Target Disk Mode?

[dannys1]

I'm going to assume you can't target disk boot the new Macbook seen as Yosemite only supports Thunderbolt for it now - unless, it has a special build which works with USB-C to USB-A 3.0?

I don't suppose we'll know until they're out in the wild.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm going to assume you can't target disk boot the new Macbook seen as Yosemite only supports Thunderbolt for it now - unless, it has a special build which works with USB-C to USB-A 3.0?

I don't suppose we'll know until they're out in the wild.

What's this about Yosemite only supporting TDM over Thunderbolt? I just used TDM via the FW400 port on my mid-2009 Macbook(running Yosemite) yesterday. I've also used that same computer with many other computers that were operating in TDM, and it mounts and reads the drive fine-just as if they were an external Firewire HDD.

TDM is operated by the low-level operations of the system(EFI in Intel Macs, Open Firmware in PowerPC Macs), and the OS really isn't involved.

With that said, with the computer only having USB in and out, I'm not sure how TDM would work. I don't think, for example, that it's available on both the Aluminum Unibody Macbook and on the later Polycarbonate Unibody Macbooks, as these both only have USB.

 

[chrfr]

What's this about Yosemite only supporting TDM over Thunderbolt? I just used TDM via the FW400 port on my mid-2009 Macbook(running Yosemite) yesterday. I've also used that same computer with many other computers that were operating in TDM, and it mounts and reads the drive fine-just as if they were an external Firewire HDD.

I assume what the OP means is that TDM has never worked over USB. It remains to be seen if this is different with the new MacBook.

 

[dannys1]

What's this about Yosemite only supporting TDM over Thunderbolt? I just used TDM via the FW400 port on my mid-2009 Macbook(running Yosemite) yesterday. I've also used that same computer with many other computers that were operating in TDM, and it mounts and reads the drive fine-just as if they were an external Firewire HDD.

TDM is operated by the low-level operations of the system(EFI in Intel Macs, Open Firmware in PowerPC Macs), and the OS really isn't involved.

With that said, with the computer only having USB in and out, I'm not sure how TDM would work. I don't think, for example, that it's available on both the Aluminum Unibody Macbook and on the later Polycarbonate Unibody Macbooks, as these both only have USB.

Sorry I did indeed mean with new machines, of course it still has legacy support for Firewire, but thats not available anymore apart from via adapters, in which case it still boots with the Thunderbolt icon, not even sure if Thunderbolt to Firewire method works.

But yeah, USB is another question all together, there's no Thunderbolt or Firewire adapter even if they'd work either. Deployments are not going to be great fun if we can't mount the disk externally. I guess id have to use an SSD connected via USB 3, boot to that, then clone via CCC back to the drive which will be mounted. Pretty slow and clunky.

 

[bunnspecial]

Sorry I did indeed mean with new machines, of course it still has legacy support for Firewire, but thats not available anymore apart from via adapters, in which case it still boots with the Thunderbolt icon, not even sure if Thunderbolt to Firewire method works.

But yeah, USB is another question all together, there's no Thunderbolt or Firewire adapter even if they'd work either. Deployments are not going to be great fun if we can't mount the disk externally. I guess id have to use an SSD connected via USB 3, boot to that, then clone via CCC back to the drive which will be mounted. Pretty slow and clunky.

Yes, it does indeed seem that any work-around will be clunky. Without either Thunderbolt or Firewire, I agree that TDM is likely done on this particular model.

My only Thunderbolt equipped Mac also has Firewire, although come to think of it I've never booted it in TDM so I'm not sure what icon it shows on the screen. I use TDM mode all the time(earlier today I had my Xserve running in TDM for an OS install-that's a fun one as all the fans run at full blast and it sounds like a jet about to take off), and it would feel strange to have anything other than Firewire logo on the screen.

 

[redheeler]

I'm going to assume you can't target disk boot the new Macbook seen as Yosemite only supports Thunderbolt for it now - unless, it has a special build which works with USB-C to USB-A 3.0?

I don't suppose we'll know until they're out in the wild.

Historically, Target Disk Mode has only worked over FireWire or Thunderbolt and machines missing these (like the original Macbook Air) can't do it. It remains to be seen if the Retina MacBook can boot into Target Disk Mode but there is a definite possibility that it can't.

 

[chrfr]

My only Thunderbolt equipped Mac also has Firewire, although come to think of it I've never booted it in TDM so I'm not sure what icon it shows on the screen.

The computer will show both icons until either Firewire or Thunderbolt is connected to another computer. On computers that have only Thunderbolt, a Firewire-Thunderbolt adapter in the computer set to TDM does indeed allow Target Disk Mode over Firewire.

 

[dannys1]

The computer will show both icons until either Firewire or Thunderbolt is connected to another computer. On computers that have only Thunderbolt, a Firewire-Thunderbolt adapter in the computer set to TDM does indeed allow Target Disk Mode over Firewire.

Interesting to know, quite good for mounting new Macs on old macs.

I'm going to assume the new Macbook will do nothing like the original Macbook Air mentioned then. I'm not sure you can clone a bootable drive over the network with CCC but i'll check, otherwise it looks like you'll have to boot from an external USB3 drive connected via a dongle to do any offline maintenance tasks from another version of OS X.

 

[bunnspecial]

The computer will show both icons until either Firewire or Thunderbolt is connected to another computer. On computers that have only Thunderbolt, a Firewire-Thunderbolt adapter in the computer set to TDM does indeed allow Target Disk Mode over Firewire.

Interesting, and of course I had to try it. I didn't go as far as connecting something else(I don't even have a Thunderbolt cable, and didn't feel like digging out a FW800 cable), but it was interesting to see both logos

 

[Aetles]

I wonder why Apple remove the text about USB Target Disk Mode from the page about using the USB-C port on the new MacBook? It said the the USB-C Charge Cable won't support USB Target Disk Mode since it is not full-featured.

 

[Idefix]

read Glenn Fleishman about his setup hassles:

http://www.macworld.com/article/291...etup-hassles-migrating-or-not.html#tk.rss_all

 

[thedeske]

read Glenn Fleishman about his setup hassles:

http://www.macworld.com/article/291...etup-hassles-migrating-or-not.html#tk.rss_all

The cable that comes with the machine is charge only, no TDM.
They really hate us hard wire guys 😉