Optical Drive gone on MacBook Trying To Install using Remote Disk

I've followed the instructions on using Remote Disk to reinstall my MacBook system software but the MacBook does not see the Remote Disk from my MacBook Pro. They are both on the same network and I've followed the instructions but when I hold down the Option key on my MacBook it only sees the MacBook hard drive - not the remote disk from the MacBook Pro. Is there another work around or a way to reinstall the operating system and updates using Firewire?

Start up the MacBook Pro with your install disk.
After you get to the install screen on the MacBook Pro connect the MacBook to the MacBook Pro in "Target Mode"with a firewire cable http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Then open "Disk Utility" from the install disk on the MacBook Pro. You should see both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro hard drives in there. Erase and partition the MacBook drive and then choose that drive when you go back to the install screen.

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HT5287 Can I use remote disk on a 2008 unibody MacBook with no optical drive?

Can I use remote disk on a 2008 unibody MacBook with no optical drive?

According to the link you came from the only MacBooks this works with are MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina display. If yours is not one of these I can see no harm in trying it.
You could consider getting an external optical drive.

Macbook optical drive same as MacBook Pro?

I have an optical drive from a Macbook that I want to put into my Macbook Pro. Is this the same drive?

Superdrives, yes, fixed many of them (Panasonic made)
1. Disc ejects after several seconds its a dirty laser diode lens (7 times out of 10)
2. ejects immediately its a damaged loader (also usually makes nasty loader arm noises)
VERY ODD you have 2 not working at the same time....
Your indication is a dirty laser diode lens on one and a damaged loader on the other (possibly,....online diagnosis is less than perfect)
Fixing these is both fairly good news.
good news is a NEW one is only $40 if out of warranty (not including the cost of someone to install it for you)
Superdrive are a hair complex inside mechanically, .....fixing them is usually a "what for" for most part, since a new one is only $40
you have options for Apple to replace it or another if you are out of warranty (most likely)
if you have a mere dirty laser lens, this 'fix' is very simple.
Contact Apple about the cost to replace your Superdrive including labor.
Superdrive

I've lost the use of Appleworks in 10.9.2. Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other?

I've lost the use of Appleworks by upgrading to 10.9.2.
Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other? I'd like to be able to boot to the older OS when I need Appleworks and few other applications that aren't available on OS 10.9.2.
Any suggestions?
Thank you for your help.

Hello again, WZZZ,
Here's an update. I was successful in creating two partitions on my internal drive, and in installing OS 10.6.6 on the second partition, as per your guidence. I now have it up to 10.6.8 with all the security updates and AppleWorks. A great thing.
Some thoughts:
• The partitioning had one hitch; it failed at first. But once I "repaired" the disc with Disc Utility the partitioning went thru.
• The partitioning took a long time in 'resizing the partition.' A few hours I think it was. Lots of progress bar watching.
• If I had it to do again, I'd size the two partitions differently. My original data was occupying about 230 Gb of the 320 Gb disc. I made the new partitions share the space, about 230 and 75Gb. That left very little available space for the main disc. I ought to have put some breathing room in there. As it is, it's an incentive to clean up all those files, especially all those iTunes files. I now have about 10% of available space there and mean to continue deleting.
So, all in all a good project that got me where I wanted to go. Thank you for your help.
Appreciatively,
wallah

I have a macbook and I'm having trouble backing up my pictures on an external hard drive. The Macbook won't install the backup drive soft ware? It is a new Sea Gate hard rive from costco.

I have a macbook and I'm having trouble backing up my pictures on an external hard drive. The Macbook won't install the backup drive soft ware? It is a new Sea Gate hard rive from costco.

You don't want to install the software that came with the drive, you don't need it and it will be problematic. Connect the new drive, open Disk Utility, select the new drive and partition it using the GUID partition scheme, then format it as Mac OS extended journaled and it will be easy to use with your Mac.

Using the optical drive of a MacBook Pro from new iMac for iTunes

Can I connect my macbook pro to my new iMac (no optical drive) with ethernet cable and use the optical drive of the macbook pro to upload CDs to iTunes on the new iMac?

On my 17" MacBook Pro I use the eSata port for Black X Duet Hard Drive Docking station where I put 2 1TB Hitachi internal drives. They are swappable and are about $80.00US. I use the USB port for my system backup and a G-force 500 MB bus powered portable drive on the FW800 port just for the heck of it. It works out really well for me.

Able to install the .ipa signed with distribution certificate using iTunes on MacBook Pro. where as the when tried to install using iTune on PC is causing a problem

Able to install the .ipa signed with distribution certificate using iTunes on MacBook Pro. where as the when tried to install using iTune on PC is causing a problem

The sound input going to the mic is not going to pipe through the speakers like that. It doesn't do it because it would cause a feedback loop on itself. The mic input will take sound and output it to a program or to another pathway (like a VoIP or Facetime call, etc.) but it won't behave like a Karaoke machine if that's what you're thinking.

Can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop to use files on the airport?

can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop and use files on the airport time capsule?

If you mean an AirPort base station other than the Time Capsule, it doesn't have internal storage.
If you mean a Time Capsule, its internal drive can be used for regular file storage but shouldn't be; as with all drives, it'll eventually fail. You're better off using a standalone drive and setting Time Machine to back it up as well.
(112309)

My MacBook Air does not have an optical drive. I have a program (Megastar V) which is installed using a CD. Is there a way to use the optical drive on my PC laptop to install this program on my MacBook Air?

MacBook Air does not have an optical drive. There is a program I wish to install on my Air which is an astronomy application called Megastar V. Installation requires the use of a CD. Is there a way to use the optical drive on my PC (toshiba laptop using Windows 7) to install this program onto my Air?
With gratitude,
Otto

Thank you for explaining to me how to do this. I will try it tomorrow and let all of you know how it goes.
Otto

Internal Optical Drive not recognized after trying to Bootcamp

Around 3 months ago I tried boot camping my Macbook with Windows 7 but it ended up freezing and I had to restart my computer. When the computer had fully restarted I found that a few things had changed. First, I now had a 70 GB partition called BOOTCAMP but it was basically unusable since the Windows 7 OS was never installed in the partition, and second the Optical Drive wasn't recognized by my computer anymore so it won't work at all and the Windows 7 CD is now stuck in there.
I tried a lot of different ways that I found on the internet to try to eject the CD but nothing has worked. It's not really a huge deal since CDs are starting to become the new floppy disks but it would still be nice to have this working again.
Also, here's the original post that I made back in December. It never got any replies and somehow got moved but I was never able to see where it got moved because whenever I clicked "discussion" in "Branched to a new discussion." I would get a page that said this - "Unauthorized. Access to this place or content is restricted. If you think this is a mistake, please contact your administrator or the person who directed you here." I know the whole post is pretty long so I have a TLDR; at the end of it and I pretty much summarized the problem again at the top of this whole post.
Alright so earlier today I decided to Bootcamp my Macbook and install Windows 7 with a 70GB partition. I was using https://help.apple.com/bootcamp/mac/5.0/help/#/bcmp173b3bf2 and http://www.howtogeek.com/186907/how-to-install-windows-on-a-mac-with-boot-camp/ to help guide me through the process. Everything was running smoothly at first...I had a 32GB memory stick that I used to load the support software onto and I had a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DVD in my disk drive.
The first problem I ran into was when Bootcamp wanted to download the files onto the memory stick - it wanted me to format the stick. So I went into Disk Utility, clicked on it, went to erase, then formatted it to the same format it was (because it was already FAT) and then it all worked. After getting the support software onto the memory stick the next step was to partition my disk. After doing a TON of research I finally decided that 70GB would be enough for the OS, a game or two, Sony Vegas Pro, and a few small programs. So I dragged the thing to give the new partition 70 GB and pressed install.
Then, the next problem occurred - a message popped up saying "The USB drive connected to this Mac contains a bootable volume. In order to install Windows 7 from the DVD, the Boot Camp Assistant needs to disable this functionality. No information on the drive will be removed, do you want to continue?" I was hesitant at this point to do anything so I googled it and couldn't find much except this thread - Bootable volume on USB flash drive in boot camp. I decided to try it and press continue since according to the thread it would stop me if there was a problem. Once I did I THINK (I can't remember that it did for sure or not) it dismounted the memory stick, which I remember thinking was okay because I could just unplug it and plug it back in after Windows 7 was installed to install the support software (Also, I NEVER removed the memory stick until after a reboot later on). After that Bootcamp began partitioning my hard drive.
About an hour later the blue progress bar had actually filled up to at least 99% (but it looked like 100% to me) but Bootcamp still said "Status: Partitioning Disk" so I left it alone for another 1-2 hours. After that I started getting worried and googled how long this process was supposed to take and found out that this step normally only took a few minutes for most people. At this point I started looking up fixes for this but nothing matched my problem since Bootcamp itself wasn't actually frozen (when I clicked and held on the icon it didn't say "Application not responding") so I decided to check to see if the partition had worked. Then, Disk Utility froze like a few seconds after opening it up so I had to force quit that. My next option was to check under "Storage" in "About this mac" so I tried that and it froze as well. While all this was going on I kept checking back to Bootcamp and it never froze.
Now I was getting extremely worried and with no solutions on Google and no idea what to do I decided to just try and restart my computer and pray to god that it would reboot fine. Luckily, it did...for the most part. After rebooting all my applications seemed to be working fine (I can confirm that Terminal, Disk Utility, System Preferences, System Information, and Safari are all working or at least loading). I also had all my files still on my computer so that was good. Next, I checked Disk Utility to see if the partition had actually worked and it did, or at least it is showing up as "BOOTCAMP" under my main hard drive. Then, I tried using Bootcamp again and this is when I noticed something new - a warning on Bootcamp's first page that wasn't there before, "You need an optical drive to install Windows. Connect an optical drive to your computer. You cannot install Windows with a remote optical drive." I can't guarantee that it wasn't there the first time but I really don't remember it there. After reading that I checked my Desktop for the mounted Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DVD and it wasn't there. Then, I checked Disk Utility and it wasn't showing up there either. The only things I can see on Disk Utility are my main hard drive with both partitions, my memory stick, and a random dmg file called decryptedFile.dmg (the size of this file is only 15.6mb so I don't think it could be the OS DVD).
So now I am trying to figure out how to get my computer to recognize that it does have an internal optical drive and that there is a DVD inside of it. I looked around on Google to try to find answers but all the regular options to fix this don't work since the computer itself is not realizing it's there. I don't know if this helps to prove that it doesn't realize this but I checked in System Information -> Hardware -> Disk Burning and it says "No disk burning device was found. If the device is external, make sure it's connected and turned on." And since a "Superdrive" can read disks I'm assuming it can burn them to and would be shown under that. (I don't know that much about computers though so I could easily be wrong)
Anyways, sorry for the extreme detail that I went into but I wanted to get as much information about what happened as I possibly could. For those of you who don't have time to read all that I'll put a little summary.
TLDR; Basically, I tried to Bootcamp my Macbook to run Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I ran into a few problems and then Bootcamp wouldn't move on from "Status: Partitioning Disk" so I had to restart my computer. After the restart my Macbook doesn't recognize that it has an internal Superdrive and therefore doesn't realize that there's a Windows 7 Ultimate DVD disk in it. I looked around for answers but none of the simple ones (using key commands on the keyboard and typing something into terminal) worked. Now I'm looking for help to get my computer to realize that it does have a Superdrive inside so I can get the disk out.
Thanks in advanced! If any more information is required to help please let me know so I can find it. Also, this is a Mid-2010 White Unibody Macbook.

Hello Michael Dixon2,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
In order to troubleshoot this issue where the optical drive does not accept discs, please follow the steps below.
Doesn't accept discs
Be sure to check your disc to make sure it is flat. You can check this by putting the disc upside-down on a flat surface. If the disc is bowed up on any side or in the center, do not use the disc because it might get stuck in the drive. Do not use discs that have anything attached to them or dangling from them (such as "sweeper" or cleaning discs).
If the drive struggles when you put in a disc or stops part-way, carefully look at the disc for labels that may be interfering. If there aren't any raised labels then try putting the disc in a few more times.
Try another disc to see if the issue is being caused by a specific disc.
Make sure you insert the disc far enough for the drive mechanism to activate. You need to insert discs nearly all the way before the drive will activate and pull them in. If you don't completely insert a disc, the drive will reverse and push the disc back out.
Allow the drive one or two seconds to accept the disc while it is fully inserted.
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC).
If the drive repeatedly does not accept discs, contact Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or make an appointment with an Apple Retail Store.
Apple Computers: Troubleshooting the slot-loading SuperDrive - Apple Support
Cheers,
Alex H.

The optical drive on my Macbook white keeps ejecting DVD's?

So am trying to upgrade to snow leopard on my older intel based macbook white, but the disc just ejects, first I thought it was a problem with the disc, but I tried with another DVD and did the same thing. CD's seem to work fine.
Tried the disc utility repair and safe mode and all that but no joy. So I also have a newer aluminium macbook which works great, so I was wondering if it was at all possible to use the optical drive on my newer macbook to install the disc on my older macbook using the remote disc facility? I know its for the Air but is there a way to make it work for my non air macbook. I wanna see if this is possible before I go to the expense of getting an external DVD drive or even getting it fixed by apple which im sure is gunna costa an arm and a leg!
Or is there something else I can try to get my dvd section of the optical drive working again?
Many thanks
Hannah

If I were you, I'd uninstall Power Manager entirely. I don't particularly like any of Lenovo's software. Each and every one has caused me problems so I've gotten rid of them all.

Early 2008 macbook trying to install snow leopard

I'm having trouble trying to upgrade from 10.5.8 to Snow Leopard install DVD 10.6.3 purchased from Apple. The upgrade is on my Macbook 4.1.
Model Name:          MacBook
Model Identifier:          MacBook4,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          3 MB
Memory:          2 GB
Bus Speed:          800 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          MB41.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system):          1.31f1
Serial Number (system):          W8807RU50P1
Hardware UUID:          E9A18B88-B719-5148-BFC6-2A053878A80E
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:          Enabled
I have done all the software updates. Made a clone back up to an external drive. Checked my hard drive it's GUID. Put DVD in held down 'C' key start up from install DVD all ok and begins install it then freezes at 39 minutes to go. (6 minutes in) Een tried leaving it all night and nothing. Had to quit installer and hence no OS 10.6.3 install. If it helps with diagnosis and reason for failure I have a new folder in my hard drive with name "Mac OSX Install Data" with no entry symbol on it.

Perhaps your disk drive is corrupted. Next time do the following:
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert Snow Leopard Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple
      logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Continue to install Snow Leopard.

Optical drive drivers not being detected while installing windows 7 via bootcamp

I'm trying to install Windows 7 using boot camp but I keep running into a dead end that I have no idea how to fix. I have my boot camp partition, and then I load up my install dvd and using BC assistant I click the Start Installation. The machine restarts, and I get as far as the screen with the blue backgroun and the tiny green plant, that has "install now" prominantly in the center, and below and to the left two options for "What to know before installing windows" and "Repair your computer". I click install now and it goes to the "Setup is starting..." Then I got an error winow that says "A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now." "Note: If the Windows installation media is in the CD/DVD drive, you can safely remove it for this step." And I have the option to browse, or rescan for drivers. The problem is I can't find any drivers for my machines optical drive OR the boot camp support drivers. I have my Origianl OSX Install disc, but dont know where to look for the drivers since I now apparently have to install them manually. Any advice on this would be super appreciated as I've been trying to get this working for like a week :\ Specs Below.
I'm running a 15 inch Macbook Pro 5,3 Mac OS X 10.6. Intel Core 2 Duo 8gb ram boot rom version mbp53.00ac.b03, optical: matshita uj-868
If any other info would help solve my problem let me know and if reasonalbe I will provide. Thanks!

Sorry I didn't respond sooner....Hurricane Irene knocked out all our power
The initial install (at least for most of the reboots) does correctly reboot to Windows. However, towards the end of the Windows setup, where Windows is fully functional but is configuring itself, you may accidentally boot into OS X. Once you get Apple's Boot Camp drivers installed, you can set the target disk for a reboot, so that you don't need to hold down alt/option. In addition, you can also set the target disk in Lion via System_Preferences>System>Startup_Disk.
Unfortunately, the excellent boot manager rEFIt doesn't work with Lion (because of the hidden partition that Lion adds). Maybe they'll get it working soon, then you can use it and not worry about holding down alt all the time.

Mid2007 macbook trying to install retail copy of 10.6.3 after install fails say bless tool unable to set boot disk help!

Mid2007 macbook when trying to install retail 10.6.3 screen comes up installation failed because cant set start up disk try startup utility. when try startup utility it says bless tool cant set boot drive when called apple support guy said my harddrive was going out even though the computer had no ill signs before inserting install disk. I bought new harddrive and installer does same thing . Then apple sent me a new disk - same thing . I have ran disk utilities numerous times tried to reinstall numerous times even hooked external harddrive and ran tech tools from it one side note the startup key commands do not seem to work as in apple op pr,apple op of etc but will go to option start. I realize it is getting old but something is keeping software from loading i also read where i could take ram out for awhile i did this. No change. Taking to apple store is not option any and all suggestions welcome

Sounds like the machine has a firmware password as you cannot change the startup disk (stored in NVRAM) and only the option key at boot works.
You will need to option boot from the 10.6 disk and use the Firmware Password Reset utility and enter the password to disable it.
If you forget the password, take the machine to a Apple Authorized Repair and they can bypass it in hardware.

My optical drive on my macbook pro mid 2009 series is not working all the time.

I have a Macbook Pro mid 2009 series and just recently my optical drive is not working all the time. At times it decides to not spin a disk that has been inserted in the drive. I am currently deployed in Afghanistan and this is one of the very few things i have to distract me from the day to day haul. This is something that just started to happen and its very fustrating since i have limited support for this.

Another help source (if you haven't already done so).
Go to your OS Help Menu. In the search field type dvd
Click on all the troubleshooting topics & Support Articles that pertain to your issue.
You can also do the same in Disk Utility. Open same up.
At the bottom left of the window, click on the purple button w/the "?" in the middle.
This will bring up the Help Menu.
===============
Try a different brand. Top forum favorites
CDs
FUJI
TDK
Verbatim
DVDs
Maxell
Verbatim
==============
Apple's Disc Burning Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2801 Apple Portables: Troubleshooting the slot load optical disc drive
Make sure the DVDs are not dirty, smudged and/or scratched.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2000 Mac doesn't start up from install disc
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2801 Apple Computers: Troubleshooting the slot-loading SuperDrive
*** Your drive may need cleaning. Cleaning kits can be purchased from any store that sells CD/DVDs. ***

Optical Drive gone on MacBook Trying To Install using Remote Disk

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