 |
Tech Tip Index
|
Did you know that you can
make any Mac with a FireWire port behave as a FireWire drive? Let's suppose you have a
desktop G4 and a FireWire-equipped PowerBook and need to transfer some files between them.
You could use Ethernet and file sharing to do it, but there's an easier, faster way:
Restart and hold down the "T" key as the Mac restarts.
You'll see a FireWire symbol on the screen to let you know you're in
FireWire mode. Connect a FireWire cable between the two computers and you'll see the hard
drive of the computer that's in FireWire mode pop up on the desktop of the other computer.
Now you can copy files between the two, including system files that couldn't be read if
the FireWire-mode Mac was actually booted up.
Here's an example of how this trick saved me: after a brutal crash one day, my PowerBook
refused to boot back to life. I had a CD-ROM in the CD drive that wouldn't eject either,
so using a boot CD to solve things wasn't an option. I connected my desktop G4 by
FireWire, re-booted it holding down the "T" key, and sure enough, the PowerBook
came to life, booting up from the system on the G4 desktop hard drive. From there I was
able to put everything back to normal.
Hope you find this useful.
Jim Burgess
Saved By Technology
|
Tech Tip Index
|
|
|Home|Products/Prices|Join Mail List| Contact|Forum|About|Events|Getting Here|Resources|
|
design copyright savedbytechnology 2002©