Is it possible to use Firewire to do a File transfer between two macs? I want to reinstall, but I have about twelve Gigs I need to back up and I don't have an external drive. I've got enoguh room on one my tower, so this would be a much better way than burning CDs
Got a tip for us?
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Firewire network?
- Thread starter drastik
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you will need to boot one into firewire disk target mode to do so. what you need to do is boot the mac you want to transfer the files from holding the "T" key. once it boots you will be able to access this mac as if it is a hard drive.
Click for more info
Click for more info
what kind of network cards do you have?
what kind of network cards do you have?
I dont know if you cant use FireWire to do that, but You can with a Crossover cable or a network switch. You probably have a 10/100 net card in each mac. If you do, you can use Apple share and shoot the files at a pretty fast speed.
-evildead
what kind of network cards do you have?
I dont know if you cant use FireWire to do that, but You can with a Crossover cable or a network switch. You probably have a 10/100 net card in each mac. If you do, you can use Apple share and shoot the files at a pretty fast speed.
-evildead
Re: Firewire network?
or if both macs have ethernet, a simple crossover cable will do to make a network.
not a network as such, but you can set up firewire disk target mode. apple has articles in its knowledge base on how to do it, I'm nat all that familiar with the procedure myself, but its rather easy from what I've read.
or if both macs have ethernet, a simple crossover cable will do to make a network.
ethernet
Depending on what you have for systems, you may or may not, need a crossover line. The TiBooks sense what you are trying to do and make the switch on their own. I do not believe that any of the other systems do this as well. If you have some cat 5 lines, see if connecting the two systems together (set one with filesharing active) and see if you can connect to it. If you cannot, then you will need a crossover line. It is far easier to just use the ethernet then to try and use the firewire connection. With the ethernet connection, you will be able to move the ~12GBs in not a lot of time (most likely under 30 minutes for a full file transfer).
Also, once you have the ethernet crossover cable, it can be used with any ethernet equipped Mac system. That will allow you to connect to pre-firewire Mac's and transfer files to/from them.
Depending on what you have for systems, you may or may not, need a crossover line. The TiBooks sense what you are trying to do and make the switch on their own. I do not believe that any of the other systems do this as well. If you have some cat 5 lines, see if connecting the two systems together (set one with filesharing active) and see if you can connect to it. If you cannot, then you will need a crossover line. It is far easier to just use the ethernet then to try and use the firewire connection. With the ethernet connection, you will be able to move the ~12GBs in not a lot of time (most likely under 30 minutes for a full file transfer).
Also, once you have the ethernet crossover cable, it can be used with any ethernet equipped Mac system. That will allow you to connect to pre-firewire Mac's and transfer files to/from them.
Thanks all,
I have both Macs on a network through a router, but doing a big transfer seems to take a lot longer than it should. Its telling me upwards of five hours. Maybe its the router? Anyway, I'll try the target disk mode, that sound reasonably easy to get done. I'll let you know how it turns out.
I have both Macs on a network through a router, but doing a big transfer seems to take a lot longer than it should. Its telling me upwards of five hours. Maybe its the router? Anyway, I'll try the target disk mode, that sound reasonably easy to get done. I'll let you know how it turns out.
What speed is the switch in the router??? I'd say it has to be the router, since I have moved more then 12GB to another computer and it took a hell of a lot less time then it's telling you.
Sounds like your network is f*cked up Bubba...
Sounds like your network is f*cked up Bubba...
5 hours!
If you were getting on average 1MB/sec transfer, it would be done in under 3.5 hours. if you got 1.5MB/sec average you would be done under 2.3 hours. And if you got 2MB/sec then you would be done in under 1.7 hours. I have a Linksys wireless router with a 4 port switch. On the switch I get about 1.5MB-2MB/sec average and with the wirless I get about 400-500k/sec average. Something is up with your router. Is it 10/100? How about your Mac's, What kind of cards do they have; 10/100?
-evildead
If you were getting on average 1MB/sec transfer, it would be done in under 3.5 hours. if you got 1.5MB/sec average you would be done under 2.3 hours. And if you got 2MB/sec then you would be done in under 1.7 hours. I have a Linksys wireless router with a 4 port switch. On the switch I get about 1.5MB-2MB/sec average and with the wirless I get about 400-500k/sec average. Something is up with your router. Is it 10/100? How about your Mac's, What kind of cards do they have; 10/100?
-evildead
yes, their both 10/100, it is a cheap little router, just enough to split up my IP and serve my littleiTunes box in the living room. Still, its cheaper to just do the targeted drive bit, that way I won't have to buy a new router. Admittedliy, I've started transfer and watched the nubers climb, said, forget it, and stopped it, but I don't think they are gonna drop out by two hours.
if a just have one PB G4, then will it sense if i am trying to copy files to a Cube... or do they both need to be powerbooks?
All that matters is that one of the computers is the PowerBook G4... That is something that came out new with the TiBook, where you no longer needed a crossover line to connect it to another Mac (any with ethernet).
ethernet
well, I dont know about you but for my home a 10/100 netowork is fast enuph for me. If you want to setp up to a BG Ethernet network then your going to have to pay for it. Youll need GBeth cards for your Macs that dont supprt it and a new router or switch/hub. You can pick one up for under $1000.00. At work I use GBethernet (Fibre) but... thats at work. Im pushing a lot more than 12GB.
Also.... how fast are the drives your writing to and from? That could be slowing you down more than the network connection. Drives and the network are amost always the bottleneck for me.
-evildead
well, I dont know about you but for my home a 10/100 netowork is fast enuph for me. If you want to setp up to a BG Ethernet network then your going to have to pay for it. Youll need GBeth cards for your Macs that dont supprt it and a new router or switch/hub. You can pick one up for under $1000.00. At work I use GBethernet (Fibre) but... thats at work. Im pushing a lot more than 12GB.
Also.... how fast are the drives your writing to and from? That could be slowing you down more than the network connection. Drives and the network are amost always the bottleneck for me.
-evildead
my experience is that target disk mode is a perfect way to do what you are talking about. all you need are two firewire macs. After you have one booted, boot the other one by holding down the 't' key at the same time and once the firewire symbol shows up on the screen, let go of the key and the drive will mount on your desktop. you can drag and drop files between both machines.
totally easy. and totally free if you've got the right firewire cable. somebody tell me if i'm wrong...but I'm fairly certain there's no way in hell you can do anything like that on a pc.
totally easy. and totally free if you've got the right firewire cable. somebody tell me if i'm wrong...but I'm fairly certain there's no way in hell you can do anything like that on a pc.
Re: ethernet
I think I read somewhere that the new iBooks have the same functionality. These are the ones released in spring 2001, the white iBooks. I could be wrong though.
Gb networking
I wonder what the price of Gigabit switches will be like come the end of the year/beginning of next. I have soft plans to add a Gb network switch to my network at home, and connect my computers together with that. Of course, I would need to install a Gb NIC into the peecee, but those have been dropping in price lately (less then 50% of what they were a few months back). If 10.2 has the ability to connect to shared folders on a win2k peecee, then it will be worth it for me. If not, then I will have to wait until I get my next Mac tower to do that project.
That would blow away the current FireWire level for networking, and even FireWire 2 (800Mbps version).
I wonder what the price of Gigabit switches will be like come the end of the year/beginning of next. I have soft plans to add a Gb network switch to my network at home, and connect my computers together with that. Of course, I would need to install a Gb NIC into the peecee, but those have been dropping in price lately (less then 50% of what they were a few months back). If 10.2 has the ability to connect to shared folders on a win2k peecee, then it will be worth it for me. If not, then I will have to wait until I get my next Mac tower to do that project.
That would blow away the current FireWire level for networking, and even FireWire 2 (800Mbps version).
