Reboot from external optical drive

The hard-drive in my macbook broke and has been replaced. I want to re-install the operating system from the systems-CD but my internal optical drive is also broken (not reading discs. Can I re-install/reboot from the systems disc using an external optical drive? Or am I going to have to replace the internal drive?

hi, i have the same problem. i want to replace my hard-drive but my optical drive is not working well (not reading.) i tried plugging my external usb optical drive and placed the mac osx install disc inside it and tried to reboot holding the "c" button... but i did not work. is there other way to boot from external drive?

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Can "Refit" Be Used for USB Boot From External Optical Drive?

Since the new Mac Mini 2011 has no optical drive, how would one make a generic USB 2.0 optical drive act as a boot device? I have heard that a utility called "Refit" can alter the boot loading order and device choices in Macs. I suppose it is also possible that the new Mini may already be set up to boot first from USB. I would appreciate any comments. It would be nice to have some kind of optical drive boot option for Windows installation and other possible utilities that need to boot before the OS in order to work. Maybe I will have to take my external optical drive to an Apple store to find out. Hope not. I also suspect that a USB keyboard will be mandatory for "Refit" and the boot drive to be used before Mac OS X is loaded.

No utility should be needed.
You can hold the Option key down during the boot process to select which drive you wish to use as a boot device.
Also pressing and holding C boots to the optical drive.
There is reportedly a pretty broad number of USB optical drives that people have been able to use as a boot device, as inexpensively as $30. I don't know that there is a specific list though. I would research whichever model you wish to buy with a quick google search or searching that model here in the forum.
Or maybe somebody will have a recommendation which one they have.

IMac G5 iSight won't boot from external optical drive . . . FW or USB

Hello, all. I have an iMac G5 iSight with a busted optical drive. Every six months or so, OS 10.4 eats itself (directory structure goes corrupt), and I need to reinstall.
The issue I'm having is that the computer won't boot off of my external optical drive. It's not shown as a choice in the Startup Manager, whether it's connected via USB or FireWire. Any ideas?

Okay, sorry this took so long . . .
Reset the SMU, NVRAM, and PRAM, no luck. Tried different FireWire port on the iMac, no luck. Tried different FireWire port on optical drive--LUCK.
Ah.
Wipe and reinstall got underway, and finished the first part. Unfortunately, my OS 10.4 Disc 2 turned out to be scratched, and wiping the hard drive didn't get rid of the logic board error either.
Took it to Apple retail store, and it was BOA (bricked on arrival). Astoundingly, it would not power, POST, turn on the fans, nothing. They then replaced the power supply, so they could troubleshoot the hard drive/fan/whatever issue.
Now the computer POSTs, and they finished the reinstall, and said it passes their advanced diagnostics. I asked them to run the diags on the install CD, so they could see they fan error, and they agreed. That was around 7:00 last night.
Now, it's still at the store, and I'm eagerly awaiting word on what might REALLY be wrong. Thanks for your help so far!

Rebooting from external hard drive

I'm trying to find a suitable replacement machine for a stolen 2007 Macbook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo, bought new in January 2007. I need to find a compatible laptop to reboot from my backup external hard drive as I still need the old applications from original machine. What vintage of laptops are compatible? Where can I find a reputable seller? I don't remember what OSX it was running. If that info is on my external drive, I dont know where to find it. Someone donated a Powerbook G4 to me, but I've been told that its not compatible with an Intel machine.
Thanks,
Karen

I suggest a used MBP the same vintage/model as the one that was stolen. Later models would have come with later versions of OS X and may not boot from the version on your external hard drive.
There are many good/reputable used Mac vendors ... here are a few to get you started ...
dvwarehouse.com
usedmac.com
macofalltrades.com
themacstore.com
And lowendmac.com has a list of used Mac dealers

New MAC Mini w/OSX Lion - will not boot from USB or external optical drive when attempting to use BootCamp to install Windows 7?

The University recently purchased 6 brand new MAC minis for deployment in classrooms I support. I am attempting to create a dualk--boot environment comparable to our existing computer systems, only these machines wil be running MAC OS X Lion and Windows 7. After following the procedures outlined in the BootCamp on-screen prompts, and attempting a few techniques I found in the tech support user-base, I am still unable to get the MAC mini to boot up from the USB flash drive, or from an external optical drive, so that I can complete the installation of Windows 7. When using the Boot option key at start-up, all devices are displayed suggesting that they are being properly recognized, however the computer boots to a black screen with an error message indicating that "No bootable devices are found - press any key to continue." I am able to boot into the computer's internal drive, but not from any external devices. I fully expected that the semi-automated BootCamp procedure properly prepares the USB device for booting, and for installing the Windows 7 OS.

Meh, with the price they take for a drive in Denmark, I don't think it's worth it... They take around 160 $ for the drive (that's the cheapest MacBook drive I could find), and I am not even sure that's the one I need.

I have a standard MacBook from 2007. My optical drive broke on this a while ago. I was wondering which external optical drives are compatible and work with this MacBook? Thanks.

I have a standard MacBook from 2007. The optical drive broke a while ago. I was just wondering what external optical drives, if any, are compatible and work with this model?

You can get a fairly cheap external CD/DVD burner/player at Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/External-CD-DVD-Blu-Ray-Drives/SubCategory/ID-420?Order=PR ICE

How do you reinsatll snow leopard from an external optical drive

Both my hard drive and superdrive crapped out. How do i reinstall from an external USB optical drive? I am having a complete brain **** at the moment!

If your replacing your internal hard drive, why not also get the Superdrive replaced?
The OS X install disk supposedly won't boot from a external optical drive, only the internal one.
To OS X onto your new internal drive, your going to need another Mac with optical drive to take 10.6 off the disk and place it onto a bootable USB. Any Mac should do, as the 10.6 installer isn't going to be booted .
http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
Other methods, requires another compatible Mac.
If you have machine specific 10.6 disks and you have another exact model of Mac, you can use a SATA to USB adapter (or enclosure) to use boot the second Mac with the disk and install 10.6 on the "extenral" drive, then place it back inside the other Mac.
If you have the 10.6.3 white retail so called "upgrade disk" for 10.5 (it also has the full 10.6 on it) and you have another Intel Mac that it's OS X version originally came with anything 10.6.2 or earlier, then it will boot that disk to install on the "external" drive, then it can be placed back into the other Mac.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
Another internal drive access method is to use Firewire Target Disk Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Also one can use a external drive to install the compatible OS X version onto, then option key boot the Mac with the new drive off the external, install Carbon Copy Cloner and clone the extenral to the newly formatted internal drive.
Most commonly used backup methods

Booting from USB-powered External Optical Drive

Hey all,
I am looking to update my unibody MacBook as follows - I am swapping out my internal SuperDrive to replace it with an OWC Data Doubler bracket & Intel SSD. The Intel SSD will eventually be for the OS and apps and my original HDD will be for media.
It looks like there may be an Intel SSD firmware update I'll need to install and to do so I need to burn the firmware ISO image to a CD-R then boot from it to carry out the update. Since I'll have removed the internal SuperDrive I'll be getting an external optical drive for this and all future CD-related tasks.
So the question is, will I be able to boot from a CD in an external USB-connected optical drive? Will any possible limitation be the MacBook's fault or the external optical drive's fault?
Any other way around this if I can't boot from the external drive? I wanted to go the USB flash-drive route, but the Intel site (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18363&lang=eng) says a CD-R is specifically needed, or do they always say that? I know I've booted the Mac OS X installation disc from a flash drive before...
Thanks so much.
Message was edited by: lauber1322
Message was edited by: lauber1322

You should not have a problem booting from an external USB drive (the MacBook Air does this, for example). My recommendation is to buy an external drive from Amazon and try it. They don't have a restocking fee so you can return it if your plan doesn't pan out.
As far as installing the firmware to the intel drive, is it possible to install the SSD in the regular hard drive slot first before replacing the optical drive and running the update that way? (I don't know much about SSDs, sorry). Once the firmware itself is updated, then you could put it in the optical slot like you wanted.

Booting from an external optical drive (Liteon ETAU108-01 or other)

Dear Apple community,
I´m considering buying the external DVD writer "Liteon ETAU108-01" as a replacement for my broken MacBook Pro (2 Duo) super drive.
Does anybody know, if it is possible to boot from this specific USB drive (eg. using DVDs with MacOS or DiskWarrior)? Or can I generally boot from any external optical DVD drive?
I´m also happy for recommendation of alternative DVD drives which would allow booting my Mac in an emergency.
Thank you very much,
Felix

will it recognize the external drive as the primary boot drive?
do I press C or option?
Will any external optical drive work?
Thank you very much!

Booting from an external optical drive

Hi everyone.
I have an iMac 24'' 2.4 Ghz.
The superdrive has died...
Since I have no idea if any internal optical drive can be replaced with the superdrive, my next option would be to get an external one.
my question is, can it become bootable?
For example, would I be able to reinall MacOS X from the external one and if yes, how? do I press the "C" key on start (or will that just try to access the dead superdrive)?
Thank you in advance.

will it recognize the external drive as the primary boot drive?
do I press C or option?
Will any external optical drive work?
Thank you very much!

MBP Late 2010, How can I install Win7 Boot Camp using External Optical Driv

Hello:
I have a new MBP purchased in February. It's not the 2011 model. I replaced the Optical drive with an SSD drive and put the optical drive in an external enclosure. The Optical drive works great, reads, writes, etc. My Windows 7, Pro 64bit DVD works also, tested on a PC.
I use the Boot Camp assistant to create a partition. It them reboots and never starts up from the optical drive. I get an Apple logo alternating with a stop sign.
I have got back to OS X by starting with the Option key and choosing my OS X volume.
I tried booting to the DVD by using the option key, that did not work. I then choose the EFI option which allowed me to hit any key and appeared to boot from the external optical drive. Windows setup screen came up and I hit enter to start the file loading process. It eventually stopped when the progress bar was all the way across the screen. Then nothing.
Questions {Please give definitive answers, not guesses, thanks :)}
1) Is it possible to setup a boot camp Windows installation without an internal optical drive? Yes/No.
2) If yes, how?
3) I see the rEFIt utility has helped some but I read mixed reports. Will this help me boot and run Windows setup from an external optical drive? I don't want to install it if it's not known to be a certain fix.
4) Is my only options to reinstall the optical drive?
I chatted to OWC the vendor that sells the bracket. They had no idea how to install a Windows BC partition without an internal drive.
I am seriously discouraged by what seems to be Apple wanting to control everything. I had a Mac Pro and Air book in my future but now, it's on hold.
Thanks in advance,
Kevin

I tried what you are doing with a 2007 MBP, and could not get any Windows CD s to boot from an external optical drive, firewire or USB.
I think this is fundamental to Windows which won't boot from an external USB drive either even on a Windows machine (although I believe there may be complex ways of achieving this). I don't think this is Apple trying to control the world.
I ended up taking the MCE Optibay out and putting the original optical drive back in.
Just possible that something has changed between a 2007 MBP and 2010 MBP, but I doubt it.
If you want the second internal HD, you have two options:-
1. Put the Apple optical back in, install Windows, then take out the optical and refit the SSD. The external optical will still be able to install windows apps and data etc, just not boot any windows install CDs or utilities (like Paragon rescue disks). You will not be able to do a Windows repair install without refitting the optical.
2. Parallels, which has come a long way in the last two years. I am 99% certain that Parallels will install from an external optical.
Message was edited by: Mike Boreham
Message was edited by: Mike Boreham
Message was edited by: Mike Boreham

All users GONE except for "Other"...and CANNOT boot from External DVD drive

I booted the iMac (Intel...the last one with the White Bezel) tonight, and all of my users were GONE except for "Other." The internal Superdrive has had a disc jammed in it for months, so instead I have an OWC external USB/FW400/FW800 DVD drive. Snow Leaopard.
I need to boot from the SL install disc, but that must go into the external drive...which, as it's been since I upgraded to SL, the Mac sometimes sees and sometimes doesn't. Right now it can't see it. Which leaves me a big pile of crap, doesn't it?
So, what to do? I can't boot the internal drive because it's jammed with a DVD (or I spend $300 to replace what should be a $20 optical drive in it), I can't boot the external DVD drive because the iMac w/Snow Lepeord can't see it, and, meanwhile, all of my photos, etc., are on my Time Machine backup drive...which, as long as I can't do any of the above, just sits there...useless.
Can you tell I'm a bit frustrated with this?
I've reset the PRAM. I've rebooted. I've held down all sorts of combinations of keys. I've tried every single interface type on the external drive and the same thing - the drive can't be seen by the computer.
Has the internal hard drive failed? Nope. I'm tying this using the Firefox browser that's running on my Windows XP installation via Boot Camp on the internal hard drive.

Thanks, but no luck so far.
I have an old iMac G3 downstairs, and I connected it to the machine via Firewire. I could see the disk on the 24" iMac, its folders, etc. I wanted to see if I could install OS X via Target Disk Mode from the old machine to the new one, but it's a PowerPC machine and you can't do that. Maybe you can't do that from ANY iMac...I'm not that experienced.
Now the iMac isn't booting at all to Windows via Boot Camp - it's been booting for 45 minutes now with the "WinXP" logo, but nothing. I'm about to throw it in the car and haul it over to my parents, who have both a Powerbook and a 27" iMac. Maybe it'll work there. Who knows.
Other ideas...replace the internal hard drive (cheap)...if that doesn't work, I'll just sell the thing. I'm not going to sink $300 into the thing when I can get a new machine for around $600-$700. I may go to a Windows7 machine on the desktop and a Powerbook...maybe even an iPad.
I really want to love this iMac. It's my first (well, I did have the G3, but that was just to play with) Mac. It's given me a ton of problems since I bought it new. It's always been a "stock" machine - nothing weird done to it. I was hit with an iMovie update once, and that broke iMovie. Even the new iLife 2009 didn't fix it. Then, the internal optical disk drive failed. I couldn't believe that Apple used a proprietary optical drive rather than a stock Pioneer model. Price for the drive alone? $200.
I installed Snow Leopard 2 months ago, and that completely broke my ability to use external optical drives. Sometimes they work...most times they don't. This is an ongoing problem that many people are having (check the forums)...but no fix. Where does that leave me? With a useless computer.
So, I've boiled it down to this: I love the Mac software. I hate the hardware. Sure, it's pretty, but if something goes wrong, get ready to pay. I hate that Apple knows about problems, yet does nothing to address them, like the problem with external optical drives and Snow Leopard.
I bought the Mac because I was sick of Microsoft not being able to simply produce an OS full of security holes. Often times I read people bashing supposed "driver ****" with Windows, but look at what users of Windows machine are demanding of Microsoft - "please make my software compatible with the trillions of combinations of hardware that can run the os...all the way back to stuff that was created in the mid 1990s." Meanwhile, from my experience, Apple can't get their software to work with their own proprietary, supposedly vertically-controlled hardware.
Windows7 is a not bad OS. It's got it's faults, of course. But, if my optical drive failed in a Windows box, I'd have it replaced in 10 minutes...with a bluray drive...that can write...for under $100.
I use my computer for pictures, etc. In fact, we were ready to send off to iPhoto for our yearly photo books. That's not going to happen, as the photos are forever trapped on my Time Machine backup drive (lesson learned: dump photos to a generic format...fat32 works...just in case you decide to switch from Mac to Win7). iLife is great. MS Office is great, too, on the Mac. I love the little things the Mac does right.
After years of screwing around with my Windows box, I wanted a computer that acted like a consumer electronic device. That's not what I've gotten.
Ugh, so now do I buy a Mac Mini for $700, a new iMac for $1,400, or a Macbook Pro and a mac mini?
...or...do I continue to work within this silly Ubuntu Linux world?
Whatever the answer, I wish I didn't have to ask the question now.

Problem to boot up installation DVD from another optical drive.

Hello, i am trying to install the Snow Leopard OS to my MBA (10.5.2) using the optical drive of my iMac (Lion). The moment i power up the MBA (with the option button being pressed) after i log into the wi-fi network, the only boot device i see is the Macintoxcv hard drive. Which is the MBA's hard drive.
I dont see the Optical drive of my iMac with the installation dvd inside. They are both in the same wi-fi network and the sharing is on.
If i log into the MBA i am able to remotely run the DVD but the system says that my hard drive is corrupted and i need to boot from the dvd and that i shouldn't worry because the problem will be resolved during the installation of the Snow Leopard. But i cant boot from the DVD as i previously stated.. ANy ideas?
PS. Under application/utilities on my iMac (the source DVD) i dont have the option Remote Install Mac OS to clic on.

Apple has restricted booting from optical drives to only internal ones, also I hear you can't install Windows from a external optical drive neither.
The solution in your case is to create a 10.6 install USB
http://www.maciverse.com/reinstalling-os-x-on-macbook-air.html
http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
You have to decide if you want to backup files off the machine, take your chances and upgrade your present 10.5 (which has your free iLife on it) installed copy (stable or not) to 10.6 then to 10.6.8, or
if your 10.5 installed is not exactly stable, then backup files off the machine and erase and reinstall 10.5 (which has your free iLife on it) and then upgrade to 10.6 then to 10.6.8, then Disk Utility > Repair disk (from the 10.6 USB) then install 10.6 programs fresh and files from backup or
erase the 10.5 install completely from the 10.6 USB and install 10.6.3 (no free iLife)
iLife doesn't come on the 10.6.3 Retail Upgrade disks, also you can't use another Mac's 10.6 disk to install SL on your machine.
If your 10.5 installed is stable, then consider a backup of files off the machine (disconnect any other drive) and simply upgrading 10.5 to 10.6, it will keep all your presently installed programs, although a few will require updating.
To boot off the USB, you need to hold the option key down.
Now on Mac's with a DVD drive, when the SL 10.6 disk is simply inserted, one runs a program that reboots and upgrades 10.5 to 10.6
Since you will be booted from the USB, you will have to select to install 10.6 onto the 10.5 drive, it only does that and not touches your third party programs or your files. (but backup anyway in case things go wrong)
You neeed this disk to create the USB from, can only be ordered online now as I hear.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A
If your considering upgrading to Lion from 10.6.8 Appstore, let me give you some valuable advice.
10.5 Intel machines are rather dated, if it's not a 64 bit processor Lion can't be installed (no Intel Core Duo's, they are 32 bit)
Your going to have a dated video card, Lion is slower than Snow Leopard.
You need a minimum of 2GB of RAM, 4GB+ is reported to be better for Lion.
Lion does not allow you to run your 10.5 programs in Rosetta like 10.6 does, so Lion requires all new software.
In my opinion a dated machine having to buy all new software is a waste of money, spend the $29 for Snow Leopard and pretty much everything you presently have in software investment will work.
My opinion is to save Lion for a new machine, your machine will run better on 10.6 than 10.7 glitch issues.
Check this database for programs that are ready for Lion
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

Installing Win7 on a macbook pro using a mac mini as external optical drive

hi everyone,
My 2 year old son watches movies on my macbook pro. He stuck something in the optical drive making it unusable. Repairing it is 200 to 300 euros (ouch).
I want to install win7 via bootcamp and I'm using my mac mini (october 2009) as an external optical drive. These are my steps:
1.hold the "t" on the mac mini
2.connect it to the macbook with a firewire 800 to firewire 400 cable
3.Power up and hold the "alt" on the macbook
4.I see the optical drive on the boot screen and I choose it
5.Then I get a blank screen and a few seconds later the "missing operating system" message appears.
Am I missing something? Is it possible to install win7 using a mac mini as an external drive?
PS1:I already have partitioned the HD with bootcamp.
PS2:I've upgraded the hard disk drive of the macbook with a seagate momentus 500GB hard disk. Don't think this is the problem, thought I should mentioned it.

Hi Mike,
For reference it is called "IP over Firewire".
Connect the two computers with a fire wire cable. System Preferences > Network > Configure IPv4: > Manually > IP address: 192.168.3.1 (and .2 on other) > Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0. Leave the other fields blank. Do this on both computers on the computer you want to allow access to or both for two way access go to System Preference > Sharing > Select a service to change its settings. Turn remote Login on.
On the MBP go to the Finder Menu > Go > Connect to Server > Type in the IP address of the Mini 192.168.3.2 (Whatever you gave it)
With this configuration you still have full use of the Mini and certain apps can use Xgrid and use the processor of the mini when it is not doing anything. I would keep the Mini as 10.4 unless you really need both machines running Leopard. As noted before you cannot boot the MBP from a HDD that is Apple Partition Scheme and vice versa you cannot boot the PPC from a Guide Partition Table.
Sweet Polly

What do i do when external optical drive doesn't show up in finder? how can i import software, music, etc. when the drive isn't recognized/mounted/whatever?

the internal optical drive on my early 2006 20"imac has mechanical problems ejecting discs. i've gone thru all the recommended steps to eject discs, and have luckily been able to eject the last 3 discs but only after spending 30-60 minutes going thru all of the steps over and over, and today just trying "eject disc" in itunes since i had itunes open. i don't want to put another disc in - the drive clearly has problems with the mechanical eject mechanism, and from what i've read that's not unique to my computer.
i bought an external optical drive: lite on, clamshell design to avoid problems with the eject mechanism; i contacted the mfr who said it's mac compatible.
the drive plays dvds, which is all i've tried so far, but doesn't show up in finder. so i don't know how to use it to load software, or music, or anything besides watch dvds.
is there something i can do to get the drive recognized/mounted/whatever? i would prefer to not spend the $220 which was quoted to me by an authorized mac repair company, even tho i think that's probably a reasonable cost given the delicacy of the operation as shown on ifixit.com.
thanks!

I have an external LaCie burner and it will not show up on my Mac unless I insert a CD or DVD - in that case, the media will show up (I have these settings in the Pref Pane):
If you want to burn files or music to blank media, you can use Finder or Disk Utility for files, but should use an iTunes playlist/iTunes for music and a movie burn app for videos/movies (such as iDVD, Roxio Toast, Burn, etc).
If you simply want to drag files over as a backup, an external hard drive is a much better solution than a burner.

Reboot from external optical drive

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