So, this is going to be a Mac OS X tip in the form of a quiz… MacGyver style.
The Scenario
You have too craptastic TiBook’s that you are in the process of wiping clean and reinstalling the OS on. One is just about to finish the install, and the other one is finishing up disk 1 or 4 disks.
As laptop 1 finishes, you notice a strange buzzing noise coming from the CD-ROM of laptop 2, and after some fiddling you realize that the CD-ROM has died. Laptop 2 is asking you to insert disk 2 of the install, but of course you can’t now since the CD-ROM she be dead.
You have exactly 2 hours to get both of these machines ready for field deployment; there is not time or money for replacing the CD-ROM and there is no time to start the install over… you have to continue from where you left off.
Your resources
Apart from the two laptops you have an iSight and an iPod, and all the accessories that they would usually come with. The question now is, how do you finish the install on laptop 2?
This happened to me today, and by the time I left the office at 12:00 I had the OS on both laptops, ready to go. How did I do it?
Depending on a number of factors, there may be a prize for the winner…
Stroll on over and visit Daniel Nicolas
March 1, 2007
There are two ways to solve the situation.
use the ipod as a firewire HD, make disc images of the cds, install as such, using the laptop tha just finished as a tool to do this. you could mount the discs on the
or you could call MacGyver and he’d bring the ductape and then you’d be set.
I wish i knew more about computers…
Stroll on over and visit Russ
March 1, 2007
Well, this is how I would do it. You finish up your install on laptop one. If you have an iSight, then you have a firewire cable. So after the good laptop is done with its install, I’d the restart the good TiBook in target disk mode and then plug it into the defective one. That would give access to the good one’s optical drive and you can complete your install from there. Am I close?
Stroll on over and visit Tony
March 1, 2007
You could also use the FireWire cable from the iSight and transfer the OS from the working TiBook to the busted one.
Stroll on over and visit Andy Z
March 1, 2007
You sent a laptop with a bum CD drive out into the field?
Stroll on over and visit Dat Nguyen
March 1, 2007
Since you finished TiBook install, you could put the unfinished laptop in target disk mode and copy your whole installation over to it. Unix-y things just work nice that way!
Stroll on over and visit Emile
March 1, 2007
OOOooooooooooooo….
First you’ll need a paperclip, a shoelace, a stick of gum, a mirror, and shredded paper
OR
I would think you can do one of two things: you can copy all of the files from an installation CD to an ipod as a hard drive and then attach to the busted computer. Doing so would likely require Firewire Target Disk Mode. And having said that, it would likely be better to finish installingthe OS on the first laptop and then mounting the discs, one by one, in the working laptop while it is in target disk mode to the busted laptop, using a firewire cable included with the isight. You could be listening to the ipod while you do it ;-)
Stroll on over and visit willisadair
March 1, 2007
You could always record a movie with the isight of the dead cd-rom, play it (or better yet podcast it) on the working computer after you finish installing the os on it. After you have that done play the MacGuyver theme song on your ipod, then use the paperclip, shoelace, stick of gum, mirror, and shredded paper to create a working wack-em stick (TM) to beat up anyone who didn’t appreciate your ingenuity!
If anyone gets smart then use the duct tape!
Stroll on over and visit Chris Morrell
March 1, 2007
I don’t know if those laptops have blue tooth, but if they happen to have blue tooth then simply transfer a disc image from one laptop to the other. Otherwise just do what the two above have said, use iPod as a huge thumb drive.
Stroll on over and visit Chris Lloyd
March 1, 2007
Ok, two options. Both involving iSight. I’m not going to have any of this “I’m too cool for the old school, I like bootable disk images and firewire transfer crap.”
1.) Translate the binary numbers into a [large] sequence of black and white screens on laptop 1. Plug the iSight into laptop 2 and point it at the screen of laptop 1 and leave to interpret the signals and make a copy of the cd. It’ll be over before you can say “Patty and Selma”.
2.) Use screen of laptop 2 to cast different wavelengths of colour onto the cd. Use the iSight on laptop 2 to record the data the data. Write a program in Matlab on your Windows machine which will analyse the interference pattern produced by the varying wavelengths refracted off the surface of the cd and reproduce the data on the cd. Voila! Easy as homemade lemon pie.
Now, a slightly more serious answer to the question is finish the intallation on laptop 1 (the part that needs cd’s) and then swap the laptops’ hard drives. You could have then used the optical drive on laptop 1 to add information to hard drive 2, and finished off the installation of hard drive 1 on laptop 2. If that made sense. Which it does to me.
Hey, can you tell I’m an engineer?
Stroll on over and visit Feaverish
March 1, 2007
Connect via Target Disk Mode and use Disk Utility to Restore the incomplete installation laptop’s hard drive from the complete installation laptop’s drive.
Stroll on over and visit Chris J. Davis
March 1, 2007
Some fascinating answers already, my favorite is Paul's though… run dd over ssh, wow.
Hey Paul, is there a module for Apache d that would help me with this problem?
Stroll on over and visit Liz Strauss
March 1, 2007
Waiting to hear the answer. This is such a cool thread.
Stroll on over and visit Lara
March 1, 2007
Okay, so I’m not a mac user, but I found you via the wp forums and since this is your most recent post, decided it my duty to tell you that it’s spelled: MacGuyver
;)