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Authorize DP7 or AudioDesk3 without an optical disk drive

Previous versions of AudioDesk and Digital Performer (version 7 or earlier), requires the original installer disk to be inserted in your computer's disk drive for authorization. Keep in mind, Digital Performer 8 does not rely on disk-based authorization.

If your computer does not have a built-in disk drive, you can still install and authorize your MOTU software with a disk. Here are two options:

  • Use an external optical drive
  • Connect your computer to second (host) computer via FireWire, (or a ThunderBolt to FireWire adapter), and boot your computer in target disk mode.

To set up your computer to boot in target disk mode, use the following procedure:

  1. Link the primary Mac (the computer you want to authorize DP or AD) to a secondary Mac that has an optical drive using a FireWire cable.
  2. Power down the primary Mac and power it back up while holding down the "T" key.
  3. The primary Mac will show a floating FireWire icon on the screen once it has finished booting in Target Disk Mode - it should now be accessible as a hard drive on the secondary Mac.
  4. On the secondary Mac, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk. Choose the primary Mac's hard drive and click "Restart".
  5. The secondary Mac will reboot using the hard drive of the primary Mac.
  6. At this point, you should be able to open Digital Performer 7.24 or AudioDesk 3.21, insert the installer disk in the secondary computer's disk drive and install the application/run the authorization normally.
  7. Once the authorization goes through, you may shut down both computers and restart them normally.

Here is an another resource to refer to, with details on how to boot your computer in Target Mode.

For further information on authorizing Digital Performer or AudioDesk, make sure to read this TechNote.