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Always use Mac mini in target disk mode

A

andrewheard

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 16, 2005
166
0
Ontario, Canada
I've got an old G4 Mac mini that I don't use anymore and I need a backup solution for my MacBook. Would it be possible to have the Mac mini always enter target disk mode so that I could use it like an external hard drive?

I wrote a shell script that makes a compressed disk image out of my school projects folder and I could just automatically copy that to the external each day so I'd have a backup and would be able to go back a day or week if I made a booboo. I'd also need an incremental backup solution for things like my iTunes and iPhoto libraries. Any suggestions for that?

Thanks for your time,

Andrew
 
I don't know whether that was a joke or not but it would actually work pretty well. I'd still prefer not to have a keyboard/mouse hooked up though.
 
i know a perfect solution! sell me your mini for 200 bucks. then take that 200 bucks and buy a 500GB lacie porche external harddrive!

win-win :cool:
 
Thanks for the offer but I don't really want to get rid of the mini yet. If I were to get an external drive it would have to be 2.5-inch because I just can't stand the noise of a desktop drive. Why are lots of enclosures louder than the mini?!
 
andrewheard said:
I suppose I could just reset the NVRAM to stop the target disk mode or is it a next boot only thing?
Click to expand...

On the condition that works you would have to reset the NVRAM to go it to reboot normally. But if you want it to run as a hard-drive that would be your best bet i think.
 
Why bother with Target Disk Mode?

You could always use SharePoints to share the entire drive of the mini and connect to is as needed using Finder (or automate it with a simple Applescript). Sure, you won't get FW400 speeds, but it allows you to access it throughout your house (assuming you have a wireless network).

You may also want to consider rsync + cron to keep your iPhoto and iTunes libraries backed up, or wait for Time Machine in Leopard.
 
"I've got an old G4 Mac mini"

Old?? These things only came out in 2005.

Plus I've only just bought a G4 Mac Mini, myself.
 
You could just leave it running, couldn't you? The HDD will sleep when not in use. I'm just not sure if Target mode works well with lots of hotswapping.
 
kingjr3 said:
You could always use SharePoints to share the entire drive of the mini and connect to is as needed using Finder (or automate it with a simple Applescript). Sure, you won't get FW400 speeds, but it allows you to access it throughout your house (assuming you have a wireless network).
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to go this route. It is going in a dorm room and I won't be having a wireless network but I can directly connect it with firewire to get high speeds.
 
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