Hi everyone thank you for looking at my post. I have an old MAC Powerbook G4 and I think the OS system (which is OS 10.2) is corrupt because it will not go past the apple on the screen to boot up. I would like to transfer some music in my iTunes library on that computer to my PC (which has Windows Vista) I have seen a tech hook this old MAC up to something and i think he was using Firewire and shazaam it showed a bunch of my files on the screen that I have seen nothing but blackness, an apple, or the thing that comes up on the screen when I hold down "T" while booting up. I have hooked both computers up using 6 to 4 Firewire and the MAC is not seeing anything. How did that tech guy get my files to come up on the screen available for transfer?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Transferring Files from MAC to PC using Firewire BUT...
- Thread starter Fabreze26
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
As the Mac is starting press the T key. Then you'll see a moving Firewire logo on a gray screen. Once the Mac is plugged into another computer it'll show up as an external hard drive. The only issue is that Windows cannot read Mac formatted drives without special drivers.
This is because Vista isn't seeing the Mac as a properly formatted external hard drive. If it was properly formatted you'd see it in My Computer. Attempting to format the Mac from within Windows will cause you to lose all your data. The best thing is to plug it into another Mac or find some HFS+ drivers for Windows.
Say I were to hook it up to a new Macbook Pro would it show my files then? and would I have the same issues transferring the files from the new mac to my PC and If I do what exactly do I have to do in which computer to transfer something like MP3 files?
If you plug it into your Powerbook into your Macbook when the Powerbook is showing the Firewire logo screen, the Powerbook will show up on the Macbook's desktop as an external hard drive. At this point you will be able to browse it and recover any files you wish. To get the files on to the Windows computer, just copy them from the Macbook onto a USB flash/jump/thumb drive or an external hard drive that both computers can see and write to.
Re: Transferring Files from MAC to PC using Firewire BUT...
I am having much the same problem with my PowerBook G4 (Os X Tiger 10.4). After a reboot it wouldn't let me log in anymore - user name and icon cleared out - and before I dig deeper I want to transfer the files. I was going to use a 6-pin to 9-pin cable to go to my neighbor's laptop. but he is taking off for ten days. Then I saw there is a 6-pin firewire port on my PC. Should I get a 6-pin to 6-pin cable for this? And what steps do I have to take to make the two machines compatible? Or should I get a 6-pin to USB cable and put the files on a flash drive, and transfer them that way?
Thanks!
PS: Actually, ignore that last question. Since I can't boot up the G4 I can't see what I'm doing on it.
I am having much the same problem with my PowerBook G4 (Os X Tiger 10.4). After a reboot it wouldn't let me log in anymore - user name and icon cleared out - and before I dig deeper I want to transfer the files. I was going to use a 6-pin to 9-pin cable to go to my neighbor's laptop. but he is taking off for ten days. Then I saw there is a 6-pin firewire port on my PC. Should I get a 6-pin to 6-pin cable for this? And what steps do I have to take to make the two machines compatible? Or should I get a 6-pin to USB cable and put the files on a flash drive, and transfer them that way?
Thanks!
PS: Actually, ignore that last question. Since I can't boot up the G4 I can't see what I'm doing on it.
Last edited: