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Sorry, Newbie Question Re: Firewire Cable

H

Highway61

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 30, 2008
124
18
I need to purchase a Firewire cable to connect an eMac to an iMac. (Here comes the reason I'm apologizing in advance.) Can I just buy a Firewire cable at Target or Radio Shack? Are Firewire cables pretty much standardized now (6 pin to 6 pin?)

As you can tell, I have no firewire experience. USB and MIDI, yes. Firewire, no.
:eek:
 
since you are going from a mac to a mac, a standard FW400 cable should do the trick and "should" be available at Target or Radio Shack--though it is pretty common, non-esoteric stock item, it still might be wise to call ahead to make sure they have them in stock...

Are you trying to migrate from the e-Mac to the iMac by placing the e-mac in firewire disc mode? I would double check that the e-mac will let you do that...
 
renault4 said:
since you are going from a mac to a mac, a standard FW400 cable should do the trick and "should" be available at Target or Radio Shack--though it is pretty common, non-esoteric stock item, it still might be wise to call ahead to make sure they have them in stock...

Are you trying to migrate from the e-Mac to the iMac by placing the e-mac in firewire disc mode? I would double check that the e-mac will let you do that...
Click to expand...

Thank you very, very much. I appreciate the response.

I don't know what disc mode is, so I'll have to do some Googling, I guess.
 
Highway61 said:
Thank you very, very much. I appreciate the response.

I don't know what disc mode is, so I'll have to do some Googling, I guess.
Click to expand...

Putting your Mac into Target Disk Mode basically just shuts down the rest of your computer, except the Storage Device (often a hard disk drive) and the FireWire ports, along with a few other necessary peripherals.

Which ever computer is put into Target Disk Mode will show up on the other computer as a simple external drive.

Any Mac with FireWire and Mac OS 8.6 or later can be put into Target Disk Mode.

To put your Mac into Target Disk Mode:

1) Shut Down the targeted Mac... Plug in the FireWire cable... turn on the Target Mac while holding the T key, until the FireWire symbol appears on the screen.

- OR -

2) Go to System Preferences (Located on your Dock, or Apple Menu > System Preferences).... Click on the Startup Disk icon on the 4th row... and click 'Target Disk Mode.'

To exit out of Target Disk Mode, make sure all data transfers have stopped. Eject the Targeted Drive by dragging the icon to the trash (it'll turn into an Eject symbol). Then press and hold the power button of the Target Mac. When you start it back up, it'll boot normally.

Hope this helps.
 
ChexBoss32890 said:
Putting your Mac into Target Disk Mode basically just shuts down the rest of your computer, except the Storage Device (often a hard disk drive) and the FireWire ports, along with a few other necessary peripherals.

Which ever computer is put into Target Disk Mode will show up on the other computer as a simple external drive.

Any Mac with FireWire and Mac OS 8.6 or later can be put into Target Disk Mode.

To put your Mac into Target Disk Mode:

1) Shut Down the targeted Mac... Plug in the FireWire cable... turn on the Target Mac while holding the T key, until the FireWire symbol appears on the screen.

- OR -

2) Go to System Preferences (Located on your Dock, or Apple Menu > System Preferences).... Click on the Startup Disk icon on the 4th row... and click 'Target Disk Mode.'

To exit out of Target Disk Mode, make sure all data transfers have stopped. Eject the Targeted Drive by dragging the icon to the trash (it'll turn into an Eject symbol). Then press and hold the power button of the Target Mac. When you start it back up, it'll boot normally.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I could have asked for more thorough explanation. Thank you very much.

One thing, though: in regard to transferring eMac to Imac, would the eMac be "the targeted mac" (because it is the target for depletion), or is the newer iMac the target mac (because we're firing new data its way)

Again, sorry.
 
Highway61 said:
I don't know if I could have asked for more thorough explanation. Thank you very much.

One thing, though: in regard to transferring eMac to Imac, would the eMac be "the targeted mac" (because it is the target for depletion), or is the newer iMac the target mac (because we're firing new data its way)

Again, sorry.
Click to expand...

ahh! England and America; two countries separated by a common language :)

in this case the target is the older, or source computer. At a minimum, this setup will allow you to mount your eMac disk as a firewire disk on your iMac; then you can move files over as you see fit. There is also a utility on your iMac called Migration Assistant that is designed to move your applications, documents and settings (for example your network or modem settings) over so that they are preserved in your new system. I might be cautious about using this however as I would guess the operating system on your eMac is quite a bit older than that on your iMac and many applications might not work on your new system. Better to manually port the things you know you need
 
renault4 said:
ahh! England and America; two countries separated by a common language :)

in this case the target is the older, or source computer. At a minimum, this setup will allow you to mount your eMac disk as a firewire disk on your iMac; then you can move files over as you see fit. There is also a utility on your iMac called Migration Assistant that is designed to move your applications, documents and settings (for example your network or modem settings) over so that they are preserved in your new system. I might be cautious about using this however as I would guess the operating system on your eMac is quite a bit older than that on your iMac and many applications might not work on your new system. Better to manually port the things you know you need
Click to expand...

Beautiful response. Thank you. And it spoke to another of my concerns: I really didn't want to move everything over carte blanche to the iMac, so Migration Assistant would have been freaking me out a bit.

Thank you again very, very much.
 
Just wanted to say that I just completed a huge transfer of music and selected apps via Firewire and that the process worked beautifully.
Thanks again sincerely.
 
MacHappytjg said:
what ya doing with the emac
???
Click to expand...

Not sure, to be honest. The display is about to go completely, I believe. After I transferred the apps and took the eMac out of target disk mode, I had to go back in and retrieve registration codes. That took about ten minutes, and in that ten minutes, I had to slap the sides of the eMac on three occasions so as to restore the display.:eek:

Therefore, because I have a few more files on there, I might just use it as an ersatz external HD for a while.

Bottom line, it would not be ethical to sell the machine to anyone, and giving it away might create more headaches than pleasure for the recipient.
 
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