[OsakaBill]

Is this my drive, my OS, or my software?

I ordered a CD Cyclone CD Revo 12x10x32 FireWire CD-R/RW drive from the US. I chose this drive because the price was fair (but not great), I had seen a reference and recommendation for the drive on MacFixIt (it works with iTunes out of the box), and this brand of drive comes sheathed in plastics that match Apple's current product color schemes.

I bought the CD-R/RW drive for a couple of reasons. The first was to make a complete back up of my Macs. While I have copied and transferred files from Mac to Mac using ethernet, I'd like to be able to reinstall my software on a new hard disk without having to put the old hard disk in another Mac to make such a transfer. And what if the hard disk goes bad? I also wanted to be able to make music CDs using iTunes--Rip, Mix, Burn and all that. Additionally, I thought handing out CD-ROMS of my iMovies may be better than trying to mail video tapes to everyone.

When I got the CD-R/RW drive I followed the instructions for attaching the FireWire drive to my iMac (OS 9.0.4). I put a blank CD-R disk in the drive, but the disk did not appear on the desktop. I placed a standard CD-ROM in the drive, but the disk did no appear on the desktop. I launched iTunes, but it reported that a CD Burner and/or Software could not be found.

I installed Adaptic Toast 4.1.1. After installing this software and restarting my iMac DV+, I could use the CD-R/RW drive to some extent. Blank CD-Rs and standard CD-ROMs would not mount on the desktop. iTunes still did not acknowledge the drive. Adaptic Toast, however, found the drive without any problem. After a bit of tinkering and experimenting, I had burned a OS 9.0.4 System Back Up CD and an Emergency Boot CD with OS and Utilities.

iTunes was easy enough to explain. With version 1.1 of the MP3 software, iTunes will not install any of the "Authoring Support" files unless your Mac's OS is 9.1 or higher. The other problems were not so easy to explain.

I decided to upgrade to OS 9.1 so I downloaded the installer. I performed all of the necessary JLK hoop jumping to install OS 9.1 from download. Eventually OS 9.1 was up and running with the JLK and all of my 3rd Party Extensions.

Using Tome Viewer, I then opened the Disk Burner Tome and extracted the Disk Burner application, the Disk Burner Extension, and Finder 9.1.1. (If it does not detect an Apple CD-RW drive, Disk Burner won't install.) After dragging these items to their proper places, I launched the iTunes 1.1 installer. This installer dutifully informed me that because I had OS 9.1 or higher, I could install the "Authoring Support" files; however, installing these files could render other CD burning software--SUCH AS ADAPTIC TOAST--unusable. Therefore, before proceeding, I moved my Adaptic Toast Extensions into the "Disabled" folder. I then proceeded with the iTunes install.

When I rebooted my iMac DV+, things seemed to be going fine. I placed a standard CD-ROM in my CD Revo 12x10x32 FireWire CD-R/RW drive and it mounted on the Desktop just fine. I then inserted a blank CD-R into the drive. After a bit of spinning, I was greeted with a Disk Format window. As with floppies, I could specify a name as well as a format--650 MB Mac OS HFS+, iTunes Audio CD, MP3 Audio CD. The disk then mounted on the Desktop. I then launched iTunes and it dutifully found the CD-R/RW drive and asked me to insert a blank CD-R. Cool.

I then tried to use Adaptic Toast. Unfortunately, it could not find an CD-R/RW devices. I was not completely surprised as I had disabled the Toast Extensions. So I used the Extension Manager to create a an Extension set for iTunes & Disk Burner (Toast Extensions disabled), one for Toast (iTunes Extensions disabled), one for Dual Burning and one with No Burning.

With the iTunes & Disk Burner set active, blank CD-Rs and CD-ROMs mount on the desktop without a problem. iTunes recognizes the drive without a problem. The Disk Burner application will not launch, however, it can be chosen from the "Special" Menu (Burn CD) or files can be simply dragged to the blank CD-R. However, Adaptic Toast cannot find the CD-R/RW drive.

With the Adaptic Toast set active, blank CD-Rs and CD-ROMs do not mount on the desktop at all. iTunes will not recognize the drive and reports that a CD Burner and/or Software could not be found. Toast, however, has no problem finding the CD-R/RW drive. I can burn CDs without a problem. Well, almost no problem. This version of Toast is not savvy enough to burn a couple of Gigs of data over several CD-Rs.

With the Dual Burning set active, iTunes and Disk Burner work fine as above. Unfortunately, disks do not always mount on the Desktop. Worse, Toast will not find the CD Revo 12x10x32 FireWire CD-R/RW drive. But this is not entirely unexpected.

Naturally, with the No Burning set active, nothing works.

The really confusing point is with Retrospect Express 4.2. No matter the Extension set active, Retrospect Express will not recognize the CD-R/RW drive. After spending $30 to upgrade to Retrospect Express 4.3, the situation is not much improved.

With the iTunes Extension set active, choosing Configure-> Devices produces the error message no back-up devices found. Clicking on the Device Status button brings up a blank window.

With the Toast Extension set active, choosing Configure-> Devices produces the error message no back-up devices found. Clicking on the Device Status button brings up a window which does show the FireWire drive on ID #1.

With the Dual Burning set active, choosing Configure-> Devices produces the error message no back-up devices found. Clicking on the Device Status button brings up a blank window.

With the No Burning set active, choosing Configure-> Devices produces the error message no back-up devices found. Clicking on the Device Status button brings up a blank window.

So what is the deal with Retrospect Express?

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Resistance Is Futile--Think Different

[elzinat]

I do not use Retrospect, so I can't help you there, but just to clarify a few things:
-with Toast 4.x, to mount a CD-ROM, open the program and select "Mount CD-ROM" from the Recorder menu (or type command-M). In Toast 5 Titanium, it has a feature to automatically mount a CD-ROM on insertion.
-Toast never has "mounted a CD-R," and DiscBurner does not either. It just looks like it . Basically, DiscBurner's function is the same as if you open Toast, select "Create Temporary Partition," and then burn a CD from that partition as a Mac Volume or ISO 9660 disk. DiscBurner just makes it look "integrated." This is why you cannot burn with DiscBurner if you have less than 650MB free HD space. (meanwhile Toast can read files off your HD without needing to duplicate every single one-much more intelligent)

[WillyB]

Quote from OsakaBill:
"Is this my drive, my OS, or my software?"

According to Dantz's website, the answer is your DRIVE. Apparently, they support the USB interface for your drive, but do not support the FireWire interface. Check it out at: http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCRE...ity_list#CD-RW

Don't feel bad... (well o.k. feel bad, so do I) I purchased an EZQuest Boa FireWire CD-RW 16x10x40 to perform mostly backups too! Well guess what? My drive is not supported by Retrospect either. Hopefully the next update will have a better list of driver support for both of our drives. But, I am currently 'burnt' by the whole deal, just as I'm sure you are too! Come on Dantz! let's get this fixed, will ya'!