Connect Mac Mini to MacBook Air and use the Air screen as a monitor??

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Level 1

31 points

Connect Mac Mini to MacBook Air and use the Air screen as a monitor??

Hi guys,

Is it possible to connect an Intel Mac Mini to my Air and use the Air screen as a temporary monitor for the Mini?

Had a little problem with configuring my LCD TV with the Mini and now I need another monitor to adjust the settings on the Mini and I'm hoping the Air can be used for this?

If so which cables would I use?

I also have a MacBook Pro (Intel) if that's easier.

Thanks

Air, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Jul 9, 2008 6:42 AM

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Answer 1

John Guo

Level 5

5,353 points

Jul 9, 2008 7:05 AM in response to Dan Owen

Use your MacBook Pro because it has FireWire. Use Target Disk Mode on your Mac mini so that the Mac mini will display on the MacBook Pro like a external HDD. You'll need a FireWire 400 cable. You can get one for around $10 if you don't have one. And I recommend getting that sooner than later because you can use that for many things if your computer has issues. Anyway, to put your Mac mini is target disk mode, connect the two computers with the wire. Turn on the Mac mini with the "T" key down after your MacBook Pro has started and ready. You'll see the FireWire logo on your Mac mini. And on your MacBook Pro, you'll see the Mac mini's HDD as an external HDD. Do whatever you need. When you finish, drag the Mac mini drive to the trash to eject it. Few seconds later, turn off your Mac mini to complete the whole process.

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Answer 2

Dan Owen Author

Level 1

31 points

Jul 9, 2008 8:13 AM in response to John Guo

Thanks although I need to get into the display settings in system preferences on the Mini.

I won't be able to do this with Target Disc mode will I?

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Answer 3

John Guo

Level 5

5,353 points

Jul 9, 2008 8:46 AM in response to Dan Owen

Hum... I didn't realise that you wanted just to use your MacBook Pro's monitor as like a external monitor. The thing is that you can't do that with another computer because the DVI is an output not an input. You'll need an monitor. If you don't have one, then an Apple Store Mac Genius can help.

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Answer 4

Sijay

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2008 3:49 PM in response to Dan Owen

Don't know if this will work for you, but for what it's worth:

Once the Mini is booted in Target mode and plugged in to the MBP, try restarting the MBP while holding down the Option key. You should be presented with the option of booting from the mounted firewire drive.

In this configuration you are using the MBP's processor and other hardware to run the Mini's OS, rather than just borrowing the MBP monitor. You should be able to tweak the mini's settings this way, but since you're actually tweaking settings of the MBP display hardware, this may not be useful depending on what changes you're hoping to make.

Good luck

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Answer 5

Sep 3, 2008 5:22 AM in response to Dan Owen

I don't know much about the mac mini but you could probably install vnc on it, make it a server and then install a vnc client on the MBA. Another option would be to buy a cheap KVM switch and plug a spare monitor. I use vnc frequently on the pc and it works great and the basic version (no file transfers) is free. There is the orinianl vnc from AT&T, tight vnc and ultra vnc (probably other varities) and they are all compatible.

Regards-Michael G.

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