a quick note about extracting .zip files & "Corrupted files"

[supernova777]

just a reminder
if you try to unarchive/unstuff a .zip file..
and the files inside appear to all be damaged.. missing icons etc..
**this file must be unzipped on MAC OS X**
the files are ok..
its just that mac os 9 unzip program cannot properly unzip them...
the resource forks are intact if they are extracted properly
this is due to an incompatibilty + shortcoming of STUFFIT
to understand technology that came after it...

an example of this type of situation for those who remember was when enabler uploaded a bunch of files
another example is when a user needed the midex 8 driver for a steinberg usb driver
these files when extracted on os9 appear to be corrupt but they are not corrupt at all
it is an error of stuffit not extracting properly

an easy way to notice this is if u see a folder thats called "__MACOSX"
this is loud + clear indication that this file *SHOULD NOT BE EXTRACTED ON OS9*
even if it contains os9 files.. the files are ok if u extract on mac os x!
this file wasnt created on os 9. it was created on osx.. and will only extract properly on os x.

delete the file that you created by extracting it on 9.. upload it somewhere else..
reboot to mac os x or access it from another mac os x machine on your network and
extract it there..

once you do so, u will see the files extract properly and show proper icon graphics etc

a good way of getting it safely to mac os 9 after that would be to
create a stuffit file using stuffit on mac os x (making sure u check the preferences
and enable the option for creating downward compatible archives)

another good way is to use dropdmg for leopard, dropDMG for tiger or dropdmg for panther to create "uncompressed" UDIF .dmg or NDIF .img which will open fine with disk copy 6.4+


another good way is to use toast to create a custom sizse toast image
but stuffit is probably the easiest.. i need to explore more fully the stuffit deluxe for mac osx to see if its possible to do
.bin encode

if anyone knows how to make macbinary .bin encode on mac os x
WITHOUT compression.. this would be great way to bring files from mac os x to mac os 9 too
maybe this is possible by editing stuffit preferences.. set to no compression

[supernova777]

another observation:
if u double click the zip in mac os x (i used 10.4.11)
it my default to "unarchiver" utility, which, seems to work 100%
but on closer observation, it changes all the created/modificed dates of the files
to be the current day..

if you use stuffit expander on mac os x
the files are properly extracted.. with their original created/modified properties still
intact!

[supernova777]

if u need disk copy 6.4 its available in a .sit file here: http://macgui.com/downloads/?file_id=24166

[supernova777]

ive just tested dropDmg for Tiger on my G5



the following "preferences" settings allow the creation of mac os 9 compatible .img.bin files fast!!! with just 1 action (drag folder/files to the dropDmg icon)

Format: ".img NDIF Read-only"
Options: Encoding: "MacBinary"

there are other options aswell, which can be ignored. those are the only two settings to worry about.
you can "save as a configuration" if you wish but i dont think its neccessary. you can just close the preferences window + the settings
will be active or whatever.

i've tested opening the resulting file created by dropDMG on both os9 + osx
for some reason on osx the file didnt mount + come up automatically and i had to open up disk utility
+ eject and remount.. but ti does work.. and the file are accessible by mac os x without any
additional software using native disk utility app... and it worked effortlessly in mac os 9.

Why am i posting this info?
sick of issues between .sit + .sitx..  (my dropStuff app on Tiger doesnt let me create a normal .sit file dont ask me why)
and multiple copies of files..

i wanted to have 1 file that will work natively on both my x + 9 systems.

[DieHard]

Just as an FYI, the Mac OS 9 .img files created on Mountain Lion (10.8.5) for OS9 do work under Mac OS 9, BUT will not open even with "Disk Utility" on ML... so this kind sucks that they need to be converted via Disk Ulility from img to DMG then they open

[supernova777]

as per diehards comment this is the warning screen u will be presented with if you try to open the resulting .img.bin files in 10.8

so i guess the search for a truly "universal" format continues..

in order to access on these more modern versions of osx you:

1) double click to decode the .img from macbinary format (resulting in a plain .img file)
2) drag the plain .img file to diskutility where it will appear on the left nav
3) select it in the left nav
4) click "Convert" and then hit "save"
5) diskutility will pop up an alert and confirm to resave it as ".dmg"
6) the .dmg file will appear on your desktop + mount + you should see a window with the files popup

that was my experience
alot of extra hoops to jump thru.. and the other downside is you are left with a mess of duplicate files to trash
and if you arent carefull with your "housekeeping" results in chaos on your desktop and a mess to clean up later
which unfortunately leaves me looking for a better way..

the only other better way i can think of is to instead create .dmg read-only uncompressed (changing dropDMG preferences yet again)
which will requires either disk copy 6.4+ or disk copy 6.5b13+ on mac os 9.. the downside of THAT is that its possibly incompatible
with mac os 8.6 or below... i cant recall if diskcopy 6.4 works on mac os 8.6

[supernova777]

changing the settings & the approach:

Format: ".dmg Read-only"
Options: Encoding: "None"

attached is an example of how a .DMG created "Read-Only" looks by default in mac os 9.


note that the .dmg format, unlike .img, does not require encoding to macbinary to upload to a remote filesystem, and is already an encapsulated binary format

and.. as to be expected.. this file has no problem being mounted in both Mountain Lion & Mac os 9..
(the only down side being that you first have to have &  run disk copy 6.5b13)

[supernova777]

another downside is that there is no easy to way to differentiate these .dmg files created with specific settings for mac os 9 compatibility
from other mac os x .dmg files..

also it could be confusing to some people
the way that these disk images work in general..

(clicking the top icon .dmg shows the bottom icon which shows up on your desktop somewhere randomly)

so you have 2 icons for the same thing, + another window to open and see the contents of the 2nd...

which lets u see the contents.. which, in this example, ironically, is a ZIP FILE! lol

one further point is that some users may try to use the "cmd-backspace" keyboard shortcut to trash the mounted
disk image.... and this doesnt work.. u have to either drag to the trash, or use cmd-E (to eject)

[DieHard]

Chris, I will try some more tests, but at least we are universal with img from 9 to Snow Leopard, using your method

[supernova777]

Chris, I will try some more tests, but at least we are universal with img from 9 to Snow Leopard, using your method

id hardly call it *my* method..
but yes, another point is the first method should be backward compatible with mac os 7 even i think, maybe syntho or another 7.x user could test..

i've attached the files for easy testing if any of you wish to test
i will try to fire up my g3B&W or Sawtooth with 8.6 to check if i can mount the second method dmg file using disk copy 6.4
(i think disk copy 6.4 might work on macos8.6 but im fairly certain that 6.5b13 will not and requires 9.2.2)

(patchburn is a utility for making a non-officially supported cd/dvd show up as "supported", i just used these files arbitrarily because of their low size)

[supernova777]

http://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/compatibility_sheet

Disk Copy 6.5b13

(Sheepshaver)
w/ Old World ROM - UNTESTED
w/ New World ROM – It theoretically only runs under Mac OS 9.1 and above. However, by changing the version numbers of the System, Finder, and System Resources files to match those of 9.1, the program will run. I haven’t tested out Disk Copy’s .dmg compatibilities yet. A fair warning though; you will risk the compatibility of MANY applications (They will ask for DebugLib – which as far as I’m concerned, there’s no download).

according to this page its possible to get disk copy 6.5b13 to run on lower versions of mac os
i assume they tried this because for whatever reason... sheepshaver only works with 9.0.4 (? i think?)

seems like a bit much trouble to go to.. i dont think i would even bother trying that.

[Protools5LEGuy]

I don't want to hijack this but there are methods to deal with .zip files http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=2214.0

[supernova777]

that may be... but i reccomend u do some tests with zip files created on panther or tiger or leopard
and see if these apps are capable of extracting them properly

as ive said before on other threads theres some type of slight incompatibility that results in corrupted files + lost resource forks
when extracting zip files that have been made on mac os x on mac os 9..

if u can confirm a solution that would be great. but it would need to be confirmed!
it would be great to know if this was just an isolated "stuffit" issue

as for http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-unrar-12
wow i did not know this existed.. cool;)

except on the page http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=2214.0
the user bender points out:

Keep in mind that this software won't decompress RAR archives created with WinRAR 3.0 or later as the file format changed and this tool was not updated.

so this has limited compatibility

there may be many apps but compatibility + reliability is something that determines their usability.. and history of wider audience acceptance (or lack of acceptance)