Target Disk Mode = MAX FANS!

I know I'm not the only one with this issues as almost every Mac I've ever used has done this.
Why is it that when you run your Mac in target disk mode, the fans slowly rev up until they hit max speed, and then it just stays that way. EVEN IF THE COMPUTER IS IDLE AND NOT DOING ANYTHING!!!!
I think this is kind dumb. In Target Disk mode, only the hard drive is active. Everything else like the video card, processor, etc is not active as that is what the other computer is for. Only the hard drive is running, so why do the fans need to be maxed when only one component is running when any other time the fans never come on that high unless i'm processing video or doing something intensive like that.
Any ideas?
-Scott

Niel wrote:
so why do the fans need to be maxed when only one component is running
Because the OS normally controls the fans, using the computer's activity and the processor to calculate the needed speed and send the request. When the computer is in target disk mode, there's nothing to control them, so they do everything they can to ensure the computer doesn't overheat.
(49319)
Good explanation! Thanks!
BTW: whats "49319" mean?

Similar Messages

MP really heats up in target disk mode

I understand that, since my computer is not controlled by OS when in Target Disk Mode, the fans will run to prevent overheating.
What I don't understand is, why does the machine actually start running so hot, when I'm not engaging the RAM, processors, video, etc. Is there anything I can do?
I can't measure internal temp, because it's in target disk mode, but it feels as hot as if I'm compressing video, running large audio apps, crunching Flash, etc.

Maybe this won't help you, but rather than run it in FW Target Mode, the setup I use is quite simply have the Mac Pro Quad and the PPC G5 Quad Power Mac on the same Ethernet network, and I can access each of them indistictly from either one.
The temperatures remain very cool in both machines, as measured by Hardware Monitor on each computer.
The two machines share the same keyboard, mouse and tablet through a simple USB switch, and the dual, side-by-side monitors have front panels input switches, so the two machines share them too.
Since I have no clue as to why you use FW Target Mode, it's entirely possible my arrangement would be of no use to you.
In any case, just my ¢2.

Fan noise when I Target Disk Mode - power supply or 500 GB drive, or RAM?

I have a Revision B iMac G5 which falls squarely in the power supply replacement program and has had the power supply replaced twice. I'm wondering if my extra RAM, or larger hard drive could be to blame for the fan speeds upramping at random during normal operation, and always when I Target Disk Mode the machine. I have a Western Digital WDC WD5000KS-00MNB0
and two 1 GB RAM modules with the following spec PC3200U-30330.
Before I try to pin down the cause one by one, has anyone noticed whether there are 500 GB drives on these Macs which will not up the fan speeds? Has anyone noticed whether target disk mode on these models will not increase the fan speeds when RAM is upgraded to 2 GB?

I have the same iMac as yours. Changed the original 80 gig hdd to a 250 gig. Both drives are seagate barracudas. I also upgraded the memory to 2gigs. The fan noise was terrible.
6 months later a ram module gives up the ghost. I originally thought hard drive, so purchased a Western digital 500 gig WDC WD5000AACS-00ZUB0. (The green power series).
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=338
Fans very quite. still waiting for the replacement ram module;
to see if extra ram will increase fan noise
.

How-To: Install Bundled Apps to another MacBook Pro using Target Disk Mode

Recently, I replaced the dead hard drive on my wife's computer. All the data was previously backed-up so all I needed to do was reinstall the original OS. Oops! Those disks disappeared over two years ago...perfect, right? No poblem, I already had the boxed install DVD for Snow Leopard and installed the core OS. But what about those bundled applications? Aha! That is the marketing coup Apple doesn't really talk much about. You see, you get the entire suite of Apple branded apps with the original install disks but not with a boxed OS install disk. It's just something that you have to find out for yourself...the hard way.
My requirement: restore all the iPhoto data to the reimaged machine running Snow Leopard. But that data has no application that can read it. Solution - Reinstall iPhoto from another source.
So I developed this workaround I hope the rest of you find amusingly simple, wildly helpful
Here's how I restored iPhoto on my wife's computer:
1) Get two Laptops side by side. In our case we both have macbook pro 2008 computers (Wife's and Mine)
2) Power both down and direct connect a firewire 400 cable (or 800 if you have it) between the two
3) Start the Wife's laptop in Target Disk Mode: Press "T" immediately after engagin the power button, hold it down until you see the "fanned" firewire symbol floating across a grey screen - it's quite large, about the size of your hand making a "stop" gesture
4) No start the Mine laptop by pressing the "option" key (two keys to the left of the space bar)
5) You will presented with a pair of hard disks to boot from, choose the Wife's laptop hard drive
5a) you'll notice now that the Mine laptop is booting the OS system files of the Wife's laptop (Her desktop, her preferences, etc...)
6) On the Mine laptop, insert the original Mac OS Install Disk (#1) that came with the Mine laptop (usually any OEM install disk will work, though)
7) Double-click on the DVD icon on the desktop when it mounts and look for a shortcut that reads, "Install Bundled Applications Only"...launch it
8) Now choose install bundled applications but make sure to press the "Customize" button in order to specifically choose which OEM software you want. In our case, just iPhoto
9) Follow the installer prompts all the through to completion and exit (you will be prompted to insert disk #2 along the way).
10) Remove the install disks, power down
11) Power down the Wife's laptop too
12) Disconnect the Firewire cables from both laptops
13) Power up the Wife's laptop normally
14) Launch the FInder and drill down to Applications. Look for iPhoto and launch it
15) iPhoto will either pickup the "iPhoto Library" that was previously restored after reimaging with Snow Leopard or you may be prompted to manually associate a library with iPhoto.
16) Once complete, you'll se all the restored pictures and data from when before the original hard drive crashed. Wife will be pleased and you'll look like a Genius
This is a really handy trick for troubleshooting a lot of install and restore related issues.
Hopefully you'll find other uses for it too.
Good Luck,
TheHighSierras

I think the problem is that you can't install an older OS X version onto a system running a newer OS X version. So I would try the following:
     1. have an external disk or create another partition on an internal drive to use for the Mountain Lion install (you might have to shrink an existing partition to make room for another)
     2. Create an external bootable USB thumb drive with the Mountain Lion OS on it (do a search on the web for this - for example see http://www.macworld.com/article/1167857/how_to_make_a_bootable_mountain_lion_ins tall_drive.html
     3. Reboot Yosemite and then boot from the USB thumb drive by holding down the option key
     4. run the mountain lion installer and install on the new disk/partition you created in step 1 - it will also create another recovery partition from this same part of the disk
Now your Mac system will have both a Mountain Lion install as well as the Yosemite install. You won't be able to use Migration Assistant to move things from Yosemite to Mountain Lion because it will see that you're "going backwards" and won't allow you to.
Have a good backup of everything before starting in case there are problems.
Good luck...

Using Target Disk mode to reinstall OS-X

I have a PPC G5 Dual 2.0gHz which failed the other day. All the fans were running full and a red LED showing on the logic board (it's just a warning I think). Since then the machine cannot be started up. It will begin the startup process normally but will hang on the Apple logo screen (no spinning gear wheel).
The same thing happens when attempting to start up from the install disks and also when started in safe mode or with Option pressed down at startup.
The logical assumption (given the original failure) is a hardware problem but I'm not entirely certain that's the case and cannot get it to a technician right now. I can run Apple Hardware Test and it passes that. I can also mount the G5's drive in Target Disk mode using a PowerBook G4 as a host so the drive itself appears to be okay. All the data is there and can be transferred.
Is it possible that this is software not a hardware issue? The normal startup chime is there, the relay clicks at startup and it does begin to access the drive and all the normal noises can be heard. Just stops loading at the Apple logo screen. I'm wondering if some OS files were corrupted in the original crash (which happened overnight so I don't know what caused it) and if there is some way to eliminate the OS as the problem before going to a technician.
As I can mount the drive in target mode, is it possible to use my PB as a host and reinstall the G5 OS-X that way? They're different machines so I don't know if that would work or the PB would reject the installation. Alternatively, if it could be just corrupted OS system files would it make sense to try to 'guess' the most likely to have been corrupted and manually replace them, again using the PB as a target host?
I'm really stuck without this machine but just can't get it to a workshop for at least a couple of weeks so I'll try anything!

Boy, I love these forums, and I love Macs (most of the time). I was so convinced this was hardware but it seems (fingers crossed) to be fixed. Yay!
You guys were both right in a way. Roam's solution would clearly have been the easiest but because I had tried it before without success I didn't expect it to work. And, trying it again with the G5 install disk, it didn't. Same problem as before. But Graham's reminder of using the original multi-machine Tiger disks in target mode made me wonder. So before trying Target Disk mode I tried just restarting the machine using the Tiger DVD instead of the G5 disks -- and it booted into the installation dialogue!
I figured I'd need to reinstall 10.4 (and, if it worked, go through the whole update drag to get back to 10.4.10). Before I did that though, on a whim, I tried quitting the installer and selecting the normal G5 system as the startup disk. Restarted and voila -- there it was, all back to normal, everything sweet and no data lost!
I didn't even need to repair the disk. Disk verify shows no problems. Even repairing permissions was just a couple of minor changes. I'm amazed. And delighted.
I might be jumping the gun and there might still be a hardware problem that will repeat the original failure and I'll find all the fans going full blast and nothing working again tomorrow but, if Murphy is having time off, for the moment I'm back in business.
I would love to figure out what caused the problem in the first place. I suspect a big power surge overnight did it but I have no idea exactly what it did to cause these symptoms.
My grateful thanks guys.

Target Disk Mode with G4 PowerBook

This week I'm installing a new hard drive in my 2003 867Mhz PB. I plan to do a fresh install from the original CDs so I will have a computer clear of much data for a trip I'm going on next week. I will apply all updates to 10.4.11 to match my Mac Pro.
1. Can I install my '08 iLife apps onto my PowerBook? I'm the only user of both machines and normally I wouldn't care that the PB still has '06 since I rarely use it. However, the purpose of my trip is to take photos for five days. My PB doesn't meet the minimum requirements for Aperture. I want to start culling some of the photos on the trip so I won't have too many to import to Aperture when I return. Taking a bunch of DVDs isn't an option because the PB doesn't have a SuperDrive.
2. If I can install iPhoto '08, will Aperture see the PB's iPhoto Library in Target Disk Mode? If I can't install '08, will Aperture see the '06 iPhoto Library in Target Disk Mode? I will not be editing any photos in iPhoto on the PB - only viewing them to delete the bad out of the collection so I won't have to import a huge collection. Obviously iPhoto won't be running on either machine when I connect them in Target Disk Mode, so technically I won't have more than one copy in use at any time.
I have a wireless home network. I could set up file sharing on my PB to transfer the photos, but I think that would be much slower than using Target Disk Mode. Since I'm taking photos for my job, and knowing the schedule of events and shoot list, I'm estimating 10G of photos minimum. That's a lot of time with a pokey old PB for transferring. I won't be taking a Firewire hard drive because it's too bulky with all the other equipment considering that the 120G hard drive I'm installing in the PB won't have many apps. I also won't have internet access so I can't upload the photos to my iDisk.
3. Does anyone know if Target Disk Mode can be used with my PB when I upgrade my Mac Pro to Leopard? I'm not planning on installing Leopard on the PB (don't know if it meets the minimum requirements) because I don't see myself using the PB too often. By the time I need to be portable more frequently, I will buy a MBP. I hadn't turned the PB on for over a year until last week to make sure it still works for this trip. It would be more useful to buy an extra iPod to store photos than to buy Leopard for the PB.
Sorry if that seemed like a confusing bunch of questions. I tried searching the forums and Apple's support site and now I'm too exhausted to think too clearly. Thanks for any help or pointers.

I have to answer my own post as this question probably isn't allowed here. After installing the new hard drive I read the license agreement while waiting for the restore DVD to finish. I didn't bother with upgrading 10.2 which is what the PB had when new. I immediately installed Tiger and after it's done updating I'll see what software I need/want besides iWork. I'm sure Tiger isn't different in the license than Leopard. (So I'll have to plan on getting a new portable soon as I think the Target Disk Mode is faster for transferring unless I get another Firewire drive.)
But at least the new hard drive and maxed RAM has made my PB a bit more peppy. Or maybe I'm not remembering how slow it was because I haven't yet used it. I'm currently still waiting for Tiger to finish installing. I'll hold off a little longer before upgrading my Mac Pro to Leopard to find out if there are any network gotchas I should know about with my PowerBook. If I'd been using the PB, I'd know all these answers. I've just been so thrilled with my Mac Pro and 23" monitor that the PB hasn't had much appeal. But maybe I'll try to wring a little more life out of the PB.

Old G4 450 Sawtooth - Multiple Drives - Target Disk Mode ?

So I have had this old computer a long time and have upgraded it over the years as much as it can handle - faster processor, max ram, multiple drives ...
The problem I am having at the moment is only one of the drives will show up in TDM - the one that shows up is the original 20Gb drive. I have a Seagate 500Gb and another Seagate 1.5 Tb drive too. Neither of the Seagates show up in TDM. I haven't cracked it open in a while but seem to remember they are connected via a SATA controller card. Just verified the two SATA connections. The 500Gb drive is my boot drive.
So is there something obvious here that I should understand? Thank you.
Oh I'm connecting to a circa 2007 MBP and Mavericks. The G4 is running Leopard.

I think I found my answer .... unless someone has an idea or info otherwise.
Tip: FireWire Target Disk Mode works on internal ATA drives only. Target Disk Mode only connects to the master ATA drive on the Ultra ATA bus. It will not connect to Slave ATA, ATAPI or SCSI drives.
Doesn't mention SATA but inferring it does include SATA.
Found at:
http://www.appleexaminer.com/MacsAndOS/Analysis/HowTo/Acquisition/acquisition.ht ml

G5 won't boot but will go to target disk mode

Hi,
Well it started like this: suddenly a dark grey veil lowered across the screen with a notice in several languages saying "you must restart your mac" (or something to that effect). I panicked and pressed the power button, the mac shut down.
I started it again but it only got as far as the grey Apple screen and then sat there for a while until the fans started ramping up in the famous jet engine style. I shut it down again.
I have tried starting it:
In single user mode = no joy, same as above
In safe mode = some text on a black background, keyboard not functional, fans start going crazy again.
In target disk mode = everything exactly as one might expect, all files accessable, fans ticking over normally.
I have attached an ibook to it, booted the G5 in Target disk mode and run disk utility, repair, but it reported the disk "could not be unmounted". There was a lot of clicking from the G5 though so I assume something happened. I then ran "verify" and it reported that everything was fine.
The G5 still won't start, exhibiting the same symtoms as before.
Anyone got any ideas?
Cheers,
Cliff

Hi Cliff, and a warm welcome to the forums!
See if any of this gives us more clues....
How to reset the SMU on a Power Mac G5 (Late 2004) or Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1436
Earlier G3, G4, G5 models...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1939
PM G5 won't start...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2173

Using a MB Pro in target disk mode via USB?

Can a MB Pro be used in target disk mode via USB instead of Firewire?
Thanks!

Perhaps because it's called FireWire Target Disk Mode, and is not designed to be implemented via USB.
Keep in mind that sustained data transfer rates with USB are much lower than FireWire (the 480 mbps for USB2 and 400 mbps for FW400 are max rates, not average sustained rate). Also, USB requires the CPU to manage data flow, while FW does not.
FW400 or FW800 are will work, just not USB.

HELP! Macbook won't load into Target Disk Mode

basically long story short i had about 100 mb of memory left on my 200gb macbook pro. i was trying to save a word document when everything froze, i manually restarted the computer and thats when all **** broke loose
heres what happened
-weird sounds coming from computer
-the computer takes about 5-10 min to get to the login prompt
-takes another 5-10 min after login to load desktop wallpaper
-takes about 40 min for it to load anything on the dock and then nothing will load after that none of my desktop icons u cant access any programs..the computer will continue to make weird noises during this time.
heres what ive done so far.
-reset pram (didnt work)
-harddrive test (Did both standard and extended ...test results came back fine nothing seemed to be wrong)
-i tried to use disk utility to repair disk and it said:
+"checking extents overflow file+
+checking catalog file+
+invalid node structure+
+rebuilding catalog b-tree+
+the volume macintosh HD could not be repaired+
+error: the underlying task reported failure on exit+
+1 hfs volum checked+
+-1 volume could not be repaired because of an error+
+repair attempted on 1 volume+
+-1 volume could not be repaired"+
-tried the fsck option and it told me basically the same thing
-tried booting in safe mode ...computer wont boot into safe mode it will just shut itself off
so my last option is trying to get info off of my computer using target disk mode...i have a spare macbook that im using as a host for the macbook pro...
i bought a firewire cable today from the apple store
i followed the directions step by step on the apple website
-i connected the firewire cable, both computers were off.
-i turned the host computer on (target computer remianed off)
- held the T button right as the computer started
- then i got a grey screen with a big firewire logo floating around from left to right
[img]http://www.didntyouhear.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/firewire_logo.jpg[/img]
what am i doing wrong!? ??
someone PLEASE HELP!

ok i figured it out however...
everytime i try to click on my harddrive or folders in the harddrive the host computer freezes as does the target computer...
im using a macbook as the host computer to my macbook pro target...
after performing target disk mode on the target computer and connecting the two computers via firewire...
i can see my target drive on my host desktop....
omg and when i clicc on my targe drive i see all my old folders!!! yay!! that means my old files arent lost forever!
the only problem is when i try to access the folders i get the colored pinwheel
and its very slow..... nothin will load and then my host computer freezes and i have to forcequit...i didnt even get to begin transferring the files before the host computer would freeze....as this would happen the fans on the target computer would be whirring up and the floating firewire logo screensaver on the target computer would also stop floating from left to right..
what gives?

What is the set-up when transfer files through target disk mode

I'm a bit confused on how to set up the macs to do a file transer in target disk mode. I am transferring files from an imac to a macbook pro. I have the cable 6pin to 9pin. Now what I can't remember (apple.com instructions is what confused me) is on which computer do I hold down the 'T' on start up? Is it the computer I am transferring the files to? ( in this case the macbook pro). I use to do this fairly often, but not recently, and I have forgotten. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Transferring files between two computers using FireWire - Apple

How do i use my imac 21.5" 2011 as a display for my macbook pro late 2011, through thunderbolt cable ? I have tried and it doesnt seem to work, neither does target disk mode.

How do i use my imac 21.5" 2011 as a display for my macbook pro late 2011, through thunderbolt cable ? I have tried and it doesnt seem to work, neither does target disk mode.
Could it be a borked cable ? I just bought it new from the store today, i have updated both imac and macbook pro to latest thunderbolt firmware and updates. Both 10.7.3.
MacBook Pro:
Vendor Name:    Apple, Inc.
Device Name:    MacBook Pro
UID:    0x0001000A17016E60
Firmware Version:    22,1
Port:
Status:    No devices connected
Link Status:    7
Port Micro Firmware Version:    FFFF.FF.FF

You are correct, here is what Apple Says:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3775
I was able to find these instructions, however they referr to 2009-2011 27" iMacs. I think it's the same, if it's not then contact Apple directly for instructions. If either of the machines is less than 90 days old or covered by AppleCare then call AppleCare tomorrow for help, they should be able to easily answer this for you. You will find the number in your manual or you can use the AppleCare Contact Info link.
Your iMac should automatically recognize the presence of a digital video signal at the Mini DisplayPort and enter Target Display Mode.
If your iMac does not automatically enter Target Display Mode, press command + F2 to manually enter Target Display Mode.

Macbook in target disk mode locks up when trying to transfer files to another computer. Suggestions?

A week ago I installed snow leopard on my girlfriend's macbook without backing anything up. Dumb idea I know. The installation failed multiple times. I ran her computer in target disc mode to try to save what files I could. Now when I try to transfer files it will freeze up at different times. Sometimes I can transfer a huge amount of data like 4GB's and the other times it locks up trying to transfer 4kB's. I'm at my wits end trying to figure this out. I can see the files but can not transfer them.
Any suggestions or past similar past experiences?

Hi Anand,
Have you noticed when you plug the drive in whether its making any sounds? You can put your ear up to the drive on the Macbook. Its located on the right hand front sided of the top case.
Also, check to see if the target disk mode icon is moving after a few minutes. If the firewire icon has stopped moving it usually indicates that theres something seriously wrong (probably mechanical) with the drive.
Id definitely give Disk Warrior a try. Especially if you have a situation where you can hear the drive running or spin up but it doesn't make any sound after that. Hope this helps.

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 Mini won't Boot after Target Disk Mode

We just bought a new iMac and used target disk mode via firewire from our older Mac Mini running OSX 10.4 to transfer data. Now when we go to restart the mini, the grey screen appears with apple logo and it seems to try to boot up but after a long time alway just ends up with a blue screen. I don't think I "ejected" the mini properly from the imac after the target disk mode transfer. Could the mini be stuck in target disk mode? I've tried to restart in different modes eg. safe mode, pram by holding down keys on start up but doesnt make a difference at all almost as if the keyboard isn't registering (and its a wired keyboard). Any ideas???
Thanks

Try starting up from the Recovery Partition holding the Option (Alt) key and see if you can Repair your Macintosh HD, as per > OS X: About OS X Recovery

Target Disk Mode = MAX FANS!

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