Using Remote Disc on non-MacBook Air machines

September 27th, 2009 § 1 comment

Just a quick tip on how to use the “Remote Disc” capabilities on any Mac that isn’t an Air. For some reason Apple will let you share a drive but not read it over the network unless you’re on an Air. Yet another quirk from Cupertino. In any case, the solution is easy.

Open up Terminal and run these two commands to update your settings. If you’re afraid of Terminal, just copy and paste these. Trust me, they’re harmless.

defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser EnableODiskBrowsing -bool true
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser ODSSupported -bool true

Then open up Activity Monitor and force quit Finder. It will automatically restart. Open up a Finder window and marvel at the glory of sharing an OS X install disc over the network. Particularly handy when your MacBook Pro won’t read a disc.

I’m off to install Snow Leopard on my home/studio MacBook Pro. Over the wireless. Why does this sound like a bad idea? Hmm….

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§ One Response to Using Remote Disc on non-MacBook Air machines

  • Ashley says:
    February 4, 2010 at 12:20 am

    Hello,

    I’m trying to do the same thing, install Snow Leopard on my mac book pro using remote install, but when i reboot the macs disconnect and my macbook pro that has a busted disk drive just boots normally. Did you have any luck trying to use remote install??

    Ashley