A networking question from the 90s

[Mac1337]

I remember hooking up two Macs directly was a huge deal back in the day. I remember there was even a site for it. Problem is I have forgotten how. I like to connect my new Mini to my old Mini using the ethernet port and copy stuff over. Is it any easier now?

[freeradical]

Was it this site? I think it used to be called "3 Macs and a Printer".

http://www.atpm.com/network/

[marksomebodyelse]

Why not just use FW? Set the old one to target mode and then copy what files you want. If your going to copy some of your programs it may be better to use migration assistant.

[mattkime]

i think its actually a little bit more complicated than it used to be. one of those machines needs to have internet sharing turned on.

long live appletalk!

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Honestly, Target Disk Mode or an Ethernet switch is the easiest way to go here. You must have a switch already installed, yes? Just turn on File Sharing on both Macs and copy away (not necessary for TDM).

[space-time]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
Honestly, Target Disk Mode or an Ethernet switch is the easiest way to go here. You must have a switch already installed, yes? Just turn on File Sharing on both Macs and copy away (not necessary for TDM).

a switch is not required. You can just hook up a network cable between the 2 Macs, make sure it is a Cat5e cable or better to get full speed (1000 mbps), and then just turn sharing ON on one Mac and connect from the other Mac. Then you can move data back and forth, even you can run Migration assistant.

[mattkime]

really? you don't need a machine handing out IP addresses?

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Yes, given that the two machines are both of recent vintage, this will work fine. Back in the day before auto-sensing ports, doing this required a crossover cable, something that was not always easy to find.

I offered the switch solution because it is extremely likely he already has a switch installed (whether he knows it or not) and, assuming he does, it's the easiest and most convenient way to connect the two computers. If it's a GigE switch, than this method also offers the fastest transfer speeds.

[Mac1337]

The older mini is not hooked up to a monitor anymore. When I unplugged it the last time everything was turned on. I am not sure if they still are. I tried two ways. Plugged both into a hub(switch?) and connected them directly. Where is the older mini supposed to show up? I can try FW but finding a cable around here is always a challenge.

[Mac1337]

OK, looks like it needed a little time. No switch. Just connected the two via Ethernet and it finally showed up as a shared volume. And yes, radical, that was the site. Amazing it is still there with the old instructions. It is proof how far ahead Apple was in networking.