Re: 2 Macs: FW Target DM questions
- From: dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (David Empson)
- Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:21:28 +1300
The New Guy <replytogroup@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So I've got 2 Minis......1 PPC, 1 Intel. The PPC Mini is working fine
and I want to transfer all my data to the Intel one which currently
doesn't have an operating system on it. I'm wondering if this is
possible somehow using Firewire Target Disk Mode. From what I've read
it appears that FWTDM requires both computers to have operating
systems of some sort installed.
An OS must be installed on both compuers if you want to migrate data
from one system to another.
You can put the Intel Mini into target mode and copy data onto its hard
drive without it having any operating system installed, but you would
still have to install the operating system to use that data on the Intel
Mini.
That's great news. I just want to get it initially up and running
with the DVD drive.
The PPC Mini's OS will not work on the Intel Mini.
Right. Could I copy the DVD's contents onto the Intel Mini's drive
and install from there or will it only install from a DVD?
You have to boot from the DVD to do the installation.
In theory, you could copy the DVD to a hard drive (using the right
tools), boot from the drive and then use it to install on the internal
drive. You still have to go through the installer, and this would best
be done with a spare external hard drive. You could do it by
partitioning the internal drive, but you'd then be left with partitions
afterwards, which might not be convenient.
In principle, this could be done from PowerPC Mini, but it is a lot
easier to just boot from the DVD.
I was wondering about booting off an iPod but apparently the large
workload can fry the iPod. My 2 gb memory card from my camera is too
small I think. (Perhaps not if I removed the printer drivers, fonts,
non-English languages, etc ??)
Boot what off a memory card? You would need to install an OS
installed on it, which you would have to do using the Intel Mini.
I'm not understanding the "need to install an OS installed on it" part
:)
I wanted to copy the contents of the DVD install disc on to the memory
card and boot from it.
Ah, right. Sorry. I was thinking of doing an OS installation onto the
iPod and then booting the computer from it. :-)
Yes, either of those solutions should also work, in the same manner as
with an external hard drive. Setting this up requires a little careful
work, and would require completely wiping an iPod and restoring the iPod
afterwards.
You would need at least as much space as the Intel Mini's install DVD,
which is likely to be in the order of 5 GB. (That is the size of my
current model Intel Mini's boot disk, which includes iLife '08.)
I haven't done this myself, but I expect it is achievable using Disk
Utility. You need to ensure the target volume is using Apple Partition
Map or GUID Partition Table scheme (not Master Boot Record), then do a
"restore" from the install DVD onto the iPod or flash drive.
The original DVD is in Apple Partition Map format.
If you don't have a DVD drive connected, you might need to also copy the
second DVD onto the iPod. This will require about 9 GB total, and two
partitions (5 GB and 4 GB for my Intel Mini).
I still think you would be better off reconnecting the DVD drive. It is
a lot of extra work, risks wearing out the iPod drive sooner, and
requires wiping the iPod and restoring it afterwards.
I agree that it isn't a good idea to use an iPod with a hard drive as a
boot device, because it isn't designed for that function. It should be
OK for a one-off use, but can wear out the iPod's hard drive if you use
it too often for this sort of heavy task.
Well I've got a 2gb memory card. I wonder if it can damage the card
in some way if I use it many times? Is it different from storing data
from pictures or videos?
The flash memory has a limited number of write cycles. Some flash memory
may have as few as 100 or 1000 write cycles, and this could easily be
used up by booting an active system from flash memory, as it will be
trying to do things like virtual memory on the flash drive. Booting an
image of the installer may be safer, since it is expecting to be on a
read-only source volume. It would be best if you did this on a flash
memory which has a switch to enable hardware write protection.
2 GB probably isn't big enough. (I'll answer your other post
separately.)
And of course I could boot off the DVD drive, but currently its not
installed and as I rarely use it
You will need to boot from the DVD to install the operating system on
the Intel Mini, so you either need to reinstall the internal DVD drive
or connect an external one.
You shouldn't disconnect the drive in the first place. You need to be
able to boot from the DVD in order to run some repair operations on the
hard drive.
Ah...right. To repair before the computer enters the operating sytem?
If the hard drive file system gets damaged for any reason, you need to
boot from another device to repair it. The easiest solution is to boot
from the system install DVD, run Disk Utility, and do a Repair Disk.
Given that you have a second computer, you could also put the Intel Mini
into Firewire target mode and use Disk Utility on the PPC Mini to repair
the drive on the Intel Mini.
There are other things you can do by booting from DVD, e.g. resetting
passwords, which might be tricky via Firewire target mode.
--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
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- From: The New Guy
- Re: 2 Macs: FW Target DM questions
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