Hi there. As it says above. This Mini has a TB1 connection so I think remote disc doesn't work (tried it without success but might be a duff TB2-TB2 connect cable). Mini is running High Sierra and the MacBook is running Mojave. Both drives are APFS. What should I try ?
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How to connect a 2012 Mac Mini to a 2017 MacBook Pro
- Thread starter drsox
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Don't know what you're trying to do. But if you just want to transfer files, use ethernet and simply turn on file sharing on the Mini. You can then connect to it as a shared disk on your network. I have a Mini that I use as a server, and this works great for me. You can also enable screen-sharing on the Mini and then take full control of it on your MBP. I also do this all the time.
I wired my home with gigabit ethernet years ago, but if you don't already have a network then just run an ethernet cable directly between both machines.
I wired my home with gigabit ethernet years ago, but if you don't already have a network then just run an ethernet cable directly between both machines.
Thanks. I wanted a faster than ethernet transfer route in case I needed to move stuff. I sold my TB dock but bought a new TB cable to compensate.
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Thanks. I use VNC to control the Mini (runs headless) but wanted an alternate route to ethernet if I needed to transfer lots of data. I have GB ethernet available but only on a local basis (can't run GB cable through the walls - have to use Powerline)
Didn't know I could just run E'net between the two - I've always run both through a switch.
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FWIW, I was pretty much saturating the ethernet with around 100MB/sec file transfers using file sharing. Do you need faster than that? That's about what I get from inexpensive bus-powered USB hard disks, such as the WD Passport (although full-size USB3 drives give me around 160MB/sec).
But the strange thing is, the 100MB/sec speed was when I was running El Capitan. After upgrading to Mojave, my ethernet transfer speeds have dropped to something like 85MB/sec. Haven't really looked into this, so unsure if something else has changed or if newer versions of MacOS are just slower at file sharing.
And walls don't stop me.... I just drill holes through them, LOL. 😂 Ran a long cable up through the ceiling and across the attic to get to the TV at the far end of the house.
But the strange thing is, the 100MB/sec speed was when I was running El Capitan. After upgrading to Mojave, my ethernet transfer speeds have dropped to something like 85MB/sec. Haven't really looked into this, so unsure if something else has changed or if newer versions of MacOS are just slower at file sharing.
And walls don't stop me.... I just drill holes through them, LOL. 😂 Ran a long cable up through the ceiling and across the attic to get to the TV at the far end of the house.
research setting up a home network, none of this stuff is going away
-set the wifi as an access point, pass though mode, so all the home network ip address are on the same LAN, both wifi & ethernet cabled devices.
-"Both drives are APFS" should not matter what the drives are formatted as the interweb protocol should handle this.
-use something like chronoSync for keeping a few directories constantly in sync
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-set the wifi as an access point, pass though mode, so all the home network ip address are on the same LAN, both wifi & ethernet cabled devices.
-"Both drives are APFS" should not matter what the drives are formatted as the interweb protocol should handle this.
-use something like chronoSync for keeping a few directories constantly in sync
-
Yes, I did that in my old house - up/down three stories and into the basement. Good fun threading through a 3ft gap between two floors - had to mount two drill bits on top of each other and then use a long wire hanger.
OK, I'll revert to GB E'net for any transfers.
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Thanks. I'll try pass through mode, haven't had a go at that. All devices are on the same net anyway.
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Wouldn't you have needed TB3 to TB2 connection followed by a TB2-TB2 cable to do a direct connection with a theoretical top speed of 10Gb/sec?
I have USB-C on my MacBook Pro with a dongle USB-C to TB2, so basically yes.
Is should go : 2017 MacBook Pro > USB-C > TB2 - TB2 cable > TB1 socket on 2012 Mac Mini.
This unfortunately doesn't work in Target Disc Mode as it needs to be TB2 on the Mac Mini, it seems.
I think it's got to be Thunderbolt all the way to transfer data the way you wanted. Were you using the right adapter?
MacBook Pro 2017 -> Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter -> TB2-TB2 Cable -> TB1 socket on Mac mini
Longer Thunderbolt cables can be problematic too.
Yes, the Adaptor was the official Apple one. I had no way of validating the TB2 cable, but having just bought a USB-C SSD caddy I can now connect the TB2 cable to this and see when it arrives, if there's data transfer.
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I think I'm reading the thread wrong there, you're trying to use Target Disk mode when I think you might want to try IP over thunderbolt.
Effectively turns your Thunderbolt setup into 10Gig direct connected network using a Thunderbolt Bridge. That document has versions for Mojave and Catalina.
This article explains more:
Effectively turns your Thunderbolt setup into 10Gig direct connected network using a Thunderbolt Bridge. That document has versions for Mojave and Catalina.
This article explains more:
come on you guys, good time to assert a functional cross platform home network:
the 2017 MB:
setup the wifi portion of your all-in-one box to an access point / pass through functionality, everythng on the same LAN
the MAC Mini:
use its ethernet connector + a 3 foot cable, to your all-in-one box placed right next to the MAC Mini
simple easy:
do not tununderbolt anything
do not drill holes in the wall, let radio waves wifi do it 4u
format your hard drives as neded; use the SMB://myFiles to corss platfrom handle all your file transfer
automate when possible; share a common Mini-MB directory, maybe the desktop, with a 3rd party app like chronoSync
this stuff (on a residential level) is not going away any time soon
a good source of information is your IT person at work
develope a hone network that you can incrimently buy new computers and net devices as technology chabges and re invernt a wheel
the 2017 MB:
setup the wifi portion of your all-in-one box to an access point / pass through functionality, everythng on the same LAN
the MAC Mini:
use its ethernet connector + a 3 foot cable, to your all-in-one box placed right next to the MAC Mini
simple easy:
do not tununderbolt anything
do not drill holes in the wall, let radio waves wifi do it 4u
format your hard drives as neded; use the SMB://myFiles to corss platfrom handle all your file transfer
automate when possible; share a common Mini-MB directory, maybe the desktop, with a 3rd party app like chronoSync
this stuff (on a residential level) is not going away any time soon
a good source of information is your IT person at work
develope a hone network that you can incrimently buy new computers and net devices as technology chabges and re invernt a wheel
OP wrote:
"Thanks. I wanted a faster than ethernet transfer route in case I needed to move stuff."
The "easiest way" to move random stuff at random times is either a USB3 external drive, or a USB3 flash drive. No need to mess with anything further if it's only "in case".
One thing you DO need to be aware of:
When transferring from one Mac to another, you have to "take care of the permissions issue".
This is easily done on EACH Mac:
- mount the transfer drive on the desktop
- bring up the "get info" box (command-i)
- click the lock icon at the bottom and enter your password
- put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing & permissions).
Now you can "copy back and forth" freely and whatever you copy to the Mac (either Mac) will automatically come under the ownership of the account you're using.
"Thanks. I wanted a faster than ethernet transfer route in case I needed to move stuff."
The "easiest way" to move random stuff at random times is either a USB3 external drive, or a USB3 flash drive. No need to mess with anything further if it's only "in case".
One thing you DO need to be aware of:
When transferring from one Mac to another, you have to "take care of the permissions issue".
This is easily done on EACH Mac:
- mount the transfer drive on the desktop
- bring up the "get info" box (command-i)
- click the lock icon at the bottom and enter your password
- put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing & permissions).
Now you can "copy back and forth" freely and whatever you copy to the Mac (either Mac) will automatically come under the ownership of the account you're using.
I understand permissions issues since I've been using unix systems since 1985. But gotta say, I have never encountered a permission problem when transferring files to a Mac from a flash drive, external disk or network drive - and I do all of the above frequently. Curious as to where have you encountered this?
Well, I've tried this and that and had no success using the "new" TB2 cable with the MacMini. So I'm going to go with the SneakerNet alternative. I bought a USB-C caddy for an existing 1TB SSD and get good enough data transfer rates - 3355 Mbps for MBP to caddy and 1838 Mbps for caddy to MacMini (single large file copy).
So I declare my search over.
Thanks to all who posted.
So I declare my search over.
Thanks to all who posted.
1838 mbits/sec would only be 230MB/sec. You should be able to do a lot better than that on the 2012 Mini. I use a 1TB Samsung T3 USB SSD as the boot drive for my 2012 quad mini and this is what I get. I suppose a Finder copy of a single file would yield worse results than the disk speed test, however your MBP speed is similar to these results.
BTW, I have a Windows 7 desktop PC that I only use to run some specialized GIS software. I had so many problems getting it to work reliably with a shared disk on my LAN that I gave up and started using "sneaker net" with a USB stick. 😂 Much easier in the end - so definitely, "use what works"!
BTW, I have a Windows 7 desktop PC that I only use to run some specialized GIS software. I had so many problems getting it to work reliably with a shared disk on my LAN that I gave up and started using "sneaker net" with a USB stick. 😂 Much easier in the end - so definitely, "use what works"!
My speeds are just stop watch ball park estimates but are good enough for me to judge. The caddy>MacMini is using the "old style" USB3 connector into a USB port, not the USB-C > USB-C link used for the MBP. I'll do them again using BlackMagic (been so long since I used BlackMagic that I forgot about it). I have no cable that connects to the MacMini TB port anymore.
Even the slow number is 3x GB ethernet rates, so I'm declaring a win and moving on.
