Need to connect my Mac Mini to iMac temporarily

[patart]

My monitor died today and I need to get some files off of my Mac Mini while I wait for my new monitor to arrive. Tonight I connected my Mac Mini to both my iMac and MacBook Pro using a Firewire cable and an Ethernet cable figuring I could just start them both up and log into my Mini.

On both machines I did a "connect to server" using my login and password and keep coming up with a failed connection.

Any ideas on why I can't connect?

Pat

 

[flopticalcube]

Press "T" while starting the mini and boot it up in target disk mode. The HD should appear on your iMac's desktop.

 

[blevins321]

Disconnect the ethernet cable. Only the Firewire is necessary to connect them. Also a keyboard will have to go hooked up to the Mini, just for a moment.

Plug the two computers together with the firewire cable, and hold down the letter T on the Mini keyboard. Push the power button on the mini while still holding T. After a few seconds, there will be a new drive mounted on your iMac, and that is the Mac Mini's hard drive.

 

[patart]

I will give that a try in the morning. I had tried holding the T key down but it was on the iMac and all I got was a blue screen with a yellow firewire logo bouncing around the screen and it made the fan on my iMac go whirring like crazy!
I will hook up a keyboard and then start up the Mini from that and see what happens. I assume the iMac needs to be up and running first?

Thanks for your responses!

 

[blevins321]

I will give that a try in the morning. I had tried holding the T key down but it was on the iMac and all I got was a blue screen with a yellow firewire logo bouncing around the screen and it made the fan on my iMac go whirring like crazy!
I will hook up a keyboard and then start up the Mini from that and see what happens. I assume the iMac needs to be up and running first?

Thanks for your responses!

Correct . If there were a working monitor on the Mini, it would have the same screen indicators.

 

[patart]

That worked perfectly! A million thanks!!

I was able to get the files off of the Mini and on their way.

I assume I can just leave it connected for the day and work off of the files without messing anything up on the Mini until the new monitor arrives?



Pat

 

[blevins321]

That worked perfectly! A million thanks!!

I was able to get the files off of the Mini and on their way.

I assume I can just leave it connected for the day and work off of the files without messing anything up on the Mini until the new monitor arrives?
Pat

Yeah it can work for a day with no problem. What you said earlier about the iMac fans turning on is one of the aspects of this, and your Mini is doing the same thing. Except the mini is quiet enough that you can't really tell the difference. That said, I wouldn't use Target Disk Mode for days on end..just shut it down at the end of the day. (Eject it first )

As far as applications, you should be able to see the Applications folder in the root of the drive when it's mounted, and most should work. Only the complicated ones (like Adobe, maybe Office) might have issues, but those might be alright too.