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TonyRado · Apr 7, 2002, 05:28 PM

So far I've found two prior threads with ZERO responses. So, let's give it another try:

I have a CD that was burned on a PC which contains a 300 page pdf document. I REALLY need to be able to read it, but when I insert the disk into my Ti, X.1.3 says I can't recognize the format (or somesuch) and asks if I want to initialize it. Can anyone tell me how I can get my Mac to read this thing? Thanks!

goatnet · Apr 7, 2002, 05:59 PM

I've seen this before, have you tried just hitting "Continue" (without initializing it) and when the CD mounts, double clicking the icon to access it?

I had to do that with one cd before.

TonyRado · Apr 7, 2002, 06:02 PM

I did, but the CD never appeared on my desktop and I used the f12 key to eject it.

BTP · Apr 7, 2002, 06:07 PM

Have you checked to see that the CD works in a PC? I have not seen this behavior at all. I can always mount PC disks and have not had any problems.

If it does mount w/a PC, find what the format is, as I am curious to know.

TonyRado · Apr 7, 2002, 06:10 PM

hmm, good question. Well, I can tell you this. A friend burned it for me and then showed me it on the PC that he used to burn it. However, I haven't tried it on any "other" PC. I don't have one here, but I'll let you know tomorrow when I get to the office.

cheerios · Apr 7, 2002, 06:12 PM

Originally posted by BTP:
Have you checked to see that the CD works in a PC? I have not seen this behavior at all. I can always mount PC disks and have not had any problems.

If it does mount w/a PC, find what the format is, as I am curious to know.

[juan here]
Yeah, I have mounted a whole slue of CD that were burned on windows and never a problem.

yukon · Apr 7, 2002, 06:57 PM

try it in OS9. If it works there, then we have an OS X problem that needs to be fixed

TonyRado · Apr 7, 2002, 07:30 PM

Originally posted by yukon:
try it in OS9. If it works there, then we have an OS X problem that needs to be fixed

Should I enable Jouliet(sp?) in 9? er, I guess I could just boot in 9, see if it works, and if not than turn it on.

OverclockedHomoSapien · Apr 7, 2002, 07:47 PM

I mount Windows volumes on my Powermac all the time, in both OS X and OS 9, including both CD-R and Zip disks. Never had any problems at all.

If you can get the disk to mount on other Windows systems, then please let us know what format the disk is in. I'm interested to know myself, since this is a new behavior I've never witnessed before. Even if all the documents on a disk are platform specific, my Mac has always been able to mount the disk and show its contents.

If it does mount on another Windows system, then I'd just save it onto a new disk, zip or cd-r, and bring it home that way. Or even mail it if you have a fast enough connection.

chuckeroo · Apr 7, 2002, 08:29 PM

I have had many occurrances of this happening with pc disks in osx, even with discs that work in os9. I figured its one of those problems that will be fixed in later builds. I have put in words to apple feedback. Wish I had a solution, but you aren't alone Tony, hopefully this will be fixed sometime.

xdck · Apr 7, 2002, 08:43 PM

The problem MAY be related to packet writing. What's your friend using to burn the CD?

Anyway, you should be able to mount it using VirtualPC 5, as it overrides Apple drivers.

Drizzt · Apr 7, 2002, 10:26 PM

I mounted mini-CDs (those that only have 140Mb of Space) burned using packet write (under WinXP). I had no problems with that and saw the Access files on it (I know, Access suxx.. don't tell me..)

Person Man · Apr 8, 2002, 09:31 AM

If it's a CD that was burned using packet-writing, it won't work on the Mac.

Most people nowadays use Easy CD Creator 5 (the PC version of Toast) and its ability to read/write to CD-RW disks as though they were floppies. This is incompatible with the Macintosh, as we do not have packet-writing (or reading) capabilities.

Sophus · Apr 8, 2002, 10:13 AM

Originally posted by TonyRado:
So far I've found two prior threads with ZERO responses. So, let's give it another try:

I have a CD that was burned on a PC which contains a 300 page pdf document. I REALLY need to be able to read it, but when I insert the disk into my Ti, X.1.3 says I can't recognize the format (or somesuch) and asks if I want to initialize it. Can anyone tell me how I can get my Mac to read this thing? Thanks!

My guess is that your friend burned the CD with EasyCD Creator and used the DirectCD function. CDs burnt with this app is only readable by PCs with EasyCD creator and DirectCd installed. Its handy, but stupid...

Go to your friend and get a new CD burnt in a proper way.

Sophus

TonyRado · Apr 8, 2002, 10:17 AM

GoodMorning! OK, here's the deal. The disk works just fine on my W98 PeeCee at work. There are two folders on it: (1) contains a bunch of .pdf documents; (2) contains Acrobat Reader.

I can't really just call and ask the person who gave me the disk what program, hardware, etc., he used to burn it (he is trying to refer me this case, and I don't want to start getting into pute talk with him). Anyway, I haven't tried to boot in 9 yet, but as soon as I get a break in the next hour or two I'll give it a shot. Is there someway I can get more info about "how" it was created from the disk itself???

Brit Ben · Apr 8, 2002, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by TonyRado:
GoodMorning! OK, here's the deal. The disk works just fine on my W98 PeeCee at work. There are two folders on it: (1) contains a bunch of .pdf documents; (2) contains Acrobat Reader.

I can't really just call and ask the person who gave me the disk what program, hardware, etc., he used to burn it (he is trying to refer me this case, and I don't want to start getting into pute talk with him). Anyway, I haven't tried to boot in 9 yet, but as soon as I get a break in the next hour or two I'll give it a shot. Is there someway I can get more info about "how" it was created from the disk itself???

The other possibility:

This is a multisession disc that has not had the last session closed. This will present problems, and I had trouble with a disc of this kind last month. Drop it into a writer, and open the software, it will tell you if the disc is open or closed. If it is open, you should in theory be able to simply close the session, and close the disc. then it will mount on the mac.

Cheers,
Ben.

TonyRado · Apr 8, 2002, 11:12 AM

K, here's the deal. I could not get it to mount in 9, even after enabling the Jouliet extension. GRR!!! I've been planning on getting VPC5, so I guess this just gives me one "more" reason to do it.

btw, does anyone know why XP Pro costs about $130 for a regular PC license, but the Connectix OS Pack for XP Pro costs around $220!!! If I go with the regular PC license (and not the OS Pack) am I just "asking" for problems???

Thanks,
T.

Drizzt · Apr 8, 2002, 01:26 PM

K, here's the deal. I could not get it to mount in 9, even after enabling the Jouliet extension. GRR!!! I've been planning on getting VPC5, so I guess this just gives me one "more" reason to do it.

btw, does anyone know why XP Pro costs about $130 for a regular PC license, but the Connectix OS Pack for XP Pro costs around $220!!! If I go with the regular PC license (and not the OS Pack) am I just "asking" for problems???

Thanks,
T.

Simply because Connectix is charging you 90$ for the home made pre-configuration.

If you chose to buy the XP License, you'll have to install the drivers youself, and it will be unusable in real PCs (I think).

noisefloor · Apr 8, 2002, 02:02 PM

Question: can X read the long filenames on PC formatted media? I've never understood why the mac couldn't do this?

badtzmat · Apr 11, 2002, 01:48 AM

i have had trouble with pc cds as well. latest one had had some autocad stuff on it. i just assumed that was the problem but it gave me the standard could not read initialize question. (using osx on a dual gig) i also tried on my wife's tibook running os 9 and still no luck.

wtf. this sorta makes me fumed. i have been accustomed to always getting my way with my macs.

hrrm!

absmiths · Apr 11, 2002, 10:51 AM

If possible, I would forget about the CD and all problems associated with it. Take the CD to work and mount it on a PC and either ftp the files home or copy them to different media.

jwblase · Apr 11, 2002, 01:26 PM

I have had the same problem using Zip disks formatted on Win2000. If I just erase the disk (drag the files to the bin), then the disk works on OS X. If I choose to right-click and "format" the disk, then OS X cannot seem to read it for some reason.

I want to say this is an annoyning way that Windows formats the disks, but I cannot say for sure.

JB

dru · Apr 12, 2002, 08:53 AM

Originally posted by TonyRado:
So far I've found two prior threads with ZERO responses. So, let's give it another try:

I have a CD that was burned on a PC which contains a 300 page pdf document. I REALLY need to be able to read it, but when I insert the disk into my Ti, X.1.3 says I can't recognize the format (or somesuch) and asks if I want to initialize it. Can anyone tell me how I can get my Mac to read this thing? Thanks!

I've encountered this problem in doing cds with Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5x under Windows 2000. IMHO, Direct CD should be avoided. It's... not the most reliable thing. If you don't remember to manually set the data cd as ISO when using the application then Mac OS X (10.1.3 on a Superdrive iMac in my case) will gag for lack of Joliet file support. My personal experience is that burning CDs on a PC is torture. This is one reason for trying the Mac and praying Toast is less abominable than the PC product. I haven't bothered with Joliet support in 9.2.2 but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work with Direct CD-created discs because of how those sessions may be closed.

boardsurfer · Apr 12, 2002, 03:48 PM

Originally posted by TonyRado:
K, here's the deal. I could not get it to mount in 9, even after enabling the Jouliet extension. GRR!!! I've been planning on getting VPC5, so I guess this just gives me one "more" reason to do it.

btw, does anyone know why XP Pro costs about $130 for a regular PC license, but the Connectix OS Pack for XP Pro costs around $220!!! If I go with the regular PC license (and not the OS Pack) am I just "asking" for problems???

Thanks,
T.

Try this. Boot to OS 9. Go to Roxio website and d/l the UDF Volume reader extension. If the cd was burned on an older PC with easy cd creator, this should do the trick.

HTH

BS

Nebrie · Apr 12, 2002, 07:40 PM

Originally posted by TonyRado:
K, here's the deal. I could not get it to mount in 9, even after enabling the Jouliet extension. GRR!!! I've been planning on getting VPC5, so I guess this just gives me one "more" reason to do it.

btw, does anyone know why XP Pro costs about $130 for a regular PC license, but the Connectix OS Pack for XP Pro costs around $220!!! If I go with the regular PC license (and not the OS Pack) am I just "asking" for problems???

Thanks,
T.

$130?? You are definately NOT looking at Windows XP Pro. That's more like the price of XP Home upgrade.

TonyRado · Apr 12, 2002, 10:10 PM

Originally posted by boardsurfer:
Try this. Boot to OS 9. Go to Roxio website and d/l the UDF Volume reader extension. If the cd was burned on an older PC with easy cd creator, this should do the trick.
HTH
BS

You sir, are da man!!! Well, here's the deal��I d/l-ed the UDF Volume Reader like you said and the damn thing works like a freakin champ and I can now mount the disk in 9 and view its contents!

Unfortunately, I haven't been in 9 in a while and I deleted most of my apps. So here's the deal: When I try to click one of the .pdf files that's on the disk it just hangs forever and I need to restart.

I tried to d/l a new Acrobat Reader, but for some reason after d/l-ing it and hitting "install," it has tries to access the net for some add'l files. This is where I am having a problem b/c it keeps telling me that an "error" occured, and to try again later.

Grr, I am soooooo close!!!

nuckin futs · Apr 13, 2002, 12:07 AM

once you can mount the disk and the files can be seen in 9, why not just copy the files on the hard disk and go back to OS X and do the rest from there.

boardsurfer · Apr 13, 2002, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by TonyRado:


You sir, are da man!!! Well, here's the deal��I d/l-ed the UDF Volume Reader like you said and the damn thing works like a freakin champ and I can now mount the disk in 9 and view its contents!

Unfortunately, I haven't been in 9 in a while and I deleted most of my apps. So here's the deal: When I try to click one of the .pdf files that's on the disk it just hangs forever and I need to restart.

I tried to d/l a new Acrobat Reader, but for some reason after d/l-ing it and hitting "install," it has tries to access the net for some add'l files. This is where I am having a problem b/c it keeps telling me that an "error" occured, and to try again later.

Grr, I am soooooo close!!!

Right on dude! Us legal types gotta stick together. Nuckin Futs is right. As soon as you can mount the disk, just copy the stuff off and go back to OSX..

TonyRado · Apr 13, 2002, 04:33 PM

WOOHOO!!!

Indeed, the files are now on my Mac

boardsurfer and nuckin futs, thank you thank you thank you!!!

TonyRado · Sep 10, 2002, 02:36 PM

BAH!!! One step forward, and two back.

I am now back to where I was in April when I first posted (maybe even worse off now!). I have a brand new CD from the same person that sent me the original one. Not only can I not get the new one to mount in 9, but I can't the original one to mount either!!! I have the UDF Volume Access extension installed and everything. Does anyone know if "Open Transport" would have anything to do with this?*

Thanks.

* I had to turn O.T. off ever since upgrading to Jaguar b/c I can't boot into 9 if it's enabled (freezes mid-boot).

T u r b o · Sep 10, 2002, 09:08 PM

Shouldn't OS X have no problems with UDF volumes? I've never had a problem reading a UDF disc made on my OS/2 machine, does winblows do something specific that screws it up?

- Mike