Hi all, Cheryl posted another tip a year ago for a way to play DVDs on a Mac mini without attaching a monitor or connector cable:
http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40macvisionaries.com/msg12779.html Playing dvds on the mac mini Cheryl Homiak Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:14:42 -0800 Just thought some of you might like to know that it is possible to play a dvd on the mac mini without a monitor and without the adaptor that some on the list have described, though of course with the adaptor you are going to have a lot more access to features in some of the dvd players. I had a dvd I wanted to play; I put it in my mac mini and of course I got an initialization error from dvd player because no video source could be found. So I went into terminal and did open -a /Applications.VLC.app /Volumes/MYDVD (though I'm sure you could do this by opening in finder also. to my amazement there was no error and the dvd began to play. for those of us who just want to listen to a dvd and don't need a lot of access to different tracks or features, this apparently will work. Cheers, Esther (P.S. Please note that the last link in my original post on special issues for Mac Minis regarding set up with a mouse attached should have been : http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40macvisionaries.com/msg24303.html This is Dan Keys' comments on setting up a mini) On June 25, 2008, at 10:46AM, Esther wrote: >Hi Jayson and others, > >Jayson's post about problems associated with the DVD player reminded me >that there have been special issues that have come up from posters with >Mac minis on this list -- usually, because they are running stripped down >setups. > >Here are two points that I've seen in the previous forum posts. Maybe someone >who has set up minis (Dan? Tim?) can comment on or add to this list: > >1) DVD functions look for a monitor. They don't require an actual monitor to >work, but they at least check for a connector that runs to a monitor. You can >buy a DVI connector for about $19 that lets the mini "think" it is connected >to a monitor. I believe this connector came as a default with earlier model >Apple laptops, and perhaps other machines. See Dan's post on Running a >Mac mini without a physical monitor: > >http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40macvisionaries.com/msg05738.html > >Also, if you want DVD writing capabilities in addition to playback you may >want to consider getting a SuperDrive (DVD read and write, as well as >CD read and write) instead of a Combo Drive (DVD read only; CD read and >write) at the time of purchase. This is true for any model Mac, but it's a >particular consideration for the Mac Mini because the standard configuration >with less hard drive space comes with the Combo drive (as Jayson pointed >out in another thread). This is a potential issue if you later want to use >some iLife apps like iMovie or iDVD to write DVDs, because not all functions >are fully supported for external burners, as Tim Kilburn noted in this post >about his experience with external DVD burners: > >http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40macvisionaries.com/msg28303.html > >2) Initial setup with VoiceOver may require that a USB mouse be plugged in. >See Dan's response to Cheryl's post about setting up a new Mac mini from >December. By default, the system will look for a mouse: > >http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40macvisionaries.com/msg05738.html > >I don't own a mini, so this is just a summary of issues that I've seen >mentioned >while reading the list. I've provided links to the original posts so that you >can >read these in detail. > >I've retitled the subject of this thread to reflect the change in content. > >Cheers, > >Esther > >On June 24, 2008, at 07:17PM, Jayson Smith wrote: >>Hi all, >> >> Here's an interesting one which you may want to hang on to in case you >> ever need it. I told you about the initialization error I was having with >> Apple's DVD player. I downloaded and installed the Softcon DVD player and >> ran it. I'm sure what I'm about to say will also fix my error with the Apple >> DVD player. Here goes. >> >>When I ran the program, it told me something to the effect that there wasn't >>a supported graphics device. Now keep in mind, this is a Mac Mini, with no >>monitor. You guessed it... You need a monitor plugged in. Mind you, it >>doesn't have to be turned on, doesn't even need to be plugged into AC power, >>it just needs to be plugged into the computer. Someone should really make a >>'fake monitor' plug you can just plug into your computer that makes it think >>there's a real monitor there. That would let you carry it around, etc. and >>not have to also carry a monitor if you wanted to watch DVD's. >>Jayson >> >> > > >
