Connecting Powerbook to PC using firewire - not working

Discussion in 'macOS' started by thephiller, Jan 21, 2006.

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  1. thephiller, Jan 21, 2006

    thephiller macrumors newbie

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    Jan 21, 2006
    #1
    I've searched the internet for hours including this forum but I've come up empty handed so this is my last hope...

    So I want to back up the files I have on PC on my Mac so I can format the PC, I figured transfering the files onto the Mac would be done best using firewire. I read about booting the Powerbook G4 in Target Disk Mode so I did that. The only problem is that I don't see the Powerbook listed as external HD on the PC...
    It does show that there is a firewire connection but no sign of the Powerbook.

    Very frustrating so if anyone could give me the answer or some tips on how to fix it I'd really appreciate it. Also, is there maybe another way to connect the Powerbook to the PC using firewire?

    Thanks a bunch!
     
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  2. robbieduncan, Jan 21, 2006

    robbieduncan Moderator emeritus

    robbieduncan

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    #2
    Unless you have special software on your PC to allow it to use HFS+ disk partitions this is not going to work. Although your Mac is now "pretending" to be an external disk it is formatted in HFS+ (Mac native format). Windows can't read/write this.
     
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  3. Nickygoat, Jan 21, 2006

    Nickygoat macrumors 6502a

    Nickygoat

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    #3
    Stealing lock, stock & barrel from Blackstone :D
     
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  4. Danksi, Jan 21, 2006

    Danksi macrumors 68000

    Danksi

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    #4
    I believe this'll only work if you have a destination hard drive that's formatted in FAT32, so that knoppix can recognise and write to it.

    You may have better luck using an ethernet cable, instead of firewire.

    Assuming you don't already have a router in your home network and your machines aren't actually networked already, then you should be able to network the two machines using a manual address of 192.168.0.1 & 192.168.0.2. Once networked the format type of the hard drive doesn't really matter.

    If your PC OS is corrupted then you could use knoppix to network them together as well.
     
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  5. robinmurphy, Jan 22, 2006

    robinmurphy macrumors member

    robinmurphy

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    #5
    Ok, firstly, STOP RIGHT NOW!

    I tried to do this when I first got my iBook G4 and it caused my iBook to show an unhappy mac face - reinstall mac didn't work - sent to Apple support - took over a month to get it back.

    From what I understand, Firewire target disk mode is for mac to mac connections only not PC to Mac connections - they really should make this clear in the manual.
     
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  6. thephiller, Jan 22, 2006

    thephiller thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Jan 21, 2006
    #6
    Thanks for the replies.

    So basically there is no other way to transfer the files from the PC to the Mac other than through my existing network connection. I could do that but I was hoping there would be a faster way...

    It's strange though because on the packet of the firewire cable it suggests you can hook up either Mac's or PC's.

    Edit: Just came across two programs called MacDisk and MacDrive. Apparently they let Windows read the HFS/HFS+ format. I'll give those a try later so fingers crossed :)
     
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