CompuServe Thread

#Mac HFS & ISO 9660 ??

9 messages in this thread
#50719From: Catherine WinchesterJun 16, 1993 8:29 PM
What if I want to create a disc that is for both Mac and Windows that must SHARE about 600 Mb of Quicktime movies? Is it possible to run a Macromind Director program (mac) on an ISO 9660 disc? Can we create a disc that has both HFS and ISO but have the Director program access the QT movies from the ISO partition? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
#50776From: Matt Seitz (Meridian DatJun 17, 1993 6:18 PM
OK, I'll take them one at a time: 1. Yes, you can store any Macintosh data or program file, including both the data and the resource fork, on an ISO 9660 disc. This is how I recommend you make a disc that you want to run on both Mac and PC. 2. It is possible to have both an HFS directory tree and an ISO directory tree pointing at the same physical file. However, this is very tricky to do right. It's usually much easier to record two copies of any file that needs to be accessed by both the Mac and the PC. One copy will be pointed to by the HFS directory tree, and the other copy will be pointed to by the ISO tree 3. Normally if a disc has both an HFS directory tree and an ISO directory tree, the Macintosh will only access the HFS directory tree. I've seen an ad from a comany called FWB that says they have a driver that will allow a Mac to read both the HFS and the ISo directory tree from the same disc. I don't know how well this works. I strongly recommend that disc publishers just use ISO 9660. In my opinion, the dificulties in recording an HFS directory tree outweigh the advantages. You either end up cutting your storage space in half, or run the risk of introducing subtle bugs into your CD. Another problem with HFS CD-ROMs is they are Mac System version specific. HFS CD-ROMs that were mastered under System 6 have problems running under System 7. You have to got through a tricky set of procedures to produce an HFS directory tree that is both System 6 and System 7 compatible.
#50785From: SyndesisJun 17, 1993 8:48 PM
Can you expand on point #1? I assume you're talking about "associated files"… which premastering packages support this? I would like to be able to make pure ISO-9660 discs that properly represent forked Mac files when accessed from a Mac. On the other hand, what are the prospects of someone accessing the "associated" file on the PC? (I can report that the Amiga can handle associated file discs… one of the software drivers lets you append a superscript-1 or superscript-2 to the filename, and it accesses the data or resource fork, respectively. By default on an HFS or associated file disc, it opens the data fork.)
#50846From: Matt Seitz (Meridian DatJun 18, 1993 6:36 PM
Yes, I am referring to associated files. Our Meridian Data CD PUBLISHER FOR MACINTOSH supports transferring Resource Forks to Associated Files. This allows you to produce pure ISO 9660 discs that properly represent the Data and Resource forks. PC's using MSCDEX cannot access Associated Files using standard DOS funtions. They would need to use MSCDEX functions. 1: So MSCDEX can open associated files? , using low-level hooks? 2: That's great news! 3: /Any chance I can use your sotwaftware with the Pinnacle CD-R? 4: /post
#50894From: SyndesisJun 19, 1993 11:37 AM
So MSCDEX can open associated files, using low-level hooks? That's great news! Any chance I can use your software with the Pinnacle CD-R?
#51104From: Matt Seitz (Meridian DatJun 22, 1993 2:18 PM
1. Depends on what you mean by "open". What you can do with MSCDEX commands is: A. Find out what Logical Sector Numbers the file is stored in. B. Read those Logical Sectors. So you can't "open" an associated file in the DOS sense of obtaining a file handle and then using DOS file commands that refer to that handle. With MSCDEX and Associated Files, you'll have to do some of the work that DOS (in conjunction with MSCDEX) does for you for ordinary files.
#51105From: Matt Seitz (Meridian DatJun 22, 1993 2:19 PM
Oops, forgot 2. 2. I don't have any experience with the Pinnacle or its software. From what I do know about it, you should be able to record a disc that you format with our software, but it would not be easy. 1: I see – you mean, make the ISO image a s a file with your sodffftware, 2: then use the PInnPiannnnacle's software to copy that ti o its drive. Sounds 3: reasonable to me, except for that part of the about the spare storage f 4: or an ISO image. 🙂 5: /post Message # 51123 posted
#50795From: Albert DayesJun 18, 1993 12:54 AM
In one of the Apple developer mags. They (Apple) has a suggestion on how to store MAC specific information under ISO-9660. Basically they just set up a special section in the system use fields.
#50847From: Matt Seitz (Meridian DatJun 18, 1993 6:37 PM
That's correct. We support the Mac System Use fields in our CD PUBLISHER FOR MACINTOSH.