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JoeFkling

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2013
169
61
I used to put my MacBook into target disk mode then I could import my editing images from one Lightroom catalog to another. LR doesn't allow to run a catalog from a network drive and my understanding is that is now the new share disk works. Is there nothing like TDM where I can mount the MBA drive directly? The temporary solution is to move the catalog file and images onto a SSD external and then plug that into my iMac. A little bummed that TDM is not like it used to.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
16,263
11,764
You can download TeamViewer and transfer files that way through local wifi. With a fast enough router, transferring project files shouldn’t take too long.
 

ader42

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2012
436
390
Could you not just airdrop the files or plug an ethernet cable between the macs?
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
16,263
11,764
Could you not just airdrop the files or plug an ethernet cable between the macs?
AirDrop for large file is somewhat unreliable based on my experience. Ethernet port support is not very common for somewhat modern MacBooks ever since 2016, and I am not sure it worths the trouble to order two adapters for this purpose.
 

guzhogi

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,772
1,891
Wherever my feet take me…
AirDrop for large file is somewhat unreliable based on my experience. Ethernet port support is not very common for somewhat modern MacBooks ever since 2016, and I am not sure it worths the trouble to order two adapters for this purpose.
If both computers have thunderbolt, maybe run a Thunderbolt cord between them, and use TCP/IP that way? Haven’t done that in a while, so I’m not 100% sure it still works
 

jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
If both computers have thunderbolt, maybe run a Thunderbolt cord between them, and use TCP/IP that way? Haven’t done that in a while, so I’m not 100% sure it still works
It worked the last time I tried it. At least it was some version of Big Sur. And it was Thunderbolt 3 on my M1 MBA to Thunderbolt 2 (via adapter) on my 2013 Mac Pro.
 

Mike Boreham

macrumors 68040
Aug 10, 2006
3,922
1,906
UK
It worked the last time I tried it. At least it was some version of Big Sur. And it was Thunderbolt 3 on my M1 MBA to Thunderbolt 2 (via adapter) on my 2013 Mac Pro.
I understand that Target Disk Mode is no longer an option on M1 Macs but there is an equivalent as described here.

Recovery > Utilities > Share Disk

Is that what you did?
 

jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
I understand that Target Disk Mode is no longer an option on M1 Macs but there is an equivalent as described here.

Recovery > Utilities > Share Disk

Is that what you did?
No I used the Thunderbolt to TCP/IP bridge to get a very fast network disk drive. With TB2 limited to 20 Mbps but still faster than any other method of moving data between computers that I own.
 

JoeFkling

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2013
169
61
No I used the Thunderbolt to TCP/IP bridge to get a very fast network disk drive. With TB2 limited to 20 Mbps but still faster than any other method of moving data between computers that I own.
The issue is that Lightroom won't let you run a library over a network drive. the photo files can be there but the library file itself has to be local.

The ultimate solution that I am gonna do now is I am ditching the 27" iMac and just going all MacBook Air. Just solves a lot of problems for me.
 

jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
The issue is that Lightroom won't let you run a library over a network drive. the photo files can be there but the library file itself has to be local.

The ultimate solution that I am gonna do now is I am ditching the 27" iMac and just going all MacBook Air. Just solves a lot of problems for me.
Leave it to Adobe to create a nonsensical restriction that they probably had to add extra code to implement.
 

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,493
4,053
Leave it to Adobe to create a nonsensical restriction that they probably had to add extra code to implement.

It isn‘t just Adobe . It is grounded in SQLite . user Johnrellis Response on this thread .

“. …
Twelve years later, and the landscape has changed considerably -- Windows SMB implementations are much more mature and Samba has become the standard non-Microsoft implementation of the SMB protocol. LR has switched to using the write-ahead-logging mode (WAL) of SQLite, which has different issues with network files. I'm not aware of anyone who has done recent tests with network-stored LR catalogs or written authoritatively about SQLite and newer file-server implementations.



Adobe has shown no inclination to re-examine the issue. Last year they changed LR to use the higher-performance write-ahead logging mode of SQLite and broke the longstanding ability to import from catalogs stored on network servers.
…”



The catch-22 is that there are at least as many folks grumbling about slow catalogs as newtwork located ones . SQLite doesn’t have a high priority for network ( versus direct attached or SAN attached ) files.

There are plenty of other apps with SQLite stores embedded open that will probably act quirky or get corrupted on network stores . LR is a more ‘juicey’ target because the catalogs pragmatically get relatively large and more folks want to use without moving the file .
 
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Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
AirDrop for large file is somewhat unreliable based on my experience. Ethernet port support is not very common for somewhat modern MacBooks ever since 2016, and I am not sure it worths the trouble to order two adapters for this purpose.

Ya, but neither is Wi-fi... Eithernet looks better. Airdrop's more convenient.
 
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