# LulzBot Mini shared by a Mac Mini

**URL:** <https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870>\
**Category:** Software\
**Created:** [August 17, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870 "2016-08-17T23:17:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lucascolin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/lucascolin/32/9483_2.png) [@lucascolin](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/lucascolin)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870/1 "2016-08-17T23:17:51Z")

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Hi All,

I just got a refurbished Mini from IT-Works (Thanks Ben). I have a mac mini I use as a media server that is located near the resting place of the LulzBot Mini and I am wondering if there is a way to network the printer so I can print to it from my macbook pro. I have read people are using raspberry pi’s to enable printing without a computer connected but I am not finding much on networking a mini.

thanks for the help,  
Luke

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**Author:** ![piercet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/piercet/32/12_2.png) [@piercet](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/piercet)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870/2 "2016-08-17T23:36:58Z")

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You’ll want to read up on Octoprint and Astroprint to see how to do that. There are some printable raspberry pi cases out there that will fit a Mini side panel. Basically you plug the Mini usb cable into the raspberry pi running octoprint, then plug a network cable into it, and access your printer controls as a web page service.

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**Author:** ![adambyram](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/adambyram/32/9126_2.png) [@adambyram](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/adambyram)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870/3 "2016-08-18T01:43:01Z")

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I’d strongly suggest investing in a Raspberry Pi 3 and using OctoPi on that (very easy to setup), but if you really want to use the Mac Mini, you can actually run OctoPrint directly on OSX/macOS. There are quite a few steps, but it’s documented here [https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint/wiki/Setup-on-Mac](https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint/wiki/Setup-on-Mac) if you really want to try it. It should work fine with the Mac Mini, but much less of a hassle on a Raspberry Pi.

- Adam

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**Author:** ![lucascolin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/lucascolin/32/9483_2.png) [@lucascolin](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/lucascolin)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870/4 "2016-08-18T02:42:36Z")

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thanks guys. I may just start by installing CURA on the mini and remote desktop into the machine. If its not smooth enough ill go the raspberry pi rout.

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**Author:** ![kingjamie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@kingjamie](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/kingjamie)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/lulzbot-mini-shared-by-a-mac-mini/3870/5 "2016-08-25T19:16:22Z")

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You should be able to use built-in screen sharing features of macOS instead of having to buy extra hardware.