Target disk mode-no FireWire Port

My iMac won't boot and my macbook doesn't have a FireWire Port. Can I Use a USB-FireWire adapter in order to run Target disk mode

I think you're out of luck, I've never seen a USB<->FW adapter, do you have a link?

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How do I put my MacBook in "target disk mode" without FireWire?

I bought an aluminum MacBook (13 inch) and am shocked that there is no FireWire port. WHY? I want to hook it up to my MacPro as a targeted disk to copy over some but not all of my files. Also, I'd like to connect to some external hard drives to get some backed up files. Can I do this with USB? Is there a USB to FireWire adapter?

The hard drive is fairly easy to remove on the aluminum Macbook. I would remove it and install it in an external Firewire enclosure temporarily to transfer your files quickly and reliably, then put the drive back in the Macbook.
Ethernet works great, IF you have two FUNCTIONAL machines. The great thing about Firewire Target Disk mode was that if the HD/OS was corrupted, or the computer was for some reason unbootable you could still get data off of it quickly, without tools or special equipment.
Ethernet works great, IF you have two FUNCTIONAL machines. The great thing about Firewire Target Disk mode was that if the HD/OS was corrupted, or the computer was for some reason unbootable you could still get data off of it quickly, without tools or special equipment.

Does the MacBook 2015 support target disk mode?

Will the new MacBook support using the only port it has USB-C to thunderbolt for target disk mode booting?
thanks

Kappy wrote:
Target Disk Mode is only usable on Firewire. If Apple provides a USB-C to Firewire adaptor then you could use TDM.
Not true: You can access Target Disk Mode through Thunderbolt ports.
I don't know enough about USB-C to know whether TDM is possible: certainly TDM isn't possible on USB-A ports. We'll all have to keep reading the reviews once the hardware is released.

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

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.

No Display - Target disk mode to PC

the display went dead on my ibook. Nothing displays on an external monitor either. I don't have access to another Mac computer, only a PC. Is it possible to use target disk mode with firewire to my PC? Any ideas for getting data off my hard drive, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Some FireWire-equipped PCs support this type of connection, while others do not; if your PC does, you will need to install software such as MacDrive onto it.
(28047)

When/Why is TARGET DISK mode necessary?

I am hoping for some frank and practical advice from the Mac Gurus.
The background is that I am about a year and a half into a move to mac from a "PC" (really Windows XP on Boot Camp on my Mac Pro) and I now have both the MacPro running Snow Leopard and the MacBookPro running Snow Leopard.
I had a heck of a time with permissions and other assorted complications in trying to get my data MOVED from the PC environment and now I am finding that I still have assorted issues (various errors and permissions and file in use etc) in MOVING data from the MBP to the MacPro. My routine now is to COPY data from one machine to the other machine and then to go back and DELETE the folder on the originating computer. I do this because if I force a move by holding the option key down, I find that I am a total and complete loss as to WHAT has been moved and what has not been moved and if the folder that was being moved has multiple SUB-FOLDERS with files in them it is almost impossible for me to determine how to recover from this - effectively - crash. Previous advice has been to simply do an Undo but this is impractical in the sense that I cannot stop my day simply because I want to move a folder that will take a couple of minutes.
Also, I am now trying to make sure that I PLUGIN to Ethernet and TURN OFF the Wifi in order to make sure that I am moving data via Ethernet.
To be honest the decision to COPY data is a new one and I am not sure how effective this is going to be but I have been running into a lot of errors when I was force moving data. This always seemed to me to be a much "cleaner" way to do this since it meant I was not open to the possibility of making a mistake as to what had been moved already (in a hectic day or with a long time for a copy of data) and it also seemed to me to be a good check that everything had been copy-moved since the computer was deleting the originating folder, instead of my doing it manually.
Anyway, long story short -
1. Are there any "cleaner upper routines' that I should be running on these two machines to prevent these various errors and/or to check that everything on each machine is copascetic?
2. /When/ do you decide to boot into Disk Mode and do you basically check the size of your large folders before Moving or Copying Data in order to do this? I assume you can only use target disk mode in firewire is that right?
3. How do folks work in a large networked office with big amounts of data moving around? I mean, is my experience typical and if not, why am I having such difficulty with this?
Thanks for any advice

See mount section in 1st linked article.
Disk Unmount Using Terminal

Target disk mode is not detected

I have a Mini running the latest Snow Leopard (and also a MB Pro - same OS rev.). The same (non)result is happening on both.
I am trying to connect, via Firewire, to an old PB G3 (running 10.3) - after plugging in the Firewire cable I start the PB-G3 in target disk mode. Its screen shows the firewire logo.
However, system preferences on the Mini (or MBP) does not show the Firewire connected to anything.
The Mini and the MBPro use different Firewire cables (the MBP uses the old 400-400 cable style & the Mini needs the 800-400 style cable). So I don't think it's the cable. Also, the Mini can use that cable to successfully mount a Firewire hard drive. That drive mounts and System Preferences on the Mini shows that it is happy with that drive under Firewire.
The PB-G3 is operational - i.e., I can boot it up successfully. I just want to mount it as a target drive to copy off some files.
Any ideas how I can get the PB-G3 to mount in Target Disk Mode via Firewire?

baltwo wrote:
If the G3 shows the FW icon on the screen,
It does.
all you have to do is connect it to one of the others with the appropriate FW cable, and it should pop up on the screen as a FWHD.
and that is precisely what I reported is NOT happening. It does not mount -- not on the Mini and not on the MBP.
Disk Utility does not "see" it. Neither does Disk Warrior. And System Preferences/Firewire does not show anything connected.
The FW cable is good because when I use it to connect to a HD, that shows as expected.
Indeed, I have read the KB article. Yes, I have never had this happen. That's why I'm reporting/asking about it.

Firewire Cable (for target disk mode)

Hi all,
I'm using a Late 2010 27" i5 iMac and a Late 2009 15" MacBook Pro. I'm going to reformat and reinstall the iMac this weekend but need to grab all my Music/Documents (you know the drill) from it. Last time I did this, I did it over a 100mbps network, needless to say it was absolutely horribly slow. So, today I'm going to pick up a cheap-ish firewire cable and target my laptop as a disk using target disk mode.
Which type of Firewire cable do I need to buy? It's either a 4-pin or 6-pin choice, no 9-pins available at the shop I intend to visit. I have no idea what the difference is between them - hardware is definitely not my game.
Both ports look like this (taken from Apple's docs, Firewire 800):
Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Andy

I'm using a Late 2010 27" i5 iMac and a Late 2009 15" MacBook Pro.
Just verified the specs for these two in MacTracker just to be sure. Yes, both are FW800. So you need a 9-pin to 9-pin FW cable (like these)

G4 and Firewire Target Disk Mode

I am running a G4 made in Dec.99, with ATA drive and AGP graphics, running OX 10.3.9 and I cannot start it up in Target Disk Mode (TDM) to connect it to a Mac Pro. Any ideas? I've been all over "support" on the Apple web site and the only thing I could find is that it may not be TDM compatible, but the list of machines that do work included G4 with AGP graphics and ATA drive, which I have both. I have firmware version (BootROM) 3.1.3ƒ1 and do not know what else I can do. Does anyone have any ideas, as a co-worker told me he was able to TDM a G3. I have already done the obvious checks, cords, ports, power, etc, and the G4 keeps starting up on the system. Should I try restarting in system 9 (still installed) and then try TDM? Help, please.... if anyone can, thanks.

Hi, Andrea -
I have firmware version (BootROM) 3.1.3ƒ1
The current version of firmware for your machine is 4.2.8. It is recommended that the firmware be updated for better compliance with OSX, and doing so may solve the Firewire TDM issue. You can download the updater from here -
Article #86117 - Firmware Updates
The firmware update will run only when the machine is booted to OS 9 from the internal hard drive, so it is good that you still have that installed.
Note - the firmware update will result in a more strict adherence requirement by the startup memory test. Several years ago there was a bunch of RAM sold which did not quite meet Apple's original specs, but was good enough to pass the original memory test requirements. Much of this RAM will not pass the stricter adherence requirements after the firmware update - any that does not pass the test will be locked out during startup. Before installing the firmware update, download and run DIMM First Aid - this utility can perform basic RAM tests, such as compliance to specs, and can correct the coding on some sub-spec RAM so that it is usable after the firmware update. This utility is an OS 9 program.
Should I try restarting in system 9 (still installed) and then try TDM?
That should make no difference. Since nothing is loaded, including the OS on the drive, when a machine is started up in FwTDM (the machine's drive appears to the Host machine as if it were an external firewire hard drive), what OS may be set in Startup Disk is not relevent.
<hr>
Does anyone have any ideas, as a co-worker told me he was able to TDM a G3.
Yes, some G3's are FwTDM capable, although many G3s (such as B&W G3 models) can be only the Host machine and not the Target machine.

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.

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

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

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

Firewire Drives not showing and no Target disk mode

Strange problem. My two g4 450's one dual and one single will not start in Target disk mode, will not recognize Firewire drives and yet WILL recognize my iSight camera. What's going on?
Have 6 different drives to choose from but none mount. They all work on my G5 & MDD Dual
Enio

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION:
One computer does not recognize the other, which was booted into Firewire Target Disk Mode (either by holding the T key on start up, or by selecting FTDM in system preferences as the start up mode).
My particular case: older MBP to newer MBP unibody. I have a cable that is firewire 400 with a firewire 800 tip on the other end (6-9 pin cable). This cable is needed, for instance, if you machine only has firewire 400 but your new machine only has firewire 800 (like the new Unibody MBP). Well, they sold me this 6-9 pin cable at the store, when they should have just given me a firewire 800 cable straight across, because both machines have FW 800. Anyway, I tried the 6-9 pin cable, where the old MBP was connected via its 400 port to the Unibody's 800 port.
No dice. Would not mount, nothing. Repeated restarts, checked the cable and it does work... called Apple tech support, nothing. Researched the web until finally I think I know what it is.
There is not enough power coming from the 400 port to power the 800 port. I tried this 400-800 with my new Mac Mini as well, and it does not work. It does, however, get picked up on the older MBP when using a straight FW 400 cable. I then came across an article saying that someone was told by Apple that the FW bus can, in some machines, not provide enough power for FWTD mode. The solution for 400-800 is to go 800-800, or 400-400 if you can. If these latter don't work (FWTD mode fails to mount the connected computer's hard drive), us a powered firewire hub and connect Computer A to it, then connecting the hub to Computer B.

Can you install tiger on a power mac g4 with out a DVD drive if so how, I do have have a 2011 iMac can I use that in target disk mode with a FireWire cable any help would be appreciated

Can you install tiger on a power mac g4 with out a DVD drive if so how, I do have have a 2011 iMac can I use that in target disk mode with a FireWire cable any help would be appreciated

Hello,
You need to put the Tiger Install Disc in the 2011 iMac, boot the 2011 uMac into Target mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Boot the G4 holding the Option or alt key, hopefully the Install Disc in the 2011 iMac will show as a boot choice.
We just want to use the 2011 iMac as a big expensive FW Optical drive, it cannot be installed osing the 2011 iMac itself.

Target Disk Mode on new MacBook Air - where to find Thunderbolt to Firewire cable?

I use a MacPro desktop with a RAID set-up at home, and will use the new MacBook Air on the road. I need to use Target Disk Mode when I return home to sync my Macs. The MacPro only has Firewire 400/800; the new Air only Thunderbolt. Does anyone know how to find a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter, please?

I, too, would like a TB<->FW adapter, but I'll wager that for 99% of those purchasing a new MBA it is not an issue let alone a serious ommission.
For the rest of 'us' (the remaining 1%) Sonnet has an adapter listed with info due 'later this summer' as to pricing/availability so as Waymen has already stated it may be a while before we see one.
In the meantime, I'll use a combination of USB2 drives (one of my dozen or so USB2 drives--120GB to 1TB--I have lying around), an Ethernet cable, SuperDrive, or AirDrop. Not as convenient but a usable work around.

Target disk mode-no FireWire Port

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