If the computer is off, start it up while pressing and holding the t key. Boot a sick mac into target disk mode for troubleshooting. Questions about apple thunderbolt to firewire adapter apple. While firewire is still supported, thunderbolt, which offers a much faster connection, is a better choice for newer macs. Since there is no write protection inherent to target mode if you connect a mac to a mac using target mode without first turning off disk arbitration your host mac will mount the file system, which can result in the undesired alteration of data. How to recover data from another mac in target disk mode. Your other mac has builtin firewire and supports firewire target disk mode a your other mac has mac os x v10. Dec 19, 2016 using target disk mode is just one of a couple different ways that you can boot from a separate drive to run a scan and recover files from a nonbooting mac. To enter target disk mode, click the apple menu and select system preferences. If what youre sad about losing is apples firewire target disk modewhich lets you copy files back and forth between two macs via a firewire cableyou can get a rough usb approximation in targuss targus for mac file transfer cable. Mac tutorials 12 transfer files between macs using ethernet. Thunderbolt networking provides a peertopeer connection at.
Regardless of which option you choose, it is important that you carry out a few preliminary tasks that will make migration easier and quicker. Transfer files using a direct ethernet connection mac os x. How to transfer large amounts of data between macs quickly cnet. Target disk mode is not supported on macbook air that lack a thunderbolt port. Target disk mode works with macs, so youll need two macs for this.
In order for target disk mode to operate, both computers need a set of firewire ports or a set of thunderbolt ports. Continue to hold the t key until you see a firewire or thunderbolt icon on the macs screen. Feb 06, 2014 another use of thunderbolt is target disk mode. You can also enter target disk mode by rebooting your mac and holding down the t key as it boots. In this mode, the other computer simply will appear as a second hard drive on the desktop of the macbook. How to boot your mac in target disk mode for easy file transfers. Target disk mode over usb only works when connected via usb 3, so it can only be used with 2012 and later macs despite apples support article erroneously suggesting older models, by stating any mac. You may want to consider using target disk mode with thunderbolt 3. Target disk mode is the preferred form of oldcomputer to newcomputer interconnect used by apples migration assistant.
How to move your content to a new mac apple support. When a mac that supports target disk mode is started with the t key held down, its operating system does not boot. Migration assistant supports ethernet wired or wifi, which tdm does not. Connect the two computers with a firewire or thunderbolt cable. May 19, 2014 target disk mode tdm is a function of the mac that was introduced back in 1999 with the slotloading imac g3 and first supported in mac os 8. This is especially useful if one of the computers cannot be booted. Target disk mode is a very handy feature available to use with mac s that have thunderbolt or firewire ports, and it allows you to use one mac as an external drive on another host machine. I have problems with my macbook, how can i transfer. Apples target disk mode is an essential tool builtin to every mac.
How do i transfer files from my old mac to the macbook. According to apple to use target disk mode, simply connect the computers using a firewire cable, then start the second computer while holding down the t key on its keyboard. I have shut down the old macbook air and started it up while holding down the t key. Target disk mode is a very handy feature available to use with macs that have thunderbolt or firewire ports, and it allows you to use one mac as an external drive on another host machine. This can be helpful if your mac has a problem with its own internal drive, and you need to be able to boot the mac in order to reinstall the os or perform repairs. If you started your old mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a time machine backup, skip these four steps. Another use of target disk mode is to boot your mac from the target disk mac. Transfer files using a direct ethernet connection mac os x hints. In this mode, the other computer simply will appear as a second hard drive on the desktop of the macbook pro. Then, power on the target mac while holding the t key on that systems keyboard. Therefore, just connect both imacs with a firewire 800 cable. If you have done so successfully, you will see what appears to be a white lightning.
Via target disk mode using the thunderbolt and firewire ports. The 2016 macbook pro offers target disk mode over usb, in addition to thunderbolt and firewire. Nov 22, 2016 instead of using target disk mode, there is another way to quickly transfer files between two macbook pro machines using thunderbolt 3. Looking to transfer huge files between two macs as fast as possible. Apr 24, 2020 when asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a mac, time machine backup, or startup disk.
Start up your old mac in target disk mode and connect it to the new machine via either a thunderbolt or firewiretofirewire cable. Mac target disk mode includes usb the ivanexpert mac blog. Mac disk arbitration will automatically mount any disk connected to it. In preparing your old mac, update the installed operating system. No firewire on the macbook air unfortunately means no target.
How to transfer large amounts of data between macs quickly. After connecting your mac running os x high sierra 10. Target disk mode allows you to quickly share files between two macbook pros. In order to use target disk mode with two macs, well need a firewire cable of the type 6 pin to 6 pin. Once connected, transfers will happen very quickly. Mar 25, 2015 more details at cloning an image using thunderbolt and disk utility postel capitan the procedure below is for yosemite 10. May 24, 2012 in this short clip i used a firewire 800 cable to connect the hard drive from 1 macbook pro to another macbook pro without physically opening the macs. Use firewire target disk mode to troubleshoot a mac. Or connect them using target disk mode and the appropriate cable or adapter. Nor can target disk mode be used with apples usbc charge cable, which is a usb 2 cable. Transfer files between two mac computers using target disk mode. Access files, use migration assistant, and boot from another mac. Target disk mode is a boot mode unique to macintosh computers.
Connect any two macs and transfer files up to 10gbps. The mini displayport is purely a video out port, and cannot be. Can i use an ethernet cord for target dis apple community. The old drive mounted on the new mac and they could see files. Basically, the mac os is smart enough to set up a functional network if you connect two machines together using ethernet or firewire cable. Click the startup disk icon and click the target disk mode button to restart your mac in target disk mode. Its also one of the easiest ways to steal someone elses home. Oct 26, 2017 you only need to connect your thunderbolt or firewire cable to establish a connection between the two macs. Connect your macs via a firewire or thunderbolt cable. This incredibly useful feature makes troubleshooting, installations, large file transfers, and critical backups extremely easy and very fast. I need to use target disk mode when i return home to sync my macs. Or connect your new mac to a time machine backup of your old mac. Apr 07, 2010 target disk mode is a very handy feature available to use with macs that have thunderbolt or firewire ports, and it allows you to use one mac as an external drive on another host machine.
Highspeed data transfers between macs with thunderbolt the. Unfortunately, this doesnt help with the larger macbook firewire issue, which is that you cant connect firewire drives, video cameras, etc. Oct 18, 2008 im thinking this is my final post on the lack of firewire on apples new macbook, but it might help some of the folks who are in mourning. How to transfer your data from an old macbook to a newer. With this firewire cable ready, switch off both macs and first connect the firewire cable to the target mac this is the mac which has the hard drive which we wish to read from, or write to. How to network two macbook pros together via thunderbolt 3. Nov 17, 2016 target disk mode isnt a new technology, but the fact that you can now transfer files using thunderbolt 3 is new. Then start up your old computer in target disk mode. Using target disk mode to recover macintosh hard drive. I have also tried enabling it through system preferences, but there is no target disk mode option.
Please continue reading this guide to learn how to configure target disk mode. On the mac you want to use as the disk in target disk mode, do one of the following. Each mac needs either a thunderbolt port or a firewire port. Usb target disk mode works with the right cable which apple doesnt sell. You would simply connect your firewire or thunderbolt cable so that the two macs are connected, and then follow the steps below for setting up target disk mode. Transfer files quickly between two macbook pros using. Transfer files between two mac computers using target disk. Mar 19, 2017 target disk mode over usb only works when connected via usb 3, so it can only be used with 2012 and later macs despite apples support article erroneously suggesting older models, by stating any mac. Instead, the macs firmware enables its drives to behave as a scsi, firewire, thunderbolt. If you have two mac computers with firewire or thunderbolt ports, you can connect them so that one of them appears as an external hard disk on the other. They booted old macbook into target disk mode and connected it to new macbook with an ethernet cable and it worked fine. Take to genius bar and id say they should assist for free seeing as you just purchased a new mac. Connect the macbook to another mac using a firewire or thunderboltcable, then get the macbook in target disk mode by holding the t button during the startup.
How to use target disk mode with thunderbolt cable on os x. If the directory cant be sorted with disk utility and target disk mode doesnt work at all, doesnt show the hard drive in the troubled machine, or cant find the files on it, your best bet will be to remove the drive, connect it to the good mac through an external enclosure or usb adapter cable, and use data recovery software to salvage. Until recently, you enabled target disk mode by connecting two macs together via firewire. Cloning an image using thunderbolt and disk utility st.
How to enable target disk mode via thunderbolt macworld. On the target mac, reboot the computer while holding down the t key on the keyboard to boot it into target disk mode. The macbook lacks thunderbolt and firewire interfaces, which are required for target disk mode tdm, in which a mac is mounted on another mac as a drive. Now open the migration assistant application on your new mac you can find it by choosing go utilities, or using spotlight or launchpad, select from a mac, time machine backup, or startup disk and click. Target disk mode is useful for accessing the contents of a mac which cannot be booted from its own operating system.
I learned that you might be able to put the old one into target disk mode and treat it like an external startup disk. Simply put, a firewireequipped mac had a special mode that turned it into an external storage device that was accessible by connecting it to another mac using a standard firewire cable. I use a macpro desktop with a raid setup at home, and will use the new macbook air on the road. Usbc is thunderbolt so you can connect them directly, then youll need to enable target disk mode on ht computer you ar copying from. Apple diagnostics macbook pro targetdisk mode firewire. Nor can target disk mode be used with apples usbc charge cable, which is a usb 2 cable when used for data. But my wife didnt want to hang around the apple store for hours waiting for a copy to finish. Two of apples current macs dont even include firewire macbook and.
Even if they get rid of target disk mode you can still transfer files easily using ethernet. If you power up one of the two computers while holding the t key down, it will appear as a locally attached hard drive on the other mac. I used an aluminum macbook connected via ethernet cable directly to an. Originally, target disk mode made use of the firewire ports that were common on older macs. If both computers are bootable, then you can connect them via ethernet cable and use normal network file sharing. If you have massive amounts of data to move from one mac to another, file sharing over wifi may not be the best approach. Target disk mode on new macbook air whe apple community. Sans digital forensics and incident response blog how to. How to use target disk mode with thunderbolt 3 on macbook pro. How to boot your mac in target disk mode for easy file. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another mac.
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