Windows to iBook Firewire Transfer

CJG86

Registered
Is it possible for me to connect a firewire cable to my pc and then the other end to my mac and have them send files to each other. What do i need to do?

Thanks In Advance
 
You can start up your Mac in a "Firewire target disk mode" which tells your mac not to actually boot, but instead to pretend to be a firewire hard drive.

To do this, you do the following:
- Connect up the firewire cable, as you've described.
- Switch on the Mac while holding the 'T' button.
- Your Mac's hard drive will appear as a mountable drive on the windows machine. (provided it knows how to access a firewire hard drive, that is).

For more detailed instructions, check AppleCare document 58583 (just type the number into Sherlock's search field in the AppleCare channel).
 
*update* It occurs to me though that Windows will not recognise a Mac formatted disk, so you might want to try a program like MacDrive to allow Windows to read the disk.

By far the easiest solution for transferring files between your Mac and your PC would be to use a network connection. A simple (and cheap) crossover cable would let you do the transfer of files both ways without having to take either system offline, and would be less hassle than a firewire connection.
 
Mac OS X seems to be the best way to do the option offered by symphonix because of its automatic networking options. Earlier systems required you to use software to "talk" between pc's and mac's and didn't always work, or very quickly.
 
Originally posted by symphonix
By far the easiest solution for transferring files between your Mac and your PC would be to use a network connection. A simple (and cheap) crossover cable ...

You could also network the two over the FireWire cable.

You would need to download and install the Apple IP over FireWire Preview Release v1.1 from Apple's developer site - requires free registration - note some have said v1.1 is a bit buggy.

You could then network just like using a cross-over cable. Most versions of Windows support IP over FireWire natively, so it should be straight forward from the other end.
 
You do NOT need to download "extra, buggy software" from apple. IP over FireWire is built into Panther.
 
However, correct me if I'm wrong, but if both Mac & PC have Gigabit Ethernet, that'd be faster than firewire, eh?
 
My own personal experience: My 1st-generation iPod tries to mount on a FW equipped WinXP machine, but Windows says the drive is not formatted, and would I like to format it? Eeep!!
 
Can you plug 2 macs together and have one mount as an external on the other machine. I have files I want to transfer from my old iMac to my new iBook G4.
 
Definitely. Boot one in "target mode" - hold down "T" during boot up. The display will show the firewire symbol. Then connect em with an ordinary FW cable, and it'll mount as a drive.

Very old Macs may not do it -- for instance, at least some old Blue/White G3 towers won't.
 
If you have file sharing, you don't need to reboot in target mode. I can connect my two iBooks via network cord (the orange ones) by opening File Share and turning it on and hitting Apple K for network connect.
And if they both have an Airport card, you can set them up in a wireless network. You can't access the Internet that way but you can get good speeds. I can transfer files faster that way then via cord.
 
Back
Top