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Any easy way to get DVD player to work on ext. drive?

NC MacGuy

NC MacGuy

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 9, 2005
6,233
0
The good side of the grass.
Okay so I did the optibay & SSD thingy a few months ago on my MBP and then the MBA Superdrive mod. so I can use the MBA SD w. my MBP. All that works peachy, hardware-wise anyhow.....

Now for the rub:
I've looked a fair bit and can't seem to find any way remotely easy to use the Apple DVD Player app. with my SD & optibayed MBP. VLC works but it isn't nearly as elegant or easy to use. I've scabbed up two loadings of Snow Leopard trying to replace frameworks/DVD files to get this to work. Interesting that the MBA can use DVD Player with the modified SD & all other computers w. an attached optical can use DVD Player too.

Has anyone been able to hack this easily? The only thing I can find is Macbidouille did an Hex edit of the framework/dvd file but there's quite a bit lost in translation. This should be the same problem any ext. DVD player has.

Any help is appreciated.
 
All good, I miss crap all of the time. :) But since it will also affect me in the long run when I buy my MBP, have you tried that method and if so, care to explain how?
 
jessica. said:
All good, I miss crap all of the time. :) But since it will also affect me in the long run when I buy my MBP, have you tried that method and if so, care to explain how?
Click to expand...

I believe if your running Snow Leopard you will not have to do the binary hack. Apparently SL DVD player can be used both internally and externally.
 
Well if it's that easy and that works then you're awesome!

Edit: I believe the OP is running SL. I could be wrong.
 
Thanks. Been to both those places. The French site refers to editing files but doesn't give any explanation that I can make sense of and the DVD Patch is way old and not viable for SL.

It would be nice if there was even a decent third-party DVD Player app. but nothing I can find for my cheap ass.:eek:

Bear Hunter said:
I believe if your running Snow Leopard you will not have to do the binary hack. Apparently SL DVD player can be used both internally and externally.
Click to expand...

You're mistaken. Can't run it with an ext. drive without some sort of hack - hardware or software. Tried three different drives and like I said, corrupted two SL loads trying. They were all USB drives and work in every way but DVD Player.
 
NC MacGuy said:
Thanks. Been to both those places. The French site refers to editing files but doesn't give any explanation that I can make sense of and the DVD Patch is way old and not viable for SL.

It would be nice if there was even a decent third-party DVD Player app. but nothing I can find for my cheap ass.:eek:
Click to expand...

Instructions in post #6. The path to find "DVDplayer" should be in the link.

Are you saying that your using Snow Leopard and the DVD app does not work on external dvd drive?
 
I'm with you, I would never pay for a DVD player app. VLC has always been fairly nice to me but I like the auto-launch of the DVD app.
 
Make a backup of "DVDplayer" file from the following path:

/System/Library/Frameworks/DVDPlayback.framework/Versions/A

Open hex editor and follow instructions in post #6 and see if it works. I believe the SL DVDplayer file has more than 4 instances of "internal". If it doesn't work overwrite the hacked file with the copy you backed up and reboot, you haven't lost anything.
 
Or you could run these terminal commands:

On a MacBook Air this little preference code is already enabled. On other Macs this isn’t the case. Open up Terminal and type the following two lines, press return after each one. There will be no confirmation from Terminal when you have finished. From MacRumors.


defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser EnableODiskBrowsing -bool true
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser ODSSupported -bool true
Click to expand...

These commands allow non Macbook Airs to use the remote CD feature. Maybe try this and see if your DVD app works with an external dvd drive before you do the hack.

I used the above commands on a Netbook that I have Snow Leopard running on and it does work. I don't have an external dvd drive, or I would be able to tell you which option worked:

abnoqr.png
 
Bear Hunter said:
Or you could run these terminal commands:



These commands allow non Macbook Airs to use the remote CD feature. Maybe try this and see if your DVD app works with an external dvd drive before you do the hack.

I used the above commands on a Netbook that I have Snow Leopard running on and it does work. I don't have an external dvd drive, or I would be able to tell you which option worked:
Click to expand...

Nope, doesn't work. Same error I've been getting:
 

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Just make a copy of the file and save it in a document folder before you hack it. That way you can always overwrite the hacked file with the original and you'll be back to where you started.

Once you do it...do a reboot and let me know.
 
I just looked at the help file for the dvd player on SL. I wonder why it says this? :confused:

1rau6w.jpg


Have you tried reinstalling DVD player app from SL DVD?
 
Tried the Hex editor route again. I just get pure fail instead of error code like before:

Screen shot 2009-10-17 at 4.40.52 PM.png

The problem with DVD Player & Apples blurb is you need an onboard DVD player to use DVD Player w. an ext. DVD player - unless you're using an Air. So they aren't exactly lying but they are massaging the truth to happy ending.... the key words are "has a DVD drive...."
 
There has to be a terminal command to enable the DVD player, if it works on a MBA. Go ahead and replace the DVDplayer file with the one you backed up. I'll do some searching and see what I can find.
 
But I've used an external modded SD on my air (the MB Air SD modded to work on any mac) and it launched the DVD player. I didn't think the Air needed a hack.
 
Bear Hunter said:
There has to be a terminal command to enable the DVD player, if it works on a MBA. Go ahead and replace the DVDplayer file with the one you backed up. I'll do some searching and see what I can find.
Click to expand...

GREAT SUCCESS!! Long story short is you can't get this done easy and it appears the Hex editor is the only way around it. This will be my second week trying replacing files, reloading SL, trying to find other players, rebooting, playing w. Hex editor, reloading SL.....

jessica. said:
But I've used an external modded SD on my air (the MB Air SD modded to work on any mac) and it launched the DVD player. I didn't think the Air needed a hack.
Click to expand...

It will work fine w. my MBA too. That isn't the problem. I wanted my MBA SD to work on my optibayed MBP. Hack hardware on MBA SD, hack software on MBP seems to be only solution.

This has been quite an exercise but now I've got the X25 160 G2 as main drive, WD Scorpio Blue 500 as secondary and a working MBA SD for when I need an optical. I IZ happy!! Next operation is to remove glass and replace w. a MBA bezel.

Thanks for your help jessica. & Bear Hunter.:eek:

I am now watching Larry and as expected, screen shots won't work!
 

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