Why won'tiMac won't go into target disk mode?

starting in 'T' doen't help, it plows on to loading up.

The following 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)
iBook (FireWire) and all models introduced after September 2000
MacBook (all models)
PowerBook G3 (FireWire)
PowerBook G4 (all models)
MacBook Pro (all models)
If your model is not in the above list then it will not support TDM.

Similar Messages

I put my macbook into target disk mode and now it won't start up in regular mode

I put my macbook into target disk mode and now it won't start up in OSX. I have used my install disk and repaired the drive. I have held down the option key to choose the system. I have tried to start in safe mode with same result. The apple screen appears, but the gear just keeps turning. I can get it back into target disk mode by connecting it by firewaire to my macbook pro. It will start up in Windows when I choose that system. What can I do to get it to start up with OSX?
Thanks for your help.

Try this from MacFixIt as well:
In the case of drive directory damage or problems with permissions, the solution is usually to use Apple's Disk Utility to repair the disk. Of course, you won't be able to perform this operation normally (simply launching the Disk Utility application, located in Applications/Utilities, and initiating a disk repair) if your system will not startup. So two options exist:
* Insert your Mac OS X 10.4.x (Tiger) media (DVD or CD) and restart the computer while holding down the "C" key. Once the computer has booted from the installation disc, select "Utilities" from the menubar and open Disk Utility. Repair the disk, then quit Disk Utility and restart your system.
* Alternatively, you can repair the disk while booted in single user mode if you do not have access to a retail Mac OS X 10.4.x (Tiger) DVD/CD. To startup in single user mode, hold down the "Command" and "S" keys simultaneously at startup. Once properly booted, type the command fsck at the prompt. Repeat these process until no errors appear.

Pismo with Tiger won't go into target disk mode

I recently upgraded my Pismo to Tiger and can't seem to boot into firewire target disk mode. The computer restarts and gives me a terminal screen that reads: "can't OPEN DISK" and then goes on to say "Welcome to Open Firmware. To continue booting, type "mac-boot"..."
I tried zapping the pram, but that did nothing. Does anybody have any suggestions?

MacUser,
When booted in 10.4.8, select Target Disk Mode in the System Preferences > Startup Disk and see what happens.
If no success, try resetting Open Firmware (from Apple docs):
Boot into Open Firmware by holding down the 'Command-Option-O-F' keys from a cold start while the chime is being played. You will see a command-line screen...enter these commands:
1. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
2. Press Return.
3. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
4. Press Return.
Example:
0 > reset-nvram
Press Return
0 > reset-all
Press Return
The reset-all command should cause the computer to restart. If this occurs, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings.

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?

Won't go into Target Disk Mode

Help,
I have an iMac that is several years old, OS X v. 10.3.9, has never had any trouble. I recently bought a new MacBook Pro and have been trying to move files over from the iMac, but I cannot get the iMac to boot up in Target Disk Mode.
I reboot, hold the "T" key, etc., and the FireWire symbol comes up, but then it just slowly bounces around the screen while the machine whirs away, and I don't get any further.
Open Firmware Password is not activated; I've run software updates.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Hi,
A while back I tried what you have and also, the Panther OS G4 would not show up on the Tiger OS G4, although the Panther OS was in Target Disk Mode with the floating icon.
The connection was per instructions, both on line and step-by-step per the Tiger OS, but no disk showed up even after a few hours of wait.
What I found is that my Panther OS G4 Firewire socket was 'mushy' (it moved fairly easy from slight finger pressure on the plug-in end... it was not 'firm' like my USB socket was. So I tried a Firewire external drive I have, that did work before, and it too, did not show-up (although it did start it by being plugged in). Everything I tried with that Firewire socket on the Panther Computer was not there... although these did work on the Tiger Computer.
Since the Firewire is soldered onto the motherboard I have come to the conclusion that one or more of the connections are disconnected... perhaps not the power one, as the external items react to the plug-in, but there is no 'communication' after the fact.
Perhaps this is what has happened on the iMac end for you. And yes, I have used that Firewire plug many many times and not always with TLC in the past, as it is a laptop.
Now I use a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 (either direction works, depending on what plug works on which item) for what I have and do... as to repair it would be more then a new computer and the Panther computer is an '05 model (but still used daily for what it does).
Maybe you can check how 'solid' your iMac feels when it is plugged in with the Firewire, compare it to other connections... do it gently though, but if it is loose you will know by the 'mushy give' it has.

Broken Macbook Pro won't finish copying even with target disk mode. Help!

Hi,
I'm helping someone with a Macbook Pro 2010-11. It worked for a few years but eventually degraded last month when it wouldn't go 10 minutes without displaying the rainbow loading ball. Possibly a hard drive problem.
The owner never backed any of the computer up. I am trying to salvage their data before it's lost. The computer can power on. I have been turning the computer on and salvaging most of the data from numerous trips with USBs until it crashes, and then moving on to Target Disk Mode. The computer turns on slowly, displays the rainbow ball every minute or so, and never finishes copying or exporting anything. It still seems to be degrading.
I still need two things: One is a large folder with thousands of old OUTLOOK e-mails created on an old PC (which the owner no longer has).
Second is the folder/autobackup where OUTLOOK for Mac stores all the e-mails and settings.
I have found the folder -- I think it is the Main Identity or Office Identities. Am I correct? Will this bring back OUTLOOK on the newer Macbook Pro exactly like on the old one? I also know where the old e-mails folder is, but when I try to transfer either folder through Target Disk Mode on the newer Macbook Pro, it stops and gives me the "Some data in _____.olk14msgsource could not be read or written." AKA error code -36, halfway through the transfer.
I have tried exporting OUTLOOK on the broken Macbook Pro to a .olm, but it gets stuck halfway and gets stuck back on the rainbow ball. Then I shut the computer off. I have also tried going into the folders through target disk mode and deleting the .olk14msgsource files that are problematic, but there are too many of them.
Please help! The owner needs these files and OUTLOOK exactly like it was!
Thanks!

Tried connecting the cable? Still won't start?
If you are still under warranty and/or have AC, call them & let them deal w/it.
OOW: Take the MBP to your local AS or an AASP. Diagnostic testing is FREE!
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1365 Intel-Based Apple Portables: Troubleshooting a computer that will not power on

Mac mini won't boot into target disk mode

Hi
I just bought a Mac mini on eBay. I'm not sure of the spec but I think its a G4.
When it arrived I plugged it in and switched on to find the question mark folder appear.
I put in a 10.5 disk but it would not boot from it. [this was a disk I got with another s/h machine though so may not be bootable]
As I could not install from the disk I figured my best bet would be to target disk in and install osx from a powerbook I have here.
However I can't get target disk to work.
The keyboard is definitely working as it allows me to boot into OF and zap the PRAM
I've also tried pressing what I believe to be the SMU button just behind the connector board to the HD and DVD drive but no luck.
Anybody got any ideas as to whats going on?
Cheers

Ok, I can probably get a copy of OSX
The problem is I think the DVD drive is faulty as it wouldn't give me my disk back I tried "eject cd" in OF but it didn't work and I had to open it up with a screw driver and take it out.
If the disk is corrupted is there a way to erase it without putting it in another machine. ie can it be done from OF?
Thanks for your help btw

Target Disk Mode Backup

The hard drive on my 12" powerbook g4 is failing and I need to do an emergency backup. I've pulled all the important data off and now I'd like to make a disk image backup so that I don't lose my preferences, fonts, etc, etc.
I'd thought to do this by putting the powerbook into target disk mode, mounting the disk on a friend's powerbook, and then using her disk utility feature to create the new disk image on another, external drive. Her internal drive isn't large enough to hold the disk image.
But reading the apple how-to, it seems like you can't have another firewire connection active when you've got a computer hooked up in target disk mode. Is this so?
Is there any way I can create this disk image backup and get it on my external drive without booting up the failing powerbook?
powerbook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)
powerbook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, oligopisto. Welcome to the Discussions.
The instructions for Target Disk Mode are very specific. I've not tried using a FireWire drive while having another Mac connected in Target Disk Mode. While Apple doesn't state the reason, I'd take them at their word. If the instructions state not to do it, I'd follow their advice.
I presume you only have one FireWire drive, that it's not partitioned, and that you've used that drive to save the data you've backed up from your PowerBook?
If that's the case, then here is a suggestion for an emergency backup procedure:
1. First, using your friend's Mac, see if you can create a disk image of the data on the FireWire drive that you can save on her computer. You need to do this to save the info you've already backed-up to the FireWire drive before proceeding.
2. Open the Get Info window for the FireWire drive and see if the "Ignore ownership on this volume" checkbox is selected in the General pane. If so, uncheck that checkbox.
3. Eject the FireWire drive from your friend's Mac (drag its icon to the Trash), then power off the FireWire drive and disconnect it from her computer.
4. Connect your FireWire drive to your PowerBook and power-on the FireWire drive.
5. Startup from your Tiger Install DVD.
6. Select Language.
7. After the Installer window opens, select Utilities > Disk Utility. You should see both the FireWire drive and the PowerBook's startup disk (e.g. Macintosh HD) in the column on the left side of the Disk Utility window.
8. In Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD.
9. Select the Restore tab.
10. Drag the Macintosh HD icon from the left column to the Source field in the Restore tab.
11. Drag the icon of the FireWire drive's volume to the Destination field in the Restore tab. Your FireWire drive will show up in the left column as:<pre>FireWire Drive Device Info
FireWire drive's volume</pre>The FireWire drive's volume is below and slightly indented with respect to the FireWire Drive Device Info. It's listed with the name of your FireWire drive. That's what you want to drag to Destination.
The first a screen shot in this article will give you some idea of what things should look like.
12. Select Erase Destination. Note: This option will result in the FireWire drive being erased after the next step.
13. Click Restore. Disk Utility begins to copy your entire Macintosh HD to the FireWire drive's volume. This may take several hours depending on how much data is on your PowerBook.
14. When Disk Utility has finished, Quit (Command-Q) Disk Utility.
15. Quit (Command-Q) the Installer. When prompted, select Shutdown to shutdown your PowerBook.
16. After your PowerBook shuts down, power off and disconnect the FireWire drive.
17. Check the files on the FireWire drive using your friend's Mac. If done correctly, you may even be able to startup her Mac from the Backup using Startup Manager. However, given that your PowerBook's hard drive is dying, you'll need to be satisfied with whatever you can get off of it. For example, if the OS on your PowerBook is corrupted, you might get your data files, but the drive won't be bootable.
18. Copy the disk image from your friend's Mac, created in Step 1, to the FireWire drive.
19. Eject the FireWire drive from your friend's Mac (drag its icon to the Trash), then power off the FireWire drive and disconnect it from her computer.
Your FireWire drive should now have both a copy of whatever could be recovered fro, your Macintosh HD and the disk image you created in step 1.
After you get your PowerBook's hard drive replaced, I suggest you implement a comprehensive Backup and Recovery solution. For advice on the backup and recovery solution I employ, see my "Backup and Recovery" FAQ.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Target Disk Mode, dragging files, can't do singular file, batches always -1

This definitely seems silly:
Using: PowerPC G5 and Macbook Core2Duo
I connect the two via firewire, the Macbook in Target Disk Mode. Everything works fine. The Macbook goes into Target Disk Mode flawlessly, and my Macbook's hard drive, Belle, shows up on the PowerPC G5 flawlessly. Which is a dream.
The silly thing I've discovered is that I can't drag a single file (one at a time) from the Macbook to anywhere on the PowerPC hard drive. Instead of a beautiful green gem with a positive symbol on it, I get a white circle with a slash through it.
It doesn't sound silly (though still a problem), but if I drag two or more files, I'll get the green gem with a positive symbol. Silly. But, even sillier, it won't transfer the last file. For example, if I drag IMG 01, IMG 02, IMG 03, IMG 04 all at once, IMG 04 won't transfer, but the other three will.
Maybe this is extremely common and perhaps not even silly but logical, but it's beyond me right now. Any solution?
Macbook core2duo, PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.9) firewire, target disk mode

I don't have an explanation or solution to this problem - but I'd use 'personal file sharing' instead of Target Disk mode. It's probably slower, but doesn't require any rebooting.

Upgrading Xserve G5 using USB Optical Drive/ Target Disk Mode

Hello Everyone!
I am trying to update my Xserve G5 that is currently running 10.3 (Panther) to 10.5 (Leopard). I have tried multiple methods and cannot seem to get it to work.
I have tried to:
Use a USB Optical Drive - I tried using a USB optical drive because the Xserve G5 has a CD drive not a superdrive. It recognizes the Leopard Installation DVD as it pops up on the desktop. I open the installation and click the restart button, but it restarts again and goes to my desktop as if I just turned on the Mac. I have tried doing this in Safe Mode (Holding down Shift on Start Up) and trying to select it from volumes (Holding down Option on Start Up). These two do not work.   I believe it is because I am using a USB optical drive and that it wont recognize the drive unless you are logged on in the OS. Could this be it?
Use FireWire Target Disk Mode - I also tried to use target disk mode by hooking up my Xserve to my MacBook Pro 2009. Everything work fine. I put the Xserve into target disk mode by holding down T on start up and it goes into target disk mode. It pops up on my MacBook Pro desktop as a FireWire external device (I can access all of my files on the Xserve hard drive). My only problem is that I do not know how to run the installation disk of Leopard off of my MacBook Pro so it installs it on my Xserve.
Any Suggestions or Ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
- Ryan

So what should I do since reformatting the HDD through disk utlity on the Xserve is not an option
Why not???
Boot th xSeve using alt key from Install Disc in MBP, then...
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
      *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
   3. Click the Erase tab.
   4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
   5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
   6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, APM Partition.
Quit DU which puts you back to the Installer... Install.

Mac shuts down in target disk mode

So I finally replaced my old iMac G4 with a shiny new MacBook Pro. But I've run into problems while attempting to copy user data over during the setup assistant process. I connect the two computers using a firewire cable. I put the old iMac into target disk mode. The PowerBook recognizes all my settings and lets me choose what to copy over. But every time the MacBook Pro starts copying data from the old iMac, the old iMac shuts down. Any ideas?

Don't quite know. Anything in Apple doc.#58583 help?
Perhaps you are using the wrong procedure?
 DALE

Power Mac G4 1.25Dual shuts down when pressing T for target disk mode

I am hoping someone might be able to help me with this. I am trying to put my G4 dual 1.25Ghz into target disk mode to transfer my apps and settings to my new Quad G5. I start the G4, hold "t", and instead of showing me the comforting bouncing firewire symbol, the computer shuts down completely. Restarting it without holding "t" will result in normal bootup. I have tried a different keyboard and power cable to no avail. I have reset open firmware, reset the PMU all to no avail. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the response Dale. Unfortunately the computer I am putting into Target Disk Mode (The G4 1.25Dual) definitely has an ATA bus. I use target disk mode with other computers in the studio almost daily so was somewhat surprised to see that this one just shuts down instead. I am still hoping someone might have some insight.

Power Mac G4 stuck in Target Disk Mode

The other night I put my Gigbit Ethernet into Target Disk Mode so I could migrate my files to a newer machine (a mirrored drive door G4 with dual 1.42mhz processors). After the migration was complete (which took 9 hours), I tried ejecting the target disk but got a perpetual spinning beach ball and had to force everything off. Unfortunately, either because my newer machine came with a faulty Tiger installation, or my migration messed the installation up - the finder kept crashing and things such as "Get Info" wasn't working- I had to endeavor to get a working version of Tiger on the newer machine. I wanted to clone my older drive to my newer drive.
Futzing around for over an hour to try to gain access to my old Power Mac's hard Disc, which was still, according to the bouncing Icon on the screen, in target disk mode, I could not access the drive at all from the newer machine. When I tried, such as by double clicking on its desktop icon, by right clicking on the same Icon, or if I went into the system preferences to change the startup disk with the gigabit ethernet attached, I got the perpetual spinning beach ball. Also, I could not access the drive from the disk utility app that is on the Tiger install DVD. Luckily, I had a pretty fresh bootable backup of the gigabit ethernet on a firewire drive that I cloned to my newer computer. I just have a handful of files that I want to transfer from the gigabit ethernet if I had my drothers.
Am I screwed here? Is there a way to force my Gigabit Ethernet out of Target Disk Mode without hooking it up to another computer? If it's possible to get the Gigabit Ethernet to boot again successfully, I can transfer my file over my network. Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers

I am confused...it sounds to me like what you wish to do is to make an exact copy of the hard disk in your Gigabit Ethernet and apply that copy to the drive in your MDD, correct?
From what I understand, you are saying you cannot access your GE's hard disk using target disk mode? Or am I mistaken? Also, can you not boot up normally on the GE's hard disk? Is there something wrong with it?
The easiest way to clone a disk is to just make a disk image of the hard disk you wish to keep, and then apply that disk image to the destination disk. Disk utility can perform all this very easily, and pretty quickly. Of course, if you are having trouble booting in target disk mode, this can be a problem...
I'm still kind of confused on what exactly is the problem, and what you are trying to accomplish. Could you please explain a little more and answer the questions above? Much appreciated.

OS Upgrade Using Target Disk Mode

Is this possible?
I have a 700 MHz eMac with CD-RW drive running Panther and I want to upgrade it using a Tiger DVD. If I put the eMac in Target Disk mode using my Intel iMac, is it possible to upgrade the OS on the eMac?
My concern is that once I put the DVD into the Intel iMac and launch the installer, the iMac will restart and break the Target Disk connection with the eMac. If this does occur, is there any way to put the eMac back into Target Disk mode once the installer takes control of the iMac?
TIA

Are you intending to upgrade to Tiger using the disk that came with your Intel Mac?
Not possible. It has Intel architecture and your eMac is PPC. Do not attempt it. If it starts installing it will hose your e-Mac. To upgrade the e-Mac you need a
Retail Tiger disk.
The Apple store still sells them.
DALE

Target Disk Mode error..?

Let me premise this quiestion by saying I am rather new with macs.. love em so far, but have been rasied on PC's..
anyways, I have an ibook G4 that someone gave to me because it had the flashing question mark on startup, I booted from install disk and ran disk utility to 'repair disk' and it gives me an 'Underlying task reported failure error -9972'..
So there are thousands of pictures I would like to retrieve from this ibook, So Im thinking using my new MacBook and doing a little target disk mode retrieval..
So I connect them together of course, I start the ibook by holding 'T', it goes into target disk mode (see the floating firewire icon).. but my MacBook just spits out this error: the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer..
Any and all help would be awesome! im hoping I can retrieve the data, but does it sound like a lost cause?..

Unfortunately this type of work is not covered by Protection Plan, and the cost is too high for me. The only thing I can do now is Initialize, and lose my files.
But before to do this procedure, I would like try another time the Target Disk Mode: I found this (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2528?viewlocale=en_US) in the Apple Site, perhaps is this the problema I had today?
And what about other type of files migration?

Why won'tiMac won't go into target disk mode?

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