do with what OSX is capable of 'seeing' and its attempt to tell the truth, vs. the hardware limitation of the built-in ATA controller.
Re the FwTDM problem, be sure you are using an Apple keyboard, or one which specifically supports standard Mac OS startup commands. Not all 3rd-party keyboards support those.

Target Disk Mode with RAID Volume and Macbook Pro

I just received a MBP which I today intended to use to pull a netrestore image off our lab server. The latter is a Mac Pro with 2 RAID 1 arrays. I started the Mac Pro in target disk mode, hooked it up to the MBP and was expecting to see the RAID volumes to show up in the finder. Unfortunately nothing happened. I then started the disk utility only to find out that the volumes are shown but are not accessible.
Doing the same thing using our backup server (running OS X 10.4.8 server) works like a charm.
Is it possible that MBPs and/or the non-server version of OS X don't support target disk volumes off RAID arrays?
I used the same MBP as a target disk mode slave today and that, too, worked.

Hello BK:
Welcome to Apple discussions.
This knowledge base article will, perhaps, give you more information:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
Barry

IPod: Folder icon -- Disk Mode -- won't mount on desktop or iTunes

Hi all.
I'm getting a folder icon with ex point on my iPod (see my pic for version). Reset doesn't work. The solution to that is to restore but when I plug into my computer it doesn't show up so I can't restore. Then it goes into "Disk Mode."
Anyone have any ideas?

What about the Hardware? I had a similar problem with my iPod 10G scrollwheel not mounting in Finder or being recognized in iTunes. I read all these posts, did the powerdown/uplug thing to reset the FireWire port, refreshed settings, etc., all to no avail. Then the iPod wouldn't even take a charge. In digging around for repair options on the web, I discovered a site where they said that the #1 killer for scrollwheel iPods was faulty connections on the FireWire socket to the main board. With all the plugging-in and unplugging I did trying to get the iMac to see the iPod, my connector now would slide a few mm forward with a light pull. More searching revealed someone who described how to DIY fix the connector, so I figured I'd try it and ... TA-DAA. Back to life, hello iTunes6, life is good. If you are up to the task, check out: homepage.mac.com/toj/PhotoAlbum20.html for step-by-step pictures. PDAsmart.com gives the details about the bad FireWire connector, and does a fix for $50. Be advised the soldering is on fine pitch surface-mount pins, so you need a steady hand and patience.
Good luck!

Can a Mac Pro boot off a MacBook Pro in Target Disk Mode?

Summary: "Are you able to boot a Mac Pro off of a Mac Book Pro in Target Disk Mode?" OR "Will a Mac Pro boot off an OS X install that was made on a MBP?"
Details:
I'm finishing a music project that was created on a PPC G5 Quad computer and going to a studio in Santa Monica to complete the final mixdown. My 3rd party software plug-in configuration is unique, and the studio doesn't have all of the software instruments that I do on their 8 core mac pro. My G5 software installation is mirrored to my MacBook Pro, but the MBP doesn't have enough CPU power to play the project back.
Is it feasible to have the studio's 8 core Mac Pro boot from my MacBook Pros hard drive? Essentially, we'd be using my OS and software on their powerful CPU / hardware. I figure, since they are both Intel builds of OSX, this should be do-able.
I don't have access to the Mac Pro until I show up to start working.
Thanks for any input / suggestions!

The MacBook Pro boots fine in 10.5.8, and loads the Logic project without any faults. The only issue is that a CPU shortage occurs when you attempt to play the sequence.
Like you suggested, I performed separate UB installations of all the needed software on the MBP solely so I could move Logic projects from one computer to the next without a hitch. (Actually, DropBox does this for me). Migration assistant was not employed in this process due to the PPC / Intel issues you noted.
I didn't need to mention the G5 as it appears to have caused some confusion based on Kappy's reply, but I did want to explain my work flow thoroughly.
It sounds like booting the MacPro from my MBP is feasible. I'll mark this topic 'solved' and head over to the studio tonight. I'll post here any anomalies from the session (if any).
THANKS~!

Can't get Target Disk Mode to work with host computer

Here's the problem. My Powerbook G4 went down a week ago (it's 7 years old) and I suspect the problem is either the hard drive or the portion of the logic board controlling the drive. I also have a Power Mac G4 400 that's running OS 10.4 Tiger. I've been trying to extract some files (that I failed to back up) from the Powerbook via Target Disk Mode using the older Power Mac as the host, however the target disk doesn't show up on the host screen. When I boot up the Powerbook holding the T key, it chimes and the FireWire symbol shows up like it's suppose to, but that's as far as goes. I plan on upgrading to a newer Mac, which would probably work better as a host, but money is a bit tight right now. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

If the trouble with the Powerbook is either a failed hard drive or a failed hard drive controller, FireWire Target Disk Mode isn't likely to work with any host computer. What you may want to try is installing data recovery software on the desktop G4 and seeing whether it can see the Powerbook's drive (connected in FWTDM) even though it won't mount. Data recovery software is often able to salvage data from drives that won't mount normally; it may be able to do the same thing via FWTDM.
These three DR utilities are all available in free downloadable demo versions that will show you what the full version would be able to recover before you have to pay for anything:
Data Rescue
FileSalvage
VirtualLab
Good luck.

Target Disk Mode - 2 Hard disks

I would like to be able to access the files on my old G4 easily with my new iMac. I have attached the two with a firewire cable, booted the iMac normally and then booted the G4 to target disk mode by holding t. I get the firewire symbol on the G4.
The G4 has 2 hard disks but only one of them is mounting on the iMac (the secondary HD is mounting, the HD with the OS is not mounting). Any ideas?

OK so method two is to use a network cable straight from the G4 to the iMac and power up the G4 normally. I can see both HDs now from the iMac, great. Now however the internet connection (supplied over wireless) has dropped from the iMac whenever the two are connected?

Flashing Question Mark Folder after Clean Install in Target Disk Mode

I have an old iBook G4 with a failing optical drive and the need to reformat the hard drive and re-install OS 10.5.4. Since the optical drive is failing and unpredictable, I figured I'd do everything in target disk mode.
So I mounted the hard drive of the iBook to my Mac Pro via Firewire in target disk mode. I was able to successfully format the hard drive of the iBook, zeroing out all the data with 7 passes, and I was also able to successfully install OS 10.5.4 from my original Install DVD, again in target disk mode.
After the install was complete, I went through all the registration process and User Account setup and the iBook booted fine albeit still in target disk mode. So I shut down the Mac Pro, turned off the iBook and unplugged the Firewire cable. My Mac Pro booted up just fine afterward. But the iBook now gives me the flashing question mark/finder folder.
I know this means that the iBook is having trouble located a startup volume, or that the startup volume is corrupt or missing data. How can this be, though, after a reformat and clean install? Did I do something wrong in target disk mode? Or did I neglect to do something necessary?
Thanks for anyone's help on this.

Thanks, Niel.
I don't see APM as an option in Disk Utility when booting from my Mac Pro. I only have Mac OS Extended (Journaled), Mac OS Extended, Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive), MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT.
How do I get my Mac Pro to repartition the iBook properly in target disk mode?

Mac shuts down in target disk mode

So I finally replaced my old iMac G4 with a shiny new MacBook Pro. But I've run into problems while attempting to copy user data over during the setup assistant process. I connect the two computers using a firewire cable. I put the old iMac into target disk mode. The PowerBook recognizes all my settings and lets me choose what to copy over. But every time the MacBook Pro starts copying data from the old iMac, the old iMac shuts down. Any ideas?

Don't quite know. Anything in Apple doc.#58583 help?
Perhaps you are using the wrong procedure?
 DALE

MacBook in target disk mode shows incorrect disk size

My 80 GB hard drive in MacBook has gone bad (the filesystem is in inconsistent state). I connected it to an iMac in Target Disk Mode. It shows up (unmounted) but the capacity reported by Disk Utility is 20 GB. Does someone know why is that? Is it due to the corrupt filesystem?
I am afraid that given this situation, if I buy and run DiskWarrior, that too might not be able to see the full disk and fail to repair it. Note that if I boot my MacBook using the Apple CD, the Disk Utility shows the correct disk size.
Thanks.

If you have a disk that is in really, really bad shape to the point that Disk Utility looks at you like a 5 year old that just spilled a glass of apple juice on the kitchen floor, it's time to bring in the big guns.
DiskWarrior.
I love it, I love it. If someone has something bad to say about it, they are lying. If there is a chance that you can get everything back to normal without spending the huge dough to send your drive out to be dismantled in a clean room, DiskWarrior is that chance.
It's worth every single penny.
Let me know if you have other queries.

Why MBP heats when working in target disk mode?

I connect my MBP to iMac using target disk mode through Thunderbolt interface, close the lid and work on iMac booted from MBP's disk. My understanding is that in this mode MBP should consume very little energy because CPU and GPU are mostly inactive. But I can feel that MBP actually heats up considerably. It not critically hot, but still hotter than I would expect. Can someone explain why this happens?

For FireWire Target Disk Mode, if there are two drives connected to the same IDE bus, I believe only the one that is set as Master is accessible from the "other" computer. So it's possible that your optical drive is Master and hard drive is Slave, in your config.
Copying the files to the external drive, while the iMac G4 is still bootable, was a good move.
Once the data is safe, you might try the following (assuming you are able to continue starting up that iMac). Download a cloning utility, such as Carbon Copy Cloner
http://www.bombich.com/
Clone the internal drive volume to a FireWire external drive volume. Set System Preferences Startup Disk pane to start up from the clone on the FireWire drive, and try to start up from the clone. While started up from the FireWire drive, you can run Disk Utility on the internal drive. Maybe you can do a Repair Disk successfully.
You can also use Disk Utility to completely erase the internal drive. Be sure to select the internal DRIVE (not the volume indented under the drive) in the sidebar, then go to the Erase tab. Doing an erase in this way will re-partition and reformat the hard drive. That may get rid of your data corruption problem.
Then, clone the clone back to the internal drive, and try to start up from it. If there was an underlying hardware problem on the hard drive, this will not fix it. But if it was just data corruption at the volume level, that iMac G4 may still have some life left.

IMac in Target Disk mode won't mount on Mac Pro via Firewire

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for