Target Disc Mode via Firewire PC Card

I am unable to boot my PowerBook Ti in firewire disc mode as my firewire port died. Since i've been using a PC card with 3 firewire ports on it. When attempting to reboot in firewire disc mode with another mac it just restarts.
I surmise the issue lies in the boot order? Does the PC card load later than when an internal firewire port would become available?
Thanks!

Hello Nathan,
I believe the reason you can not use firewire disc mode is because you need to use the built-in firewire ports for target disc mode to work. The device information for the built-in firewire ports are loaded with Open Firmware as the computer starts up. I'm guessing that the PCMCIA card slot device information isn't loaded until after Open Firmware has loaded, thus making it unavailable for firewire target disc mode.
Hope this helps!
Hi O,
In my experience, the superdrives are reliable and i wouldn't worry about it breaking. That being said, all drives will die eventually, but the superdrives seem to be well built and usually last a long time. Replacing an optical drive on a 12" AL powerbook is actually quite a pain. You basically have to remove everything, including the logic board, to replace it. I wouldn't recommend replacing it yourself unless you have the proper experience and tools required.
Hope this helps!
Brian Cometa (ACHDS)
www.briancometa.com

Similar Messages

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

Problem using target disc mode

I have 2 iMacs. One is a 2.1 GHz G5 running OS 10.5.8 and the other is a 2 GHz Intel core duo OS - unknown (but at least 10.4.x and most probably 10.5.x). I want to use the G5 as the TDM host and Intel as the target.
The Intel iMac appears to go into target disc mode (dancing firewire symbol on the display), but it's HD icon never appears on the G5's desktop.
I've followed the instructions from (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661)and I know the cable connecting them is good. Any ideas?
More background - the reason I need to use TDM is that the Intel iMac won't boot. After hitting the power button it gets to the Apple logo screen with the circular timer and stays there. It doesn't really "hang" - the timer keeps going around & around. Does the same thing when I try to boot from a DVD.
Thanks in advance,
Tom

It might be an idea to boot the Intel Mac from it's system disk (start up holding the "C" button and insert the system disk at the startup chime).
After selecting "English" you have a "Utility" menu - select "Disk Utility" choose your hard disk and, if you "see" your Mac's Hard Disk, run Repair Disk Permissions and Repair Disk in the First Aid tab.
If the Intel Mac's hard disk isn't showing up you may have a problem and the disk may need to be replaced.

Can I connect a macbook pro and an ibook g4 via ethernet with ibook in target disc mode?

Well, that's the question, really. I just bought a refurb macbook pro as an upgrade for my sister's elderly ibook - which has been a great computer, but which can't run any system newer than Tiger, and which has an extremely crowded hard drive. We began setting up the new computer last night, and got to where we were instructed to use migration assitant to transfer files from the old machine. This is where things fell apart.
1. Although both machines were on my sister's wireless network, the macbook pro did not see the ibook.
2. When we tried to connect the machines via firewire, we had a new problem - our particular macbook pro does not have a firewire 400 port. Same problem when we thought of connecting my sister's extermal verbatim drive. The macbook pro recognized the drive when we connected via USB, but, after asking if we wanted to use Verbatim for Time Machine, it didn't seem to see it when we answered "Not now".
I have ordered an adapter for our firewire cable, but, in the meantime, I have an ethernet cable at home which I used to transfer data from my older iMac G3 to an eMac. Can I use this cable while putting my sister's ibook into target disc mode, or must I wait for the connector? It is VERY frustrating having such a hard time moving information from one Mac to another. I've been a Mac fan (and evangelist) for years because Macs are generally easy and reliable. But now we're stuck.
I've been reading the boards and understand that target disc mode is the way to go, since we can't use migration assitant to move files between an Intel machine and a PPC. The new macbook pro is running Lion, while the old iBook is running Tiger 10.4.11. Neither of us has any experience with Lion, though we've both used Macs for many years.
TIA!

Thanks, Niel! As it turned out, I had a LaCie rugged drive at my place which had both Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 connections and cables. So I hooked it up to the old iBook, pulled my sister's stuff onto it as instructed in the ppc to intel thread, and then hooked it up to the Macbook Pro. Problem solved! - almost. We did have two issues:
1. My sister has a lot of music - more than 12 gigs were on the iBook's hard drive, but only about 6 made it onto the Macbook Pro. Why is that? I also got a message, when I was trying to move the music folder from the old library onto the new one, that OS X needed this folder and it couldn't be modified. Again, why is that? How, then, do you move files from a PPC to a machine running Lion? Again, a lot of her music files did make it over, but not all of them.
2. All her photos did seem to come over - in duplicate, maybe even in triplicate. That is so annoying! The same thing happened to me when I was migrating between my old eMac G4 and my iMac G5. Why on earth does iPhoto do this, and how can we make it stop?!
But we did manage to get a lot of her stuff onto the new machine. When we get the adapter, she'll be able to add the files that are on the Verbatim drive. You've been very helpful!

Firewire Target Disc Mode

When connecting two eMacs (eMac "A" & eMac "B") together via Firewire I am able to mount eMac "A" on the desktop of eMac "B". But, when I open the mounted eMac "A" hard drive, I see the items that are on eMac "B". It is like I am opening eMac "B". I tried restarting both machines, changing the names of the computers, and tried reversing which eMac I would try to connect to, all of which did not allow me to view the items on the mounted machine.
Anyone have a similar problem or advice on what to try?

Robert,
Try this, first boot up the eMac you wish to put into Firewire Target Disc Mode normally(that is, let it boot into OS X). Right click(control-click) the Hard Drive icon on the desktop and give it a color. Do this for a couple of folders inside the HD also(reason is, it helps distinguish the two drives).
Now, reboot that mac and hold down the T key(do not have the macs connected). Once booted into Firewire Target Disk Mode, connect it to the other eMac(it should already be on). Does the drive mount on the desktop? Does it have the color you gave it? Do the folders inside it have their colors?
Grant

Firewire Target Disc mode failure

Does anyone know why my 400Mhz Ti Powerbook refuses to boot into target firewire mode? - It just shuts itself down...
I am trying to exchange my old files from the G4 Ti Powerbook (running 10.3 to my iMac (iSight) G5 2.1Ghz running 10.4.3.
I thought 'easy' - connect via firewire, start the powerbook up in Target Disc Mode.. so I restart - holding T down - it starts to start up then you just hear it all shut down after about 5-10 seconds.

Hi, Nick. You can't put a Powerbook into Target Disk Mode by connecting to another computer while it's running and then using the Restart command. It has to be in a cold shutdown when you make the connection.
This article describes the whole procedure and tells which Mac models it can be used with.

Using thunderbolt to firewire adapter for target disc mode

I need to transfer several GB of data from a 2011 iMac running OS 10.6 to a new Mac Mini running OS 10.9. Can I connect the older iMac to the newer Mini with a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter and boot the iMac into Target Disc Mode and transfer the data to the new Mac Mini? I've used TDM with two Firewire machines, but not with a newer Thunderbolt to Firewire Machine using an adapter.
Thanks for any input.
--SL

Hi Salnews,
I've done quite a bit of research on this, as this is what I plan to do (only from a MBP on 10.9, but I don't think your situation would be any different) and everything I've read says the answer is yes.
EDIT: I see you're on 10.6.7. You should update to 10.6.8 first.

Automate Firewire Target disc mode?

I'm thinking of getting a Mac Mini as a backup machine (both as a data back up and also in the sense that if the G5 blows up I'll have a machine to work on whilst it's repaired). In order for this to be effective, I want to automate backing up to the mac mini, say once a day. But I don't want to leave it on all the time, nor do i wish to connect a keyboard to the mini.
What I want is to have it set to boot up in Firewire Target Disc mode at a certain time, receive the backup data, and then shut down. The start up and shut down times I can set up easily enough, and the backup is easy to synchronise with those times, but I want a way to let the Mini boot in Target mode WITHOUT me having to hold down the T key (as there will be no keyboard).
Is this possible?

Hi, Nick. You can't put a Powerbook into Target Disk Mode by connecting to another computer while it's running and then using the Restart command. It has to be in a cold shutdown when you make the connection.
This article describes the whole procedure and tells which Mac models it can be used with.

Installing tiger on an ibook w/o dvd, but using target disc mode?

so here is the problem. i bought tiger for my ibook (g3 500mhz 312 mb airport cd drive...) so i found out the hard way that i can not install tiger dvd on my ibook (it has a cd drive.) so i was thinking and booted it up in target disc mode on my g4 tower running 10.2.8 the hard drive came up on the g4 and i installed sucessfully tiger on to the ibook! i was really excited that it worked. (i really didn;t want to order the cd set from apple)
so i went to start and download updates and it didn't connect. so i went to configure the airport and had a ton of problems. it just won't! airport will not recgonize any networks, and i have done it all to configure it. the ibook sees the card too!
so i took the card out of the ibook and installe dit in tehg4 tower and bravo it works just fine, so the problem is not the card at all.
i then took the ibiik to firsttech (an apple store) and they booted it up in network mode and the card worked just fine! they think that because i installed tiger fro a computer that was not running an airport network that it did not install that part of the software. this i do not believe becaust all of the airport stuff is there to configure, the problem is it just won't.
so to make things more interesting the screen will freeze. and after that when i reboot the ibook the screen is dead. and it stays dead for a while so this is just a pain. i try to reboot it in target disc mode but the icon does not show up on the host computer. i can run system profiler and the g4 will see the ibook as a firewire device in target disc mode, but i just can't see it on the desktop. i can hear the hard drive running, and i get the chime so i know it is on.
so i know that the problem is probably tiger as i know that there have some problems with it. but i just don't get it. b4 i reinstall 10.2 can anyone give me any help fixing tiger?
THANKS!
SEAN
g4 tower Mac OS X (10.4.8) ibook! g3 too
g4 tower Mac OS X (10.4.8) ibook! g3 too

Hi sean,
first of all: WELCOME TO THE DISCUSSIONS!
You probably did the target-disk install the wrong way round. If you booted the G4 from the install DVD and from there installed Tiger to the G3 iBook you have installed the G4 hardware drivers which are not compatible with the iBook.
You have to do it this way:
Insert the install DVD into the G4. Start the G4 into target disk mode by holding down the t-key during boot. Connect the G4 to the iBook using a firewire cable. Now boot the iBook while holding down the option-key. This will bring you into the boot manager where you can select the install DVD as boot-volume.
Once the installer has started perform an Archive&Install to the iBook hard disk. This should solve your problem.
Remember: Repair permissions before and after an update!
If this answered your question please consider granting some stars: Why reward points?

Target Disc Mode + Disc Mounting issues

I hope this is a suitable forum for this topic.
Anyway, I recently posted a question concerning the connection of 2 Mac's (one disabled), in order to save the contents of the disabled MBP.
I have since obtained a 6 pin to 9 pin cable (to connect my MB's FireWire 400 to MBP's Firewire 800), and have tried to access the MBPs hdd via Firewire/Target Disc Mode.
I have no problems booting the MBP to Target D. Mode, but the disc will not mount on my Macbook.
The main problem that I have noticed is the S.M.A.R.T status on the MBP's internal drive is saying "not supported". From what I have read this is a common status message for 3rd-party installed harddrives, but my internal is the factory installed drive.
Im pretty sure I know the answer: The drive is dead, ie. get a new one. But I just thought I would ask the you guys if there is some way to "fix" the SMART status so that it will mount.
Also, (and this is what makes me 99.9% sure the drive is dead) when linking the 2 computers in Target Disc Mode, the Leopard Install disc that was in the optical drive of the MBP was read on my Macbook, so I know the Firewire cable/both ports are in working order.
Hope this makes sense, as I tend to ramble!
Thanks for any help or suggestions,
Matt

If the drive does not mount and is otherwise inaccessible then booting into Target Disk Mode isn't going to help you. A drive's SMART status is not reported over FireWire or USB. The SMART status is only reported for the internal drive, locally. SMART has nothing to do with whether the drive is working or not. It is merely an information report.
All that you can hope to accomplish might be to purchase recovery software, boot the computer from the recovery software DVD, and hope something is recoverable. Or you can send the drive to one of the many disk recovery businesses to see if anything can be recovered from the dead drive.
File Recovery Software
Data Rescue
File Salvage
TechTool Pro.
The first two have demos you can download. The demo will indicate what if anything is recoverable, but until you pay for the software and get a serial number you cannot recover anything. You would also need the bootable DVD. This will not work if the drive's motor is dead or if the drive's interface board is no longer functioning. Both of these render the drive inaccessible. In this case recovery would have to be through a data recovery service like Drive Savers.
Each of the preceding comes on bootable CD.
Message was edited by: Kappy

Help, can't startup PB except by target disc mode

On normal start up, I get the "You need to restart your computer......" message with start symbol behind the writing. every time I try to restart the same thing happens. I've tried all the keys on start up tricks and the only ones that work are option/startup where I can choose Hard Drive, OS Disc, or Hardware tools. If I choose Hard Drive, it goes back to the kernal panic screen with "you need to .....". If I choose OS Disc, it goes to a light gray screen with the apple symbol in the middle and just stays there (also does this if I try to startup holding C with startup disc). If I choose Hardware Tools, it lets me test the hard drive and everything checks out fine but when I restart back to the "You need to restart.....". It will also startup in target disc mode hooked up to my iMac. All of my apps and files were there so I transfered everything, whew! I can then insert the startup disc into the PB and it comes up on my iMac in target disc mode. I then try to open and reinstall OS 10.4 but it tells me I have to restart to start the process and I can't do this in target disc mode. I just ant to be able to erase everything on my PB and reinstall OS 10.4 with the PB start discs. Is this possible? thanks....
J.R.

Kernel panics are usually caused by a hardware problem – frequently RAM, a USB device or a Firewire device. What external devices do you have connected? When trying to troubleshoot problems, disconnect all external devices except your monitor, keyboard and mouse. Do you experience the same problems?
Have you recently added RAM?
May be a solution on one of these links.
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
Resolving Kernel Panics
Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics
12-Step Program to Isolate Freezes and/or Kernel Panics
You should be able to erase your PB (in target disc mode) hard drive while it is connected to the iMac. Use Disc Utility on the iMac. You can even install Tiger on the PB while it is connected to the iMac via TDM.
 Cheers, Tom

Target Disc Mode to copy library

Can someone explain how to use the Target Disc Mode to copy a iphoto library complete from one computer to another to another computer. I plan to use fire wire 8oo. The library is 30 GB (6000 pics) It would be Great if it were step by step, I still have the Training Wheels on! Thanks

Google is your friend
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
Summary
Learn how to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode.
Products Affected
Desktop Computers, Mac OS, Portable Computers
FireWire target disk mode allows a Macintosh computer with a FireWire port (the target computer) to be used as an external hard disk connected to another computer (the host). Once a target computer is started up as a FireWire hard disk and is available to the host computer, you can copy files to or from that volume.
Host computer requirements
Host computers must meet these requirements:
Built-in FireWire port or a FireWire port on a PC card
FireWire 2.3.3 or later
Mac OS 8.6 or later
Target computers
These models can be used as target computers:
iMac (Slot Loading) with Firmware version 2.4 or later
iMac (Summer 2000) and all models introduced after July 2000
eMac (all models)
Mac mini (all models)
Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) with ATA drive
Power Mac G4 Cube
Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) and all models introduced after July 2000
Power Mac G5 (all models)
Mac Pro (all models)
iBook (FireWire) and all models introduced after September 2000
PowerBook G3 (FireWire)
PowerBook G4 (all models)
MacBook Pro (all models)
MacBook models introduced before October 2008
Read more about FireWire Ports and Specifications.Note: FireWire Target Disk Mode works on internal PATA or SATA drives only. Target Disk Mode only connects to the master PATA drive on the Ultra ATA bus. It will not connect to Slave ATA, ATAPI, or SCSI drives.Before attempting FireWire target disk mode, check these items:
Make sure your software and firmware are up to date.
Disconnect all other FireWire devices from both computers before you use FireWire target disk mode. Do not connect any FireWire devices until after you have disconnected the two computers from each other or have stopped using target disk mode.
If "Open Firmware Password" has been enabled the computer will not go into Target Disk mode. More information on Open Firmware Password is available in the "What to do if your Mac doesn't enter FireWire Target Disk Mode" section of this article.
If you will be transferring FileVault-protected home directories (Mac OS X v10.3 or later only), log in as the FileVault-protected user and temporarily turn off FileVault. After transferring home directory contents to the target computer, enable FileVault protection again if you like.
To use FireWire target disk mode
Make sure that the target computer is turned off.
If you are using an Apple portable computer such as a PowerBook or MacBook as the target computer, plug in its AC power adapter.
Use a FireWire cable to connect the target computer to a host computer. The host computer can be powered on.
Start up the target computer and immediately press and hold down the T key until the FireWire icon appears. The hard disk of the target computer should become available to the host computer and will likely appear on desktop. (If the target computer is running Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, you can also open System Preferences, choose Startup Disk, and click Target Disk Mode. Restart the computer and it will start up in Target Disk Mode.)
When you are finished copying files, locate the target computer's hard disk icon on the desktop of the host computer and drag it to the Trash or choose Eject (or Put Away) from the File menu.
Press the target computer's power button to turn it off.
Unplug the FireWire cable.
Tips for using target disk mode with Intel-based Mac computers
If you attempt to mount an Intel-based Mac in target disk mode on a Macintosh running Mac OS X v10.3.9 or earlier, you'll see an alert message. For more information, see Intel-based Macs: "You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read" alert message.If your Intel-based Mac is becoming unresponsive while in Target Disk Mode, refer to Intel-based Mac may become unresponsive in target disk mode.What to do if your Mac doesn't enter FireWire target disk modeIf your computer does not enter FireWire target disk mode when you hold down the T key at startup and instead starts up into Mac OS, try these steps:
Make sure the FireWire cable is good, and check the connection.
Make sure no other FireWire devices are connected.
Make sure you are starting up the computer while pressing and holding down the T key.
Check the keyboard connection. Make sure the keyboard is connected directly to the computer and not through a display or hub. Whenever possible use an Apple wired or wireless keyboard.
Make sure that Open Firmware Password has not been enabled on this computer. Depending your OS version you may need to download the Open Firmware Password software. For more information on Open Firmware passwords, review Setting up firmware password protection in Mac OS X.
LN

Core i3 mac not seeing power pc g4 imac in target disc mode

I'm trying to migrate my set up from a power pc g4 imac running a 10.4.11 to a core i3 imac. All the system software and firmware on the g4 imac is upto date and the mac will enter target disc mode. The macs are connected using a brand new 6 pin to 9 pin firewire cable. The iMac core i3 will not see the other mac in target disc mode. When trying the same thing using the migration assistant, migration assistant just hangs with the 'waiting for your other mac to restart'.
I'd really appreciate any help to fix the issue.

Is this the newest model with Thunderbolt? If so then see Thunderbolt 10.6 Help: Transferring files between two computers using Target Disk Mode and Intel-based Mac may become unresponsive in target disk mode.
Have you checked to be sure the drive in the G4 is configured as the Master? If it isn't, then it cannot be seen in TDM.

Target disc mode icons

using thunderbolt cable target disc mode shows the firewire icon and the thunderbolt icon but the drive never shows on the second computer. how do i get only the thunderbolt icon?

using thunderbolt cable target disc mode shows the firewire icon and the thunderbolt icon but the drive never shows on the second computer. how do i get only the thunderbolt icon?

Using target disc mode to access a broken laptop

I'm using a 1.33 15" PB with 10.3.9
and broken early 12" still on 10.2.8
During an attempted repair of the 12" DC in jack, also replacing the broken CD/DVD Drive with a SD using a replacement lower case and screen that still had the screen control? and dc in jack in it, broke the connection for the screen control on the 12" logic board, Thought I had it effectively soldered back on, but appears not. Screen won't light up, But appears to powering up, get the dong and hard drive spins up.
Was told to connect the two units together with firewire and use the Target disc mode to access the data on the broken machine. (which normally needs to be logged into on start up normally, but can't, not being able see the screen)
With the 12" powered up, I restarted the 15" holding the "T" key down and get a screen that has a Yellow "Y" like icon that moves around the screen, "O" with 3 extensions off it, 1 solid and other 2 dashes.
After a minute or so, shut it down, now sure if it was eventually going to work or should have waited longer. or done something else?, Was expecting the normal desktop to show up with some kind of icon for the other computer, then maybe figure out from there how to transfer the data to the new unit.
Have no idea what to do next or what the problem might be, if I'm doing something wrong, or have to change settings somewhere on the 15" before doing it?
This a used unit, with a fresh 10.3 install and upgraded to 10.3.9 Haven't even gone into the system preferences yet and don't know what most of it's for anyway, (Just did the initial set up) or if the 12" has hardware problems still, etc,
Have a USB external HD adapter and can take the HD out of the 12" instead and see If that'll work? But still not sure if I'm going to encounter something else again that's not easy to figure out in order to get the data off it. Transfer it to the 15" or be able to use it on the external drive
Thanks in advance, And hopefully simple instructions....

Thanks, That eventually worked, Oddly produced an open OS 9 Virtual PC 3 Application folder on the 15" desktop that I installed on the 12" long ago and never used before the external drive icon as I named it for the 12" showed up
Clicking on the external hard drive icon had it open the 15" system folder? Hard drive content window (the os 10.3.9 having a different format than what I'm used to seeing)
All the familiar folders from the 12" were there, but the couple times I tried to open one of them, the external hard drive icon and related entire open desktop window, (Hard drive content) disappeared and produced an error message to properly eject the item, But there nothing there to eject anymore, subsequent attempts to get it back failing, But eventually got it up again.
But can't open the 12" mail application to retrieve my old emails and can't seem to find the file to rebuild the 15" mailbox into what I had in my 12" or save/find those emails, but not sure where to look, must be files somewhere for them.
Every time I click on the mail app in the 12" file, it pops down into application bar and disappears. Tried dragging it into the 15"s icon and that not doing anything either. Also dragging it into the app tool bar and trying to open it and it doing nothing, Presume unable to in the later os.
Will this still happen if I take the HD out? and connect with my USB adapter? Need to boot from this? (have no idea how to do that)
Any suggestions on where to find my old mailbox files? Tried opening a number of odd files in the system folder and found nothing in some of them.
I'm presuming this isn't working because it's still an OS X 10.2.8 application But all the other files appear to still be there and think I found the mail before at one time.
Also got an error in iphoto, Can't open it because it needs to be opened in the later version. But found the 12" iphoto file and dragged it to the desktop and took a bit to transfer, so presume I should move it or specific files in it into the 15" iphoto 15" file to retreive the photo's. (and also moved my camera app to reinstall) Same with my itunes which only had a few cd's in it.
The 12" desktop also took a bit to find, but moved that file to the 15" desk top and those files took a little while to transfer. Some of those are MS Word files so also moved the MS Word app and expect to need to reinstall it before trying to open any of those word doc's.
Still wonder why it produced that os 9 as an open folder which was a virtual pc 3 program I never got around to using,

Target Disc Mode via Firewire PC Card

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