My daughter has a MacBook Air "Core i7" 2.0 13" (Mid-2012) 2.0 GHz Core i7 (I7-3667U)
- She closed the MacBook to have lunch, and after it would not work – there was no display.
- She tried resetting NVRAM (as advised by Apple) to no avail.
- After dismissing repair options I purchased her a new MacBookAir, which arrived 2 days ago.
While waiting she used one of my old MacBooks.
I attempted to connect to the MacBook via ssh – I can see that it obtains an IP address, but cannot access it. I presume that remote log in, remote access and normal file sharing was not enabled.
The last backup was 6 months ago, and I would like to recover files if possible.
Most of her work is on the university server, so is still available, but it would be handy if I could recover others.
I thought of accessing the disk – I believe that there is feature (but can't recall), although the Firewire ports on the machines are different.
I would welcome any suggestions to enable access to the SSD. As a last resort I will remove it from the Mac.
What options exist to get at the files short of paying someone to do the repair or recover the data?
Best Answer
You can boot the old Mac up into 'Target Disk Mode', by holding T at startup.
You will need a cable that connects the two together: this is a bit complex, because the 2012 MBP has FireWire and Thundberbolt 1 and the new Mac has no FireWire and Thunderbolt 3. So'll you'll either need a Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adaptor, or a Thunderbolt to FireWire adaptor.
When the Migration Assistant runs on the new Mac, you may be able to connect the other Mac via Ethernet (again with the relevant adaptor on the new Mac), to begin a transfer of the data. It's possible you might have to type in an admin password on the old Mac.
Removing the drive and connecting it via a USB-C to SATA cable is also possible.