Having problems transfering data between MACs

[alex70]

I have bought an new Mac air and a Lacie hard drive.

I have 2 other old macs which I want to get the files off and then get rid of.

The first is an Imac which I have transfered everything off. the second a G4 Laptop which I'm having the problem with.

Neither the Imac or the air seems to recognise it when I connect via a firewire and the G4 doesn't recognise the lacie drive.

I'm not very computer savvy and am struggling with the etheret method as well.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'll -guess- that the old g4 doesn't recognize the LaCie drive because it's using a more recent version of the Mac OS "filing system".

Does the old g4 have a USB port?
Even if it's USB 1.0, it should work.

Try a USB flashdrive.
You'll want to initialize it on the g4.

Get the flashdrive prepped on the g4, then copy anything you wish to save onto it.

However, I'm wondering if the brand-new MBAir with Yosemite will even recognize the older formatting scheme of the g4?
Only way to know is to try it and see.

If the MBAir -does- recognize the flashdrive -- no problems. Just "copy stuff over".

If the MBAir DOESN'T recognize the flashdrive -- don't despair, there may be "intermediate steps" you can take that would work.

Is the old iMac still bootable yet?

Here's what I would try:
1. Boot up the iMac, plug in the flashdrive.
2. Does the iMac still mount the flashdrive on the desktop?
3. If so, copy the contents of the flashdrive into a "temporary storage folder" on the iMac.
4. Now, re-initialize the flashdrive into a "more recent" formatting scheme.
(for example, try GUID if the iMac permits, if not, try Apple Partition Map)
5. Next, copy the contents of the temp storage folder back to the flashdrive.
6. Take the flashdrive to the MBAir -- any better this time around?

 

[alex70]

Thanks for getting back - I think I've sorted it out. I managed to eventually connect the G4 to the Imac (very tempermental) and hopefully from this I can copy the files from the Imac to the Lacie.