Boot MacBook Air from remote CD?

Question

Level 1

31 points

Boot MacBook Air from remote CD?

I just bought a MacBook Air second hand and Verified Disk Permissions to see if anything was wrong, there is. Now, it works fine, I only need it for light work, but it recommends that I boot from the install CDs, which I have... but I need one of those external Optical Drives.

Now, I do have an iMac and I seem to recall that there was some software that came out that would allow a wireless connection but am not sure if that will work when booting from the CD, my suspicions are that it will not. It's my day off and I only get one so I do not want to spend the whole day trying to figure this out, of course I could have tried it but I thought that reaching out to the community might be best.

Any ideas please?

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), 16GB RAM, late 2011

Posted on Jul 30, 2014 9:52 AM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jul 30, 2014 10:17 AM in response to Hamper

Hamper,

Remote Disc is not supported for installing Mac OS X onto a Mac without an optical drive, but its Apple page doesn’t mention whether just booting via Remote Disc wouldn’t be supported. It shouldn’t take very long to try it to see if booting remotely is supported or not; please report back on what you observe.

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Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 30, 2014 10:49 AM in response to Hamper

What is the EXACT model MBA that you have and what OSX do you have installed?

MBAs do not come with install CDs. What are these CDs that you are referring to?

Ciao.

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Answer 3

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jul 30, 2014 11:45 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

OGELTHORPE,

the Early 2008 through Mid 2009 MacBook Airs came with installation discs.

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Answer 4

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 30, 2014 11:48 AM in response to Melophage

It is my understanding that the pre-Lion-OSX was on a USB drive rather than CDs:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910?viewlocale=en_US

Ciao.

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Answer 5

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jul 31, 2014 8:42 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

OGELTHORPE,

only the Late 2010 MacBook Air models came with a Software Reïnstall Drive; the earlier models came with discs, despite the MacBook Air not being equipped with a SuperDrive.

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Answer 6

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 31, 2014 10:06 AM in response to Melophage

You are correct. If the OP has one of those earlier MBAs then he can use his iMac DVD drive in concert with the MBA.

It is helpful if the EXACT model of a Mac is given initially, helping me to avoid these types of mistakes. I suggest that he download the appropriate user manual which has all of the necessary information.

http://support.apple.com/manuals/#macnotebooks

Ciao.

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Answer 7

Hamper Author

Level 1

31 points

Aug 2, 2014 5:33 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thank you for all of your helpful replies.

The model I have is A1237.

I found a cheap external DVD Optical drive and thought it might just be less hassle this way?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Slim-External-CD-DVD-ROM-Portable-Optical-Disk-Dri ve-USB-2-0-Player-Reader-/390799698725?pt=UK_Computing_Drives_Storage_CD_DVD_Dri ves_ET&hash=item5afd7a2b25

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Answer 8

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Aug 2, 2014 6:51 PM in response to Hamper

Hamper,

an A1237 model number is an Early 2008 MacBook Air. Have you tried using your iMac’s SuperDrive remotely yet, to see if your MacBook Air is able to boot from it?

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Answer 9

Hamper Author

Level 1

31 points

Aug 4, 2014 9:13 AM in response to Melophage

Admittedly, I haven't I just didn't want to devote the time. I will try today then, as I have some spare time..

Still, at six years old there most likely will be something wrong with the SSD.

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Answer 10

Hamper Author

Level 1

31 points

Aug 4, 2014 4:46 PM in response to Hamper

Well I've tried it now and it didn't work with any of the usual suspects: "S", "T" or "C" so it looks like I'll have to get the external Optical drive.

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