Pulled out iMac drive, stuck into enclosure and want to use as external to rescue data from it. How ?

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Pulled out iMac drive, stuck into enclosure and want to use as external to rescue data from it. How ?

Hi folks,

so there is a software issue with my iMac fusion drive that will most likely require me to do a full cleanup losing all my data regardless of the partitions.

So I literally took the iMac apart, pulled out the hard drive and stuck it into an external enclosure which can then connect to my MacBook . The problem is, I need to somehow put that drive into the target disk mode , but i cant do it on the actual iMac because it simply won't boot up.

So in short, is there a way to put the hard drive into the target disk mode while it is physically taken out of the iMac and connected via "drawer" and usb to a MacBook simply to try and save as much data as I can from the other partition before we have to wipe the entire hard drive?

Posted on Feb 7, 2022 12:14 PM

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Answer 1

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rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,440 points

Feb 7, 2022 12:23 PM in response to Tambi10

Target Disk is Mac to Mac, it only works on 2 fully functional Macs. I would think if you connect the enclosure to the new drive and connect using a USB cable the Mac should be able to see the drive then you can just drag and drop the data you want. The enclose must be a powered enclosure, DO NOT use a Bus powered enclosure!!!

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

224,706 points

Feb 7, 2022 12:36 PM in response to Tambi10

IT was a fusion drive... the mechanical hard drive is only part of the fusion drive...

It may or may not be mountable at all, especially given your statement that there was a 'problem' with it...

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you don't have a backup of any kind...?

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,440 points

Feb 7, 2022 12:46 PM in response to Tambi10

Hmmmm, I'd call AppleCare and see if they have some sage advice.

AppleCare contact Information

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Answer 4

Tambi10 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 7, 2022 12:29 PM in response to rkaufmann87

heya , thank you for there reply ,

it is indeed a powered enclosure yes . the problem is that the MacBook to which the enclosure with the hard drive is connected - doesn't recognise it as an external storage drive.

when i go into disk utility I see it on the list as an external APFS physical storage but its grayed out and does not let me mount it.

I was excepting it would automatically be mounted and visible when connected to the MacBook but unfortunately it isn't and this is where Im stuck

when i press the mount button in disc utility , nothing happens

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Pulled out iMac drive, stuck into enclosure and want to use as external to rescue data from it. How ?

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