Faulty optical drive in mini mac, unable to use remote disc

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Level 1

8 points

Faulty optical drive in mini mac, unable to use remote disc

Hi,

I have a Mac mini (Late 2009) running OS X Yosemite. The optical drive in the mini is no longer able to read CD's or DVD's

We need install adobe suite 6 and this is on DVD. We have tried to access 'remote disc' in finder but have hit a closed door.

Seems according to this article: Use the CD or DVD drive from another computer with your Mac - Apple Support

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"You can't use a shared disc

If your Mac already has a built-in optical drive, or an external optical drive connected, you won't see the Remote Disc feature appear in the Finder or other apps."

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So does anyone have any idea how I'm supposed to move forward in this scenario?

seems a little restrictive to make 'remote disc' disappear if you have an optical drive...

I have no interest in getting the mini repaired, especially when the technology already exists to do otherwise.

Very very stuck so would appreciate any suggestions.

thanks

Posted on Jan 29, 2015 5:26 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Jan 29, 2015 5:34 AM in response to njcmusicuk

- Connect an external optical drive via USB or FireWire (FW)

- If yo have another Mac with FW and optical drive boot the other Mac in Target Disk Mode and connect the two via FW. Your Mini can then access the internal drive on the other Mac

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support

Remove.disconnect the faulty optical drive from the Mini. For how see:

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac_mini_2009_opt/

It is not that hard. The optical drive in my late 2009 Mini failed about two years ago and I replaced it with a SSD.

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