Great Feature from Apple: Firewire Target Disk Mode (1 Viewer)

[Christ Reynolds]

I know many of you already know about this feature, but I wanted to share my experiences. I'm using Firewire target disk mode to transfer my data from my Mac mini to my new Mac Pro (quad core 2.66, what a step up!). This feature is just another thing that Apple has done right. It's not that big of a feature, until you need it, and it becomes huge.

When you want to transfer data from one computer to the other, restart the destination computer, and hold down "T" while restarting. When you see a large Firewire icon, connect the two machines with a Firewire cable. The desktop of the source machine will have the destination machine's volumes mounted on the desktop. My Mac Pro has 3 hard drives in it, and all 3 were mounted within seconds. Icons and all. Copy your data, and you're done! This is a great little feature. Link Removed Apple's documentation on how to use this feature.

On a side note, this Mac Pro is a beast. I bought it with my educational discount, and during tax free weekend in Massachusetts. I don't think I've ever seen any computer as well designed as this machine. It's a tank. The door is thick and heavy, and it feels like I have a serious machine. Incredibly easy to add hard drives and memory. Oh yeah...the performance is outstanding. I love this thing.

CJ

 

[ErichH]

Target mode has been around for quite some time. It's not just for setup on a new mac. You can use it any time to make some quick file transfers between macs.

Boot the slave with a T and the drive is available on the master. Eject the drive from the master & hold the slave power button until power down to end the session.

Good Luck with the new box!

 

[JohnRice]

You guys know, you can network Macs with Firewire as well. It is a whole lot easier than target mode since it does not involve any restarts. Have the users set up and connect through Network. Bingo.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

I know, but I never had a reason to try it, or another Mac. I've never experienced such a detail oriented company. They really do it right.

CJ

 

[Thomas Newton]

Before Firewire Target Disk mode, there was SCSI Target Disk Mode.

You didn't connect the SCSI cables after the machines had powered up (that was a big no-no with SCSI -- a way to fry things). But it was a good way to get things on and off PowerBooks.

 

[ErichH]

Oh man, I have no fond memories of SCSI. The way we transfer now is magic compared to a few years back.
Remember plugging in a Zip drive and watching it tilt up cause the cable outweighed the drive Oh, and those stupid 50 to 25 pin adapters. Those were the good Ol' Days
I have friends in the recording business who still deal with big stacks of 15k drives in cool rooms, Atto cards, etc. - they hate dealing with the giant hoses and the heat.

Many of us were betting on Firewire being gone by the time Serial2 made it's way into the mainstream, but it's still around.

I wouldn't be surprised is we see Serial plugs on the exterior of the next gen Mac Pro. Gen 1/2 cards on the PCI bus is OK, but it's time to get the channels on the box exterior ready to go.

I suppose most think 3.5 TB in the case is plenty for now.

 

[Yee-Ming]

True. It's such a simple way to exchange files, rather than the clunky "copy onto a floppy" back in the day, or today's equivalent "copy onto a flash drive", either of which involves copying twice, and then deleting the file off the 'movable' media. Just connect one to the other in target disk mode, copy and you're done.