Using a Mac mini as a target disk for a G4 Powerbook

Question

Hello,
I saw a post that dealt with the above issue but i would like to get a bit more specific. I bought my Powerbook in 2005 and by now it's a bit dated. I use it to run Logic Pro, but also love games... So would it be possible to get a Mac mini Intel Duo 2Ghz, connect it to my Powerbook G4 and run games or other applications on the Mac mini but using the display and controls of my Powerbook? So in a few words, play on the Powerbook but run the game from the Mac mini. It sounds possible, but i am no computer genie! What do you think?
Or should i just spend an extra £200 and a get a Macbook...?
Thanks for your time,
Dimitris
Message was edited by: dimis
Message was edited by: dimis

Answer 1

When you run a computer in Target Disk Mode, the primary unit is what utilizes the processor, and the secondary unit in Target Disk Mode is only serving as the boot volume.
What does this mean?
Let's use two "equal" machines. At least, ones I've worked with. An iMac G3 400MHz and a 12-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz.
If you connect your PowerBook in Target Disk Mode to the iMac G3, your iMac will not run faster and things that work with your PowerBook, say, Pages or iWork '05, won't run on your iMac. The primary unit is the iMac and all it is doing is accessing the PowerBook for the startup volume and any files. But it still runs at G3 speed and won't take advantage of the G4 speed since it is not the machine being used. All the iMac is doing is accessing the PowerBook as if it were a bare external drive. (Well, not bare in that sense).
Vice versa, if you were to connect your iMac G3 in Target Disk Mode to your 12-inch PowerBook, things you saw that were slow at 400MHz, will fly at 1.5GHz and in G4 speeds, since the PowerBook is now your primary unit.
To put it in your terms, what you want to do is really use an Intel Mac mini as your primary unit and connect your PowerBook to it in Target Disk Mode so that you will see speed increases there. What you outlined in your post will not be possible.
If you connect an Intel Mac mini in Target Disk Mode to your PowerBook, the G4 processor will be the one being utilized, and in that case, you won't be able to run things like, say, Tiger Woods PGA Tour from EA (Electronic Arts) because while that runs and only runs on Intel-based Macs, with the Mac mini in Target Disk Mode, it will not use the Intel processor.
Vice versa, if you were to connect your PowerBook in Target Disk Mode to your Intel Mac mini, things like OS9 apps in Classic mode wouldn't run on the Mac mini since it's accessing the files on the PowerBook, but the processor being utilized is the Intel one, and Classic is not compatible with Intel-based Macs.
However, Logic Pro, as long as it was the Universal version, would fly on the Mac mini if using your PowerBook in Target Disk Mode.
So, after all that, the best thing to do would be to buy a MacBook, or in an "apples to apples" comparison, the professional equivalent in the MacBook Pro.