use as external hard drive or CD drive

Hello,

Unfortunately, I have no way of testing Mac OS X 10.4 to macOS 10.15 networking at this time, but as I understand things, a MacBook Pro running Catalina will not be able to access a CD/DVD drive shared by a 10.4 computer.

One solution (albeit not free) could perhaps be to try an external USB optical drive connected to the 15" Mac Book Pro (2019) running 10.15 (the Apple USB SuperDrive does not appear to be supported, though). Additionally, it may or may not become necessary to install third-party software.

Otherwise, would it be possible to create a CD image file on the Mac OS X 10.4 iBook G4, transfer that file over a local network to the 10.15 MacBook Pro, and finally (somehow) mount and read the image at the MacBook Pro?

sketos Said:

"use as external hard drive or CD drive: Hi, I have a 15" MacBook Pro (2019). Can I use my -very- old iBook G4 as an external HD and/or external CD drive? I need to move some old files. [...] Thanks in advance"

-------

Syncing with a USB Crossover Cable:

With both not being Intel, and both not being USB 3, I am uncertain if this would work, due to possible incompatibility. But try using USB Crossover Cable. It goes from USB A-to-USB C, from your iBook-to-your 2019 MacBook Pro, respectively.

Try this Site: How to transfer data from a PC to a Mac - Apple Support. Ignore the "PC" part of this site, and view the provided methods.

i.e What to Use: USB A to USB C: AmazonBasics USB Type-C to USB-A 2.0 Male Charger Cable (Male-to-Male)

Generally speaking, there were certain local network DVD/CD drive sharing possibilities earlier. Now, please note limitations involving macOS Catalina 10.15 (see Share DVDs and CDs on Mac - Apple Support).

However, I do not know whether any DVD/CD drive sharing is possble between the computers in this case.

Plain file transfers over a local network should not be too difficult.

The easiest way may be to transfer files using a USB flash drive.

Would it be correct to assume that your 15" MacBook Pro (2019) is running macOS Catalina 10.15?

Also, which exact model iBook G4 is it, and what Mac OS X version?

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html

An iBook G4 had FireWire, and at the time it was possible to use that computer as an external hard drive (when connected to another appropriate FireWire-enabled Mac) in FireWire target disk mode. The latest Macs may be able to use a combination of (two) special adapters for FireWire devices, but one should probably not expect target disk mode to work at all in such a case.

If you want to transfer old files from an iBook G4, there are several other ways (with or without exernal adapters). For example:

• A USB flash drive could be used.
• The iBook G4 could be connected to the Internet, and files transferred via an a cloud drive or as email attachments.
• Files could be transferred via a local network (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), using a suitable file transfer/sharing protocol.
• If absolutely necessary, one could open the iBook G4 and remove the hard drive. The drive could then be connected to a universal USB drive adapter (one example at https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NV2SPATA/, similar devices can be found in local computer stores). Finally, the now external hard drive could be read using another Mac (or even a PC, if a Mac-disk uitility such as MacDrive is used).