Exact Amiga Readable CD Format?

[Wibbly]

I've checked back a bit, and maybe it was selective blindness, and I've google searched, only to get lots of unhelpful pages each with different opinions.

If I want to read long filenames on an Amiga with AmiCDFS, (or as it is, WinUAE with AmiCDFS)...What are the EXACT specifications I should use to write the disc?

I just wrote one with Nero Express, and I couldn't find an option to change the standard. However, the long filenames and extensions were retained (at least when viewed by XP) and when I examined the written disc, it indeed showed that it used Joliet. The WinUAE miggy though, just sees 8.3 format. I wanna know exactly what format to use, and the best Burning software to do it.

Thanks

[odin]

Try if you can find any option for 'Rockridge'.

-edit- from Nero's homepage:

'1. Are Romeo or RockRidge formats supported by Nero?

We are sorry to inform you, Nero Burning ROM 5.5x and Nero Express 5.5x and earlier versions only supports the Joliet format, not the Romeo or RockRidge formats.'

Or you could ofcourse switch to an Amiga CDFS which supports Joliet.

[Seacoast]

Odin wrote you:
... Try if you can find any option for 'Rockridge'.

I just checked and Nero 6 doesn't support Rockridge either. There is support for "relaxed" Joliet filename support (64 characters instead of 8+3 or 31). Maybe your program would support the 31 standard. Otherwise I'd go with his other suggestion and change your Amiga software. Like it or not, Commodore didn't often go with the winners when selecting standards; i.e., Intellifonts.

HB

[BoingBoss]

Hi Wibbly,

The CD format that the Amiga computer actually uses is called ISSO 9660.  I have personally found that the Nero burning software SUCKS!!!!  The Adaptec software does a much better job at burning Amiga CD-Rs.  Use the Adaptec software on Windows 98 Second Edition (Windows XP SUCKS).  Set the parameters to ISSO 9660 with Long File Names turned on.  Also, the default settings in Adaptec's DirectCD works very well for burning Amiga CD-Rs.  This is what I use and it works perfectly every time.  I have sold a lot of my custom made Amiga CDs on eBay, so I do know what I am talking about.  Enjoy.   :-D

[LocalH]

You mean ISO9660 with Rock Ridge extensions - ISO9660, in and of itself, is even worse than MS-DOS (albeit not much). To wit:

In strict interpretations of the ISO 9660 standard, all directory entries of files must contain the file name followed by a semicolon and the file version number, ";1." Most operating systems automatically remove these two characters from the filename when accessing a file or displaying a directory, but versions of the Macintosh operating system prior to 7.5 did not. The result is that when you look at an ISO 9660 disc on a Macintosh with System 7.0 or earlier, all the filenames appear as "FILENAME;1". This could cause problems with an application that must run from CD on the Macintosh: if your application looks for a file named "MYFILE.TXT", it will only find a file named "MYFILE.TXT;1". Note: With later Mac system software, if the option key is held down while the disc is being mounted on the desktop, the System will display file version numbers.

Some UNIX systems require a setting to make the version numbers "disappear."

Also know that "ISO9660 with long file names" can be different from "ISO9660 with Rock Ridge extensions" - ISO9660 Level 2 allows up to 31 characters per file name, while Rock Ridge can also preserve Unix permissions and more characters (strict ISO compliance allows only uppercase letters, numbers, and the underscore, and also disallows a period as the first character of the filename). This all depends on the ISO9660 support of the Amiga CDFS used. If it supports only Rock Ridge extensions, chances are this type of disk may not work. If it works, then the CDFS more than likely supports ISO9660 Level 2 as well.

[Wibbly]

Ok, so Rockridge it is. Thanks guys.

@BoingBoss... I'm assuming then, that Adaptec's DirectCD supports Rockridge then yes?

[LocalH]

@Wibbly:

If a disc written with DirectCD works on an Amiga, then yes, it's likely that it does - or that it supports ISO9660 Level 2 and most CDFSs support Level 2 as well (I'm not sure offhand if there are any don't, tho).

Myself, I've used a Win32 port of mkisofs to rebuild my FrozenFish-Apr94 disc from files that I had copied off in Windows. I generated the ISO, burned it with Nero, and it works perfectly with my Amiga. Of course, mkisofs is command line, so it's a bit cryptic, but it's also completely free - both as in beer and as in speech - whereas Adaptec's software is not (although it is bundled with many CD writers).

[Piru]

@DoomMaster

The CD format that the Amiga computer actually uses is called ISSO 9660.

That's ISO 9660 with Rockridge extensions. Plain ISO 9660 level 2 doesn't allow flexible enough filenames (no mixed case, only one '.' in name, only A-Z, numbers and '_'). Rockridge gives longer filenames, and more flexible char set for them. Also without rockridge you can't save amiga protection bits and comments.

Most burning sw are able to bend ISO-9660 rules though. Some common hacks are: Use mixed case/special chars even with ISO 9660 Level 2. Use deeper than 8 directory levels with ISO 9660. Whether these hacks work, is upto CD filesystem.

For best results I'd suggest using proper amiga CD filesystem with Joliet support and burning Joliet CDs. AFAIK no PC cd writing software support Rock Ridge amiga protection bits or comments though.

[EDIT] heh, LocalH said it pretty much already, well repeating it doesn't hurt, I guess :-) [/EDIT]

[Holley]

Does anyone know if CD burning can be made to work from within UAE?

[LocalH]

I've not tried, although if there is an AmigaOS port of mkisofs (probably using ixemul), one could generate an ISO within the Amiga environment, one that *should* be able to keep the protection bits, as least as well as normal (given that Rock Ridge was primarily designed for Unix protection bits, don't you simply convert the Amiga protection bits to Unix ones?). Then you could burn that ISO with any available program. The protection bits on FrozenFish-Apr94 don't really matter, as the only script I know of on the disk that needs to be directly executable is really called by IconX. Like I said earlier, such a CD worked perfectly on my Amiga, I extracted several LHA files and also ran both Kingfisher 1 and A-Kwic, and searched the 1000 disks, and it worked fine.

[Holley]

Good point, hadn't thought of that :-) Will give it a go tomorrow ...

[Wibbly]

Well I installed AsimCDFS and it made not a blind bit of difference to reading the burned CD.

I can't find Adaptecs DirectCD anywhere (plenty of links to upgrade downloads and information about it, but not the program) as it seems Adaptec no longer make this software.

I'm not paying for Nero's full Ultra package, back in England I got Nero 5.5 with a CD burner that cost a fraction of Nero Ultra, and over here I got a CD burner with Nero 6 Express that cost less than 25% of Nero Ultra's asking price.

I'm just gonna call it a day for Amiga CD reading... I'm supposed to be on a nostalgia trip, not pretending my PC really is a souped up Amiga ::blush::

[Wain]

I can't find Adaptecs DirectCD anywhere (plenty of links to upgrade downloads and information about it, but not the program) as it seems Adaptec no longer make this software.

The software is now made by a company called Roxio, and direct CD is incorporated into a larger program called Easy CD Creator

[Holley]

And Roxio are about to stop selling that, and will go into just running Napster.

Won't InCD do the job? (thats the Nero equivalent under version 6)

[ShadesOfGrey]

@Wibbly

You might also want to take a look at GEAR Software.  It looks like they have products that specifically support the RockRidge extensions.  The GEAR PRO Mastering Edition and GEAR PRO Linux & UNIX version mention RockRidge support as a feature.  Unfortunately, the Mastering Edition is ~$750 and the Linux & UNIX versions, well, require Linux or UNIX.  But from poking around on their support page, it looks like the Windows PRO version has some support for the RockRidge extensions.  They also have a discussion board, so you can probably inquire as to which version does actually support RockRidge.

BTW, I was sure that NTI CD Maker supported RockRidge, but so far I can't confirm this.

[Edit 1]You may be able to inquire about NTI CD Maker's features here.  You can also download the trial versions of both NTI's and GEAR's products and see what if any RockRidge support they have.[/Edit 1]

[Edit 2]Does anyone here now if Iomega's HotBurn supports RockRidge?  I'd think it would since Iomega bought AsimWare, right?  I poked around Iomega's site, but haven't found anything useful.[/Edit 2]

[Edit 3]HotBurn does in fact have some support for RockRidge.  Maybe it's enough for your needs Wibbly?[/Edit 3]