Sharing an external hard drive between two macs

Could someone please give me step-by-step instructions on how I can share an external hard drive between my powerpc(running 10.4.11) and my macbook air(running 10.5.6)? I would like to do this with out any external software.

Anthony1900 wrote:
Could someone please give me step-by-step instructions on how I can share an external hard drive between my powerpc(running 10.4.11) and my macbook air(running 10.5.6)? I would like to do this with out any external software.
Simply connect the drive to one of the two computers and there you are!
Use your network and turn on file sharing. It's that simple.

Similar Messages

  • Sharing external FireWire drive between two Mac Pros

    I know that sharing an external FireWire drive between two machines (i.e. both connected at the same time) is a very bad things as both will assume that they have exclusive write access to the drive and quite quickly write over what the other machine has just written.
    Would it be possible though to mount the drive as read-only on the first machine and in read-write mode on the second? Would this preserve integrity as the second machine would in fact have exclusive write access or would other problems arise?
    Thanks for any responses to a stupid question!
    Peter

    Mmm, Connect the drive to the private secure network Mac. Connect the two Macs by FireWire and create a network over the firewire connection, configure it to use class C addresses, ie. 169.x.x.x manually and then share the firewire drive to the other Mac (also on a class C network address over firewire).
    Both macs will still have their own ethernet network addresses and each network will not be visible from the "other" network (unless you choose to share your internet connection over firewire).
    The only caveat here is that the firewire drive will be visible to every other Mac on the secure network that you allow to connect to it (which is why I chose that one, rather than the public Mac). Or can you restrict sharing to only one network ..... didn't think so.

  • Sharing external hard drive between 2 mac's

    I have all my music on an external hard drive. I have ratings, playlists, etc. and I've been using it with my desktop G4.
    I bought a Powerbook and would like to use the hard drive with the iTunes on my powerbook. How do I share the library between 2 macs?
    Thanks,
    Jon

    You can manually add the music files on the external drive to your powerbook's itunes by using File->Add to library but that won't bring over playlists, ratings or playcounts.
    This "metadata" is in a file called "iTunes Library" on your desktop in Music/iTunes. To bring over that "metadata" you can try this:
    1) Close iTunes on both machines.
    2) Copy the "iTunes Library" from the desktop and put in in the same place on the powerbook.
    3) Now open iTunes on the powerbook.
    This will definitely work if the external drive is attached directly to the powerbook. I haven't tried your type of scenario, where you will access the external drive through the network to get to the desktop and then the external drive. But I think I've seen other here say this works.
    If it doesn't work, ie it put exclamation marks next to tracks to indicate it can't find htem, then go into the preferences (Advanced, general) and set the music folder location to the external drive (through the network, through the desktop). This should make it find the music.
    You'll also want to make sure "Copy files to the music folder" is ON so that any music you add through the powerbook is copied to the external drive. (If that's what you want. You may chose not to do this, to have some music stay on the local harddrive so you have acess to it when you're not at home).

  • Using same external hard drive with two Macs

    I use two Lacie external hard drives and Time Machine to back-up my iMac, swapping over the drives each week to have one off-site.
    I am soon to buy a MacBook. Can I use the same external hard drives for the MacBook's Time Machine back-ups, whilst continuing to use them with the iMac, or will that cause problems?
    Thank you.

    As Kappy says, Time Machine will put both sets of backups in the same Backups.backupdb folder. That may not be a good idea for the future; your best bet may be to partition the drive.
    See #4 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

  • Sharing a hard drive between two Macs with Time Machine

    can I use the same hard drive to back up two different Macs with Time machine? I'm ok with hot swapping the cables.
    Message was edited by: Brian Monson

    Brian Monson wrote:
    can I use the same hard drive to back up two different Macs with Time machine? I'm ok with hot swapping the cables.
    Yes, but TM, Leopard and external drives are not OK with hot-swapping. Never unplug a drive without properly ejecting it first.
    Each computer will have it's own backup folder on the drive and each computer will recognize its own backup folder. There is no limit other than HD space on how many computers can be backed up on an external drive.

  • Cannot access shared external hard drive with other mac accounts

    I cannot access a shared external hard drive with other mac accounts (all accounts are on the same macbook Pro). The shared external drive is shared via time capsule and is connected (of course) in USB. I see well this external hard drive as a shared disk with my main account. Yes shared option has been activated with the Airport Utility .. but when I open other account these othe accounts can see the external drive but cannot access to its content that is flagged with a no way sign. Strangely enough when I close my main account and start opening a new session with one of the other account then fine I can access the external hard drive and its content .. BUT then it is from my main account than I cannot access its content the no way sign showing ..
    Looks like only one account at a time can access the content of this SHARED external hard drive .. any one as an idea on how to really make it a shared hard drive so that all accounts on the same mac can also access it ? I am at my wit ends on this case. THANKS ..

    Results of my enquiries at Apple Genius Bar .. the guys found the problem interesting. They've been unable to provide a fix neither to give any explanation as to the reason why. To be fair I was not much impressed by the technical level demonstrated ..
    In the mean time I have found that if account no.1 can see the shared external drive content and in such case account no.2 (same Mac computer) cannot see its content (only the external HD with a no way sign) this account no.2 can UNMOUNT (by ejecting) this external HD from account 1 and then remount it (just clicking on the TC shared part in a finder window) and .. see and access its content ; whilst account no.1 cannot see its content anylonger. Unless it unmounts the shared external HD and remount it .. then account no.2 can see its content anylonger. This can goes on an on.
    So eventually YES the TC can allow to share a USB external drive between several accounts and a same Mac .. BUT this require to unmount and remount EACH time the external drive is accessed from a "no.2 account". So OK to share files with seldom access but not practical in case of frequent access needed.
    I just I have now to figure how iTunes can automatically unmount and remount a shared external HD when it needs to access one of this shared HD content from on time account no.1 and then next time from account no.2. May be I am asking too much ..

  • One Format External Hard Drive for Your Mac and PC...

    I have Formatted my External HD Passport 500GB = (465.8) and split it in two partition Mac OS Extended (Journal = 232GB) and FAT32 (Ms-Dos-FAT = 232GB) and reformat to NTFS using Windows...
    How to use one External HUD for your Mac and PC you have a PC and how to have two Partition in Mac OS Extended (Journal) and FAT (Ms-Dos-FAT)as you desire the size of your partition under application, Utilities and Disk Utility and covert the (FAT32) to (NTFS)using Windows Control Panel or just search by Start, search Computer Management or just right my Computer and format the second partition to (NTFS)
    Tips for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) FAT32 vs NTFS, what works and don't work...
    (1)Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Partition can't be use in Windows to transfer files but NTFS Partition can be use in Mac by transferring file from Windows to Mac and NTFS support for files over 4G in size...
    (2)FAT32 can be use in Mac and Windows but with a limitation that a file cannot be transferred to a FAT32 partition if the file is larger than 4GB such as a video file and FAT32 file system performs more slowly than NTFS...
    (2)Mac OS Extended (Journaled) can be use in Windows when you Reformat your HD to HFS+ by third-party app such as http://www.macdrive.com/ MacDrive for $50.or http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ NTFS For Mac 6.0 for $30...
    Reference link 1 External Hard Drive for Your Mac and PC...
    http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/1-external-hard-drive-for-your- mac-and-pc
    Best regards...
    JamesUFOs...
    http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesEBEs

    I have many external drives I use between my MacBook Pro and my Windows PC's. I use a free NTFS driver for Mac OS-X to give me full read/write access to any NTFS formatted partitions when running Mac OS. I also use MediaFour's MacDrive v8 on some of my Windows PC's to access any HFS+ formatted partitions.
    Most of my drives are formatted NTFS because I have more Windows machines than I have MacDrive licenses, and with the driver for Mac OS, they are fully accessible. I have a few drives I do keep formatted as HFS+ because I have encountered an app or two that don't work quite right when they don't get to write to files on an HFS+ partition (one of my backup programs is picky about this).
    As said before, FAT32 is fully accessible between the two OS'es but it also has it's own limitations.

  • Does anyone use a LaCie external hard drive with their Mac using imovie '09?  I have some questions.

    Does anyone use a LaCie external hard drive with their Mac using imovie '09?  I have some questions.

    Are you actually having a problem with the new Lacie drive, or are you just asking is the Lacie drive somehow different from your old G-Drive?
    From a connection standpoint, most Lacie desktop drives have both USB and FireWire connections, just like the G-Drives do.  You would connect and use it the same as a G-Drive.
    Regarding capturing to the external HD, if you are using a camcorder that has FireWire (iLink) connection, it is not advisable to have an external FireWire HD connected to your Mac at the same time as your camcorder; there are often communication conflicts between the camcorder and the hard drive if they are connected at the same time.  The conflicts usually appear as either dropped frames or a complete freeze.   This is more common with Canon miniDV camcorders but I have also seen this behavior with Sony miniDV camcorders.  (The problem is the camcorder's FW implementation, not the hard drive.)  The workaround is to capture to your Mac's internal HD and later copy the captured video to your external HD.

  • HT3500 how do you transfer data from an external hard drive to a mac time capsule

    I am trying to use my Mac Time Capsule as a wireless external hard drive for my MacBook Pro, so how do I transfer the data from a toshiba external hard drive, to my Mac Time Capsule?

    Drag and drop or copy and paste files just as you would do with any normal Finder operation.
    The Time Capsule is located under the SHARED heading in the Finder.
    Click on the Time Capsule icon and double click the folder that appears representing the drive....named Data....unless you have changed the name......to mount the drive on the desktop.
    Drag/drop or copy/paste files to the icon on the desktop or to the open window there.

  • Is it possible to format an external hard drive on my mac?

    I purchased a portable external hard drive to back up my former pc in the hopes of using it on my mac. Obviously, I did not research this seeing now that I can integrate my files and photos from my pc to my mac. It appears possible to format the external hard drive to my mac os, which should be done prior to downloading files from my pc to the hard drive. Has anyone dealt with this or am I the only idiot that purchased the external hard drive thinking that was the thing to do before my pc dies completely?

    A HD formatted in EXFAT will transfer data between both PC and Mac.
    However dont make the titanic error most do in having merely a single external HD backup of your data, thats a tragedy waiting to happen.
    HD are cheap as dirt.
    Ideal situation is 3 HD ,   1 for Mac backups, 1 for data archives stored away safely and updated as needed / often.
    and a 3rd HD in Exfat for data transfers  (or a thumb drive for the same thing to save $$)

  • Using IMOVIE '08 to import from DV camera to 'BUSLINK' external hard drive( formatted for MAC ) but no success and kept getting this message: The import was canceled. You may not have permission to write to /Volumes/BUSLINK/iMovie Events.localized. Thanx

    Using IMOVIE '08 to import from DV camera to 'BUSLINK' external hard drive( formatted for MAC ) but no success and kept getting this message: The import was canceled. You may not have permission to write to /Volumes/BUSLINK/iMovie Events.localized. Thanx in advance!

    I finally got a representative that was able to help me, she had me go to Get Info, by right clicking iMovie from the finder, and I had to click on Sharing & Permissions>Everyone>Read & Write

  • I want to take files from my PC (using a Seagate external hard drive) then plug this Seagate External hard drive into my Mac Book Pro and move the files from the Seagate External Hard drive onto my Time Capsule. I do not want to put these files on my Mac

    I want to take files from my PC (using a Seagate external hard drive) then plug this Seagate External hard drive into my Mac Book Pro and move the files from the Seagate External Hard drive onto my Time Capsule. I do not want to put these files on my Mac. How do I do this? Where do I put these files on my Time Capsule? Will it affect the functioning of my Time Capsule?

    Mixing files with data is not always great idea.
    See info here.
    Q3 http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
    Why not just connect the PC directly to the TC by ethernet and copy the files over?
    It is hugely faster and much less mucking around.
    In windows load the airport utility for windows.. if you have not already as this will help you access the drive.
    There is more info here.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1331

  • I can not save any data to external hard drive from my mac pro. Is there anyone can help me in this regard?( note, when i first plug my ext. drive to mac i chose option to backup later)

    I can not save any data to external hard drive from my mac pro. Is there anyone can help me in this regard?( note, when i first plug my ext. drive to mac i chose option to backup later)

    The device may be formatted for Windows, as NTFS. The format is readable, but not natively writable on a Mac. To write to the device, you must either reformat it (erasing all the contents) or install third-party software to enable write access to NTFS.

  • I am not able to use my external hard drive with my Mac.

    I am not able to use my external hard drive with my Mac. It was initially used with my Windows 7 laptop. Now when I insert my Hard drive in the Mac, it doesn't allow me to delete, format, make folders or copy new files on to my hard drive. I no longer have a Windows PC and am stuck. I tried going to Disc utilities,selected my HD, clicked on Erase and then changed the Format type to MS-DOS (FAT) but no luck .. Any other steps or advice?

    It was likely formatted in NTFS which is readable by the Mac, but not writeable.
    You should be able to reformat the disk in Disk Utility.
    After having copied all the data off of it, you can try re-partitioning it.
    Select the hard drive in the disk list in Disk Utility. Hard drives are the device itself, are left-aligned in the list, and are usually named with the manufacturer, size, and model number.
    Click on the Partition tab.
    Select 1-partition from the partition menu.
    Click the Options button and set to GUID
    Set the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    Give the Volume a name and click Apply.

  • Help! When i connect my "iomega" External hard drive to my mac it does not show in devices or on the desktop, how can i access my hard drive?

    Help! When i connect my "iomega" External hard drive to my mac it does not show in devices or on the desktop, how can i access my hard drive?

    what format your iomega HD is it NTFS , if NTFS try download   http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/ntfs3g.html

Maybe you are looking for