Reinstalling Leopard on MBP with faulty DVD-drive

[mongobongo]

Hello,

I have a MBP 2,2 GHz, with a faulty DVD-drive. It wont read any discs, simply ejects them after spinning around for a while. The metal around the DVD-slot is slightly bent out of shape, as if too much pressure has been applied on the right side of the palmrest, just above the slot.

I don´t really need the drive but I am running in to problems now that I want a fresh install of Leopard. I have thought of two possible solutions, however, I am uncertain of both, and am looking for some general advice on what to do.

I have access to other Apple machines with functional drives and I also have an external FireWire 400 HD. The Leopard DVD that I have is retail and didn't come bundled with any of the machines. So what I'm thinking is this:

1. Either I run the DVD from one of the other macs using the "Remote Install Mac OS X" app in the utilities folder. Does anybody know if this will work? Is this option limited to Macbook Airs without a DVD-drive?

2. I'm also thinking I should make a disc image of the DVD and somehow run it from the external FireWire HD. Is that possible?


Someone please advise, what are my options here?

 

[BlueRevolution]

1. Either I run the DVD from one of the other macs using the "Remote Install Mac OS X" app in the utilities folder. Does anybody know if this will work? Is this option limited to Macbook Airs without a DVD-drive?

I believe you need a MacBook Air to use that feature, yes.

2. I'm also thinking I should make a disc image of the DVD and somehow run it from the external FireWire HD. Is that possible?

This is the way to go. If you can fully erase the FireWire drive, just open Disk Utility in your other computer, click on your FireWire drive, then click the "Restore" tab. Drag the icon for your install DVD from the left sidebar into the "Source" box and the icon for your FireWire hard drive into the "Destination" box. Check "Erase destination", then click Restore. Now you should be able to boot to this drive by holding option while your MacBook Pro boots.

 

[drichards]

1. Either I run the DVD from one of the other macs using the "Remote Install Mac OS X" app in the utilities folder. Does anybody know if this will work? Is this option limited to Macbook Airs without a DVD-drive?

2. I'm also thinking I should make a disc image of the DVD and somehow run it from the external FireWire HD. Is that possible?

1) That won't work, its for Macbook Air only.
2) Good plan. Leopard DVD takes to image very easily. Rip it, take it into Disk Utility, and use Restore option to put it on a drive that's at least 8GB. I have mine on a flash stick right now, but a FW hdd is a much better and faster option.

If the DVD drive accepts a disc when you're not booted into the OS, its likely not so broken. The OS can become corrupted and lose ability to play nice with the DVD drive, its happened to mine before.

 

[mongobongo]

1) That won't work, its for Macbook Air only.
2) Good plan. Leopard DVD takes to image very easily. Rip it, take it into Disk Utility, and use Restore option to put it on a drive that's at least 8GB. I have mine on a flash stick right now, but a FW hdd is a much better and faster option.

If the DVD drive accepts a disc when you're not booted into the OS, its likely not so broken. The OS can become corrupted and lose ability to play nice with the DVD drive, its happened to mine before.

Are you saying that DVD drive functionality might come back once I reinstall the system?

What do you mean by "not booted into the OS"? That would be when the computer is turned off. Or do you mean at the login screen for example?


Thanks for all replys so far everybody.