Mac Mini: Screen Sharing and Target Disc Mode

[Hrothgar]

I'm about to set up a new Mac Mini. I don't have a monitor or keyboard for it -- I was told that I could control it through my Late 2011 MBP. I want to do two things.

First, I want to be able to configure the Mini's hard drive. Someone told me that I can use Apple Screen Sharing and the MBP will become the Mini's screen and the MBP keyboard will control the Mini. But the instructions I've seen for this say to start the Mini in safe mode. I'm not sure how to do this wihtout first connecting a keyboard and/or monitor to it. Can someone explain how I set this up?

Second, I want to use a firewire to transfer about 400 gb of music and video files to the Mini. I was told to connect the two computers by firewire and then start up the MBP in "Target Disc Mode." I don't see any options for target disk mode. Where do I find this? Can someone explain how to do this?

After the Mini is set up, I plan to have it connected to the router (Airport Extreme). How do I get the Mini to show up on my MBP screen so that I can control the Mini?

Thanks in advance.

 

[iPhil]

You need a Monitor and usb keyboard / mouse to do the initial screen share / target disk mode .. Once the Share is setup, finally you can only use the mbp to screen share into mini...


To setup Screen Share on mini > System Pref.> Sharing> tick on Screen Sharing > under the "green" spotlight you'll see vnc:// xxx.xxx.x.xx << is mini's IP address .. Write it down somewhere .. On the MBP> Spotlight -- ScreenShare > a blank input box will appear this were you put the vnc info in and hit connect... registered user selection box will appear do your login ... Once thats done then mini's desktop should appear in a separate window on the MBP..

 

[CoastalOR]

Second, I want to use a firewire to transfer about 400 gb of music and video files to the Mini. I was told to connect the two computers by firewire and then start up the MBP in "Target Disc Mode." I don't see any options for target disk mode. Where do I find this? Can someone explain how to do this?

I found this info in Finder under the Help menu using a search string of "target disk mode". I hope it helps.
Transfer files between two computers using target disk mode
If you have two Mac computers with FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, you can connect them so that one of them appears as an external hard disk on the other. This is called target disk mode.

1. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable.
   
   
2. On the Mac you want to use as the disk in target disk mode, do one of the following:
   • If the computer is off, start it up while holding down the T key.
     
     
   • If the computer is on, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Startup Disk, then click Target Disk Mode.
     When the computer has started up, a disk icon appears on the desktop of the other computer.
3. Transfer files by dragging them to and from the disk.
   
   
4. Eject the disk by dragging its icon to the Trash.
   While you drag, the Trash icon changes to an Eject icon.
   
   
5. On the Mac you used as a disk, push the power button to shut it down, then disconnect the cable.

 

[Hrothgar]

Thanks to both of you.

For Target Disc Mode -- does it matter which computer is the target?

 

[ZMacintosh]

Thanks to both of you.

For Target Disc Mode -- does it matter which computer is the target?

Well sort of, because you have to be fully booted into one machine and the other will turn into a external hard drive.

so the Source (where everything is from) should be booted and the Destination should be target booted.

and if i recall you can actually screen share with a headless mac via Remote desktop or screen sharing by using the computers serial number as the username.

 

[CoastalOR]

Thanks to both of you.
For Target Disc Mode -- does it matter which computer is the target?

I would say Yes it does matter. I'm assuming the Late 2011 MBP may not have the latest OS (I did not see the OS listed) that will boot your Mini. The Target is the disk you want to copy files from, in your case the Target is the Late 2011 MBP (transferring music from the Late 2011 MBP to the Mini). You will need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for the Mini since in Target Disk Mode the Late 2011 MBP is nothing but an external disk connected to the Mini (you will see the disk from the Late 2011 MBP appears on the Mini).

The Late 2011 MBP does not boot to the normal desktop. I realize this is not ideal for you since you do not have a keyboard or monitor for the Mini, but that is the way Target Disk Mode works. If you want to use Target Disk Mode to transfer music from the Late 2011 MBP then you will need a monitor and keyboard for the Mini and you now have instructions for Target Disk Mode.

If you wanted to boot the Mini as the Target then you would need a keyboard to hold the T key down while starting the Mini. There is also a way set the Mini as a Target Disk via the Mini System Preferences>Startup Disk.

Here is a link that suggests that file sharing might work:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7071411?language=en

Here is another article that might be useful for your situation:
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/answ...isk-mode-to-boot-from-another-macs-hard-drive

Another link on transferring files:
http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_transfer_files_another_mac_target_disk_mode
and
http://www.howtogeek.com/214322/how-to-boot-your-mac-in-target-disk-mode-for-easy-file-transfers/

Hopefully some of the links with more information and graphics will help.

 

[Hrothgar]

Thanks - eveything worked fine.