DVD-RAM Deadend in OS 9.2

[MDBenson]

Hi,

I have a Panasonic SCSI DVD-RAM Type 1 (early 2.6/5.2GB version) drive in an external SCSI case that refuses to work in Mac OS 9.2 despite me trying it on 2 different SCSI cards and cables.

In my B&W G3 with an Apple OEM Adaptec AVA-2906 card the drive works okay in 10.4 so I know it’s likely working just fine, and the SCSI bus has no issues (the enclosure is auto-terminating and is showing the bus as terminated via LEDs on the rear).

However, 9.2.1 sees it as a CD-ROM and refuses to mount any disk (the last one I tried was formatted as “MS-DOS” in OS X 10.4). I even tried persuading it with FWB Hard Disk Toolkit 4.5.2 to no avail. I was under the impression that Mac OS 8.6-9.2.2 all supported DVD-RAM natively but this one seems like it’s not gonna play ball.

My B&W has an internal IDE DVD-ROM and the DVD extensions installed.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[IIO]

the question is if a random SCSI card still counts as "natively". but OS 8.6+ supports the media, that is right.

i would just try another drive and see what happens. maybe it is the enclosure?

[ssp3]

Have you tried this?

"Modify Apple's CD/DVD drivers to mount third party drives".

http://web.archive.org/web/20040209194109/www.resexcellence.com/hack_html_99/12-21-98.shtml

[FBz]

My guess would be that you’re on a quest for a specific OS 9.2 driver for your Panasonic drive - as it seems to work fine under OS X. Had similar situation here with a Sony Spressa drive that also required a CharisMac DisScribe package (and driver) install, in order to work and be recognized anywhere other than on a G3 B&W.

Old info on the Spressa drive: https://www.macobserver.com/newreviews/bc/00/000925spressa10xcdrw/000925spressa10xcdrw.shtml

Other info: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1571617 (important check this)

OR… Google: “Panasonic DVD-RAM, Mac OS 9 drivers”

[MDBenson]

My guess would be that you’re on a quest for a specific OS 9.2 driver for your Panasonic drive - as it seems to work fine under OS X.

OR… Google: “Panasonic DVD-RAM, Mac OS 9 drivers”

This was the one that won the cookie thus far. It didn't help directly, but sometimes you just need the old neurones tickling to make them fire in the right order. I searched for "DVD-RAM" on some classic software libraries and fell over a utility called 'DVD-RAM Tune-Up' which added an extension and the required stuff to Mac OS 9 that persuaded OS 9.2.1 to recognise the disks I inserted.

In it's present form, it *doesn't* seem like it supports using FAT file systems on them however, only offering me the choice to initialise the disk in HFS, HFS+ and UDF formats, which is a bit of a drawback for cross-platform compatibility. I have Foreign File Access and File Exchange installed and enabled, which from my very hazy memory was what was required to read Windows floppies, but I am not sure about other Windows FAT media. I previously formatted the DVD-RAM disk with OS X 10.4 as a "MS-DOS" file system which is entirely ambiguous (thanks Apple) but I'm thinking that means FAT32? I have no idea if FAT32 works with Foreign File Access.

[IIO]

FAT32 works finen with USB sticks (oi think thre requirement is the PC exchange INIT beside joliet/FFA for mounting), but it is not supported for HDs (because of te rigid size limit)

[ovalking]

I've got a Panasonic DVD-RAM LF-D200 internal SCSI which I tried on a 7100 (System 7.5.5).
The drive is recognized and Mt Everything can see CD-ROM structure. But I never got that CD to mount.
I'll have to give DVD-RAM Tune up a look...

[MDBenson]

I've got a Panasonic DVD-RAM LF-D200 internal SCSI which I tried on a 7100 (System 7.5.5).
The drive is recognized and Mt Everything can see CD-ROM structure. But I never got that CD to mount.
I'll have to give DVD-RAM Tune up a look...

DVD-RAM Media support only came in at Mac OS 8.6 - I don’t know if DVD-RAM Tune-up can help with earlier versions though, it might, but System 7 lacks DVD support in any form, so it may not work or maybe won’t offer UDF support.

[IIO]

couldn´t you just add the later apple dvd drivers to OS7? like we did with appearance manager and some others.

[chrisNova777]

didnt you have to "format" dvd-rams?

i remember using dvd-ram alot at my work in the early 2000s i worked on a number of projects for an advertising agency in toronto
i remember there was more than one one way for the dvd-rams to work, you could format them and drag files in + out of the disk like a hard drive if u formatted it...
i do remember struggling wth turning extensions on + off to make the DVD-ram work properly..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecH3OU0R4ls[/youtube]

[MDBenson]

Okay. I have updates.

I bought a couple of special nuggets on eBay. I got a virtually unused (they weren't kidding, there wasn't a speck of dust inside it) LaCie FireWire 400 External drive. I also managed to find for reasonable money a later model IDE Panasonic DVD+RW/DVD-RAM drive that takes bare discs and cartridges (which is relatively rare on later drives). I did some swaperoo and now have a Firewire 400 DVD-RAM drive. It works effortlessly with no drivers or extensions needed (as far as I can tell) in Mac OS 9.2. So I guess my original issue was just that the SCSI drive wasn't recognised by Mac OS 9 unless it had a little help. I think I'll try the CD/DVD hack mentioned earlier and see if I can get it working without DVD-RAM Tune-up extension.

I also have a bunch of 5.2 and 9.4 GB double-sided cartridges to goof about with.

didnt you have to "format" dvd-rams?

Yes, and I had formatted the disk, I think the problem I was facing was I formatted both sides of my Test disk in Mac OS X as FAT volumes and OS 9.2 doesn't support using FAT on DVD-RAM (or at least I don't have it working, I wasn't offered the option when initialising the disks in the Firewire drive either). I was able to Format  them as HFS volumes and they work okay. Mac OS 9 also support using UDF which might allow me to use the disks cross-platform (with usual destruction of Resource Forks caveats applying).

Also I watched that Technology Connections video, it was a very interesting deep dive.

FAT32 works finen with USB sticks

It does and I have used FAT32 USB sticks in Mac OS 9 before just fine. I guess maybe Apple just didn't want you to use it on DVD-RAM or something (because they offer UDF for cross-platform). Who the heck knows.

[IIO]

and now have a Firewire 400 DVD-RAM drive. It works effortlessly with no drivers or extensions needed (as far as I can tell) in Mac OS 9.2.

that´s what i would think. it is still interesting that it does not work with SCSI or ATA.

I also have a bunch of 5.2 and 9.4 GB double-sided cartridges to goof about with.

oh, you did not mention it was cartrigdes before. there are not many of these drives.

It does and I have used FAT32 USB sticks in Mac OS 9 before just fine. I guess maybe Apple just didn't want you to use it on DVD-RAM or something (because they offer UDF for cross-platform). Who the heck knows.

maybe because FAT32´s 4GB file size limit.

i love DVD-RAM. they are no longer produced, you should buy a bunch soon if you do, too.

otoh you can get a SCSI2CF adapter for $15. flash might have a shorter lifespan, but you can also put it into the cupboard for 2-3 years.