what's the simple way to use my old ibook as an external drive

TuckerdogAVL

TuckerdogAVL

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I have a 40g ibook from 2002, old firewire, and a mac book, 2004, with the same firewire. I'd like to use the ibook as an external drive rather than buying anything right now. Eventually I'll probably donate or sell the ibook for a hundred bucks or so. But, in the meantime, I took everything off of it except the operating system (10.4.11, I think; whatever the max is).

What is the simplest way to hook up the ibook as an external to the macbook? I'd like to leave it connected as you would any other external (I'm not using the firewire for anything else).

Do I simply connect them firewire to firewire? Will it show up as an icon on the desktop like it does if you are doing a transfer?

Thanks for any insight, input.
 
Connect the old iBook to the newer one, with a firewire cable. Boot your old iBook while holding the letter T. You'll see a floating firewire icon on the screen. If the other iBook is running, you'll see the older hard drive mount on the desktop, and you can then use it as storage. If you use it that way all the time, you would need to turn it on in the same way, holding the T key. When you eject that drive from the other iBook, or simply shut down - alll you need to do is press the power button on the older iBook, and it will immediately shut off. That firewire 'target disk mode' is then operating as an external hard drive, which is what you want, I suppose.
 
so you set it up as if you were doing transfers and just leave it that way? closed and everything. that is too simple! (I want to use for iMovie editing old vcr tapes, etc., and making home movies with chapters, etc., then delete when done)
 
Yes, it does work with the lid closed. No problem. I found that if I drag the ibook HD (the one we are now using as the External) to the trash, it disappears from that desktop; however, upon opening the lid of the ibook it is still in the "T" transfer mode. To get it back onto the MacBook HD as an external, I had to restart the ibook, again holding down the "T." I am assuming it will not hurt to do this; however, if there is a better way to conclude the use of the ibook "external" if I am not going to be using it for long periods (to save energy, etc), let me know if you know a better way to shut it down after being in the "T" mode.

Otherwise, this is perfect. I've discovered there are 52gb on the ibook usable space, so that is going to help with the iMovie edits quite nicely.
 
Does the display shut off in that mode when you close the lid?
The Apple on the lid will go off.

The reason that I ask, is I don't know if the LCD display goes off. If it remains on (the Apple is still lit), then that iBook can get very hot.

The Target disk mode is very manual. If it remains in that mode after ejecting the disk, then you have to shut it off yourself - open the lid, and a quick press of the power button will shut it down instantly.
 
The Apple on the ibook does indeed go out, and it doesn't seem to be too hot. The MacBook it is attached to is hotter actually, as it is also tethered to an external monitor much of the time.

I have the MacBook on a stand that is made for a monitor that I picked up at Staples. It has holes in it, and I have it behind the monitor, so it can get a little more air.

I probably don't disconnect it as often as I should to use it as a laptop. I know that is good for the battery; I just forget to do it.

So, it sounds like it is probably a good idea to simply drag the ibook icon to the trash (or is that a step that is really necessary) and shut the ibook down when not in use.
 
If you have the target disk mode drive in use (mounted, etc), then you have to remember to eject it before you shut it off or disconnect, same as with any storage device.
 
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