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How To Really Enable Dvd Drive Sharing on a Non-Air Macbook

Mar 20th, 2010 by KillYourFM
comments 29 comments

Imagine this scenario: You have a MacBook Pro with a broken SuperDrive, and need to install Windows to your Boot Camp partition, or perhaps install a new video game. The cost of repairing your Superdrive is too high, as is the cost of purchasing a cumbersome external DVD drive. Fortunately, there's a little-known solution.

Hopefully lost geek souls like me will stumble onto this post in the future and smile. I'm posting this because it took me two hours of Googling to find the answer, with very limited results. And Apple's official support pages are worthless on this topic.

Here was my situation: I had a MacBook Pro with a busted SuperDrive, and needed to install Windows via Boot Camp. As you may or may not know, this is not possible using an image file (like it IS with Parallels), so I set off in search of a way to share my Dell Desktop DVD Drive with my trusty MacBook.

Since the release of the MacBook Air, this has been made possible by an installable Control Panel applet in Windows, and by simply checking the CD/DVD Sharing box in your OS X System Preferences. Well, halfway possible.

One would assume that this would work automagically as most Apple software does, even if you own a regular MacBook or MacBook Pro, and not an AIR. After all, it's an option in my System Preferences, right? So much for assumptions.

It simply DOES NOT work on the MacBook side. Yes, believe it or not, the Windows client is working just fine this time around :-)

So, here's how to do this from start to finish, step by step.

NOTE: If you've already got the software installed on both machines, and are baffled like I was, skip down past these steps and look for the Terminal code....

  1. The software to make this all work is on the Macbook Air OS X disc. But if you're like me and want to make this work with a regular ole "my superdrive took a dump" MacBook, download the separate Windows installer here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL112
  2. Once installed, go to your Windows Control panel and click the "CD DVD Sharing" button and activate the checkbox.
  3. Enabling this feature on your MacBook is as simple as running Software Update. But you can also go here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL113 and grab it directly.
  4. Go into your Mac System Prefs, click the Sharing button, and check "CD/DVD Sharing."

Now, you're all setup, right? The software works alongside Windows' firewall, and even promises to work as long as both machines are connected to the same Wireless network. So, why can't you see that disc you just inserted into your Windows machine, via your Finder?

The missing link comes courtesy of this Macrumors Forum post.

  1. Open Terminal (it's in Utilities, or just type 'Terminal' into Spotlight)
  2. Type this code:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser EnableODiskBrowsing -bool true
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser ODSSupported -bool true

Reboot, and you're done. Now, any disc you insert into your Windows machine will show up in your Finder under "Remote Disc."

KillYourFM

Written by KillYourFM
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Comments

JakobJ, yesterday
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OMG OMG OMG OMG! A MILLION PRAISES! YOU’VE DONE IT! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH THIS HELPED ME! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

THANKKKK YOUUU!@!!!!@#$^%^%&$%^#@#$

Joutlaw, over a year ago
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I’ve followed all steps above to share a CD/DVD from my PC’s drive to my MBP (broken superdrive). Unfortunately, although the Remote Disc option appears under devices on the Mac, the PC drive isn’t listed. I checked firewall and control panel settings on the PC per above directions and rebooted both computers several times. I have been networking between these computers since I got the MBP in ’09. I can’t think of anything that should keep this from working. Any ideas? Thank you in advance, Jeff

bharat maru, over a year ago
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remote disc now shows up in finder with above fix but still cannot get it to show up in startup disk as shown in remote install osx utility…..

Anyone cracked ????

jem, over a year ago
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Thank you. This worked great. Too bad it was necessary…

Kai, over a year ago
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Hey,

stumbled across this article today and it helped me a lot.

Thanks for sharing this.

Kai

noob, over a year ago
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is there a way to make the pc use the mac drive

Steven, over a year ago
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Hello - thanks for posting this article.  However, I still have a problem:

Even though my MacBook sees the remote disc, I haven’t been able to use it to reinstall the OS X because when I launch the installer it reboots the MacBook but doesn’t carry out the installation.  It just goes back to the desktop.  I tried holding down the Option key but it doesn’t show the remote disc as a startup option.  Is there a missing step?

thanks!

Matteo Barenghi, over a year ago
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Thanks! It worked perfectly. I needed to install snow leopard on one of my two macs. MacBook Pro has a broked dvd drive. Could not understand why I could not see a shared dvd from the other mac.

MacGruber, over a year ago
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Pardon me but the apple.com links just go to apple.com/downloads now.

Seems similar to: enable Windows sharing in Tiger, and then enable DVD drive sharing on Dell in drive properties.

Gaurav, over a year ago
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m running a MacBook Pro 10.5 Leapord & have Tost as Disk Burning App. the SuperDrive has had gone bad….

Gaurav, over a year ago
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Hey Brother, can You tell me if I would be able Burn Disk using this “Remote Disk”....?

dino-mite, over a year ago
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Didnt work for me :(

HÃ¥vard Pedersen, over a year ago
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Thanks to your incredibly crappy copy-script, it is not possible to copy command lines from this website. Which is REALLY nice for a site which gives terminal instructions like thi.s

rajubad, over a year ago
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thanks a lot man. its been ages i was trying to figure out a way to install windows using boot camp on my macbook pro(super drive gone with the wind). finally i would say its gonna be possible with your instructions. Infact i wasnt even aware of this remote sharing software included in my Snow leopard install disk. thanks again.

Avid, over a year ago
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Looks like this enabled my MacBook Pro to see the remote disc.  However I still cannot get it to show up as a bootable disk upon starting up MacOs with Option (Alt) key, it only shows Hardrive.  Did anyone figure this out?

MikeD, over a year ago
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You just helped end days of aggravation for me simply trying to upgrade OSX with a broken optical drive.  I don’t know what the help those two commands are all about or why the HELL they are needed and I don’t know how you figured that out… but THANK YOU!  THANK YOU! and… THANK YOU!!

Christos, over a year ago
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I can’t get it to show up as a bootable disc when I restart my laptop. It just shows my hard drive, not the remote disc, which is the installer disc.

Dirkus, over a year ago
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You rock. I was trying to enable remote disk usage on my OSX netbook, and your guide fixed me right up. Thanks!

call, over a year ago
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It still doesn’t work on my macbook air. the remote disc screen is empty

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