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andresm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I have a macbook pro with no optical cdrom drive(mistake from my buyer) and right now i need it to install leopard, the question:

Can i go to a normal(no mac store) hardware store and buy and install a standart laptop cdrom or do i need to do it in a mac store?
 
I'm sorry, I'm confused. Did your mbp come with Tiger and doesn't have the Leopard DVD?

Or, does your mbp lack the optical drive, because that sounds impossible (it would literally involve tearing the computer apart). 😕
 
I'm sorry, I'm confused. Did your mbp come with Tiger and doesn't have the Leopard DVD?

Or, does your mbp lack the optical drive, because that sounds impossible (it would literally involve tearing the computer apart). 😕
Oh goodie.
 
Another Mac or a FireWire optical drive would work.

I am aware of the TDM option but i have no way to get a firewire cable since there are no mac stores in my country, so to save future problems i need to buy an internal cdrom drive.
 
I am aware of the TDM option but i have no way to get a firewire cable since there are no mac stores in my country, so to save future problems i need to buy an internal cdrom drive.
FireWire cables aren't just a Mac thing...
 
I'm sorry, I'm confused. Did your mbp come with Tiger and doesn't have the Leopard DVD?

Or, does your mbp lack the optical drive, because that sounds impossible (it would literally involve tearing the computer apart). 😕

My mbp didnt come with optical dvdrom drive, its an accessory and my silly buyer didnt pick it up.
 
Oh goodie.
😕
I am aware of the TDM option but i have no way to get a firewire cable since there are no mac stores in my country, so to save future problems i need to buy an internal cdrom drive.

I think if you were to find one, it would involve a great deal of trouble. I'm still confused though...just how did the drive fail? Is there Applecare on the notebook still? Maybe you ought to look into having Apple repair it.

My mbp didnt come with optical dvdrom drive, its an accessory and my silly buyer didnt pick it up.
Yes it did. Every single mbp ever made has come with a DVD burner/reader.
 
😕


I think if you were to find one, it would involve a great deal of trouble. I'm still confused though...just how did the drive fail? Is there Applecare on the notebook still? Maybe you ought to look into having Apple repair it.


Yes it did. Every single mbp ever made has come with a DVD burner/reader.

Yes, there is apple care on the notebook, and i dont know the reason why the drive isnt there, i am more towards looking a solution for it =(
 
Yes, there is apple care on the notebook, and i dont know the reason why the drive isnt there, i am more towards looking a solution for it =(

Ok, so I need a picture. I have to see this macbook pro that lacks an optical drive.

Secondly, if there's Applecare, send it in and get the drive repaired/replaced. You'll need the seller to explain to you why it's not there however, as Apple will want to know (as do the rest of us). If it's there but doesn't work, Apple will repair it. If it was forcefully removed, you're out of luck and will have to go with an external USB/Firewire (whatever you can find) drive.
 
Can you elaborate more on this?

The drive isnt there, never was, there is a cover for the hole.

Stolen? maybe , but i really dont want to find out more about the issue, dvd drives are cheap, if i can get a new one in a (non mac) hardware store to install leopard asap would be great =)
 
The drive isnt there, never was, there is a cover for the hole.

Stolen? maybe , but i really dont want to find out more about the issue, dvd drives are cheap, if i can get a new one in a (non mac) hardware store to install leopard asap would be great =)

Well I hope the seller didn't charge you too much for a mbp without an optical drive!

I think your best option in this case then is to go with the Firewire/USB external drive. I'm sure you can find one pretty easily (almost all electronics/computer stores carry them).
 
Ok, so I need a picture. I have to see this macbook pro that lacks an optical drive.

Secondly, if there's Applecare, send it in and get the drive repaired/replaced. You'll need the seller to explain to you why it's not there however, as Apple will want to know (as do the rest of us). If it's there but doesn't work, Apple will repair it. If it was forcefully removed, you're out of luck and will have to go with an external USB/Firewire (whatever you can find) drive.

So if it was forcefully removed i cant buy/install a new one at an apple store? i dont want external drives. =(
 
The drive isnt there, never was, there is a cover for the hole.

Stolen? maybe , but i really dont want to find out more about the issue, dvd drives are cheap, if i can get a new one in a (non mac) hardware store to install leopard asap would be great =)
I'd check one last time in System Profiler before giving up on the optical drive.

Any external one will work fine.

So if it was forcefully removed i cant buy/install a new one at an apple store? i dont want external drives. =(
If you're able to find an Apple Store or reseller that can get one.
 
So if it was forcefully removed i cant buy/install a new one at an apple store? i dont want external drives. =(

You can buy one, but the installation will be quite expensive. For the price, I would much rather go with the external.
 
I'd check one last time in System Profiler before giving up on the optical drive.

Any external one will work fine.

If you're able to find an Apple Store or reseller that can get one.


OMG this is what the profiler says:

Firmware Revision: AP09
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: No

So the drive is there? i am very confused now because there is no external side for it there is just a hole.
 
The MacBook Pro uses a slot load optical drive - it does not have a tray that extends

Here is the Apple manual for this machine http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_Pro_Users_Guide.pdf

yes, the "hole" is your optical drive. just pop in any cd/dvd
not AN Y CD/DVD -- do not insert a mini-sized CD or a business card CD. Use only the full size CDs/DVDs in any slot load mechanism. Non-standard sized media will jam in the drive.
 

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OMG now i see that i needed to put the dvd in the hole =P, i swear i never saw this kind of uber mechanism for a drive, first time, so tough it was just a hole.

And i am a tech savy guy. How retarded i am? from 1 - 10 =P

The MacBook Pro uses a slot load optical drive - it does not have a tray that extends

Here is the Apple manual for this machine

not AN Y CD/DVD -- do not insert a mini-sized CD or a business card CD. Use only the full size CDs/DVDs in any slot load mechanism. Non-standard sized media will jam in the drive.

Thanks i was just going to put a mini cd. =P
 
And i am a tech savy guy. How retarded i am? from 1 - 10 =P

Not really bad -- you have just never been exposed to a machine with a slot loading mechanism.

But it would probably be worth your while to read through the manual -- if your experience is mainly with older or Windows based machines, you would benefit from some familiarization with what is different about the Mac,

Also, there is a lot of information here in the Guides section, under the Guides tab at the top of this window.

Apple has may tutorial videos linked from their home page, and if you are new to OSX, they have a section of the site for switchers.

I'm going to add the one, most important hint for new OSX users:
Do not move, rename or delete any folder that OSX creates automatically. This includes the System folder, the Library folders, and the User folders. Renaming a user folder will make all of your documents music and movies disappear. Do not rename the User folders.
 
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