HDFs, directory hard drives and CD-ROM ISOs

[antonvaltaz]

Two related questions, which I'm sure have been asked before but I couldn't find definitive answers.

I understand that files stored in a 'directory' hard drive on Windows (i.e. using Windows' own file system) sometimes have some compatibility issues with the emulated Amiga (because certain file attributes are not stored by Windows?), unlike files stored on HDFs.

My questions are:

1) In what kind of situations is this a practical problem? Are any HD games, for example, known not to work because of this?

2) Are files from Amiga CD-ROMs (e.g. Amiga Format cover CDs) already affected? Those CD-ROMs could/can be read on PCs, so presumably they would already be missing the Amiga-specific file attributes etc. I guess it would be safe to just copy these files from an Amiga CD ISO mounted in Daemon Tools over to a Windows directory?

[FOL]

Originally Posted by antonvaltaz

Two related questions, which I'm sure have been asked before but I couldn't find definitive answers.

I understand that files stored in a 'directory' hard drive on Windows (i.e. using Windows' own file system) sometimes have some compatibility issues with the emulated Amiga (because certain file attributes are not stored by Windows?), unlike files stored on HDFs.

My questions are:

1) In what kind of situations is this a practical problem? Are any HD games, for example, known not to work because of this?

2) Are files from Amiga CD-ROMs (e.g. Amiga Format cover CDs) already affected? Those CD-ROMs could/can be read on PCs, so presumably they would already be missing the Amiga-specific file attributes etc. I guess it would be safe to just copy these files from an Amiga CD ISO mounted in Daemon Tools over to a Windows directory?

1) Only if you mess with the files outside the emulated enviroment / real hardware.

2) No, as all cd's use a universal disc system. Besides once the CD is burnt / pressed, it cant be written to again. So no OS will be able to alter attributes.

[Toni Wilen]

Use of Amiga CDs without uaescsi.device+amiga cdfs can be bad idea:

- Windows sees all files as write-protected (Never install OS3.5/3.9 from CD this way)
- Some Amiga CDs use Amiga specific rock ridge filesystem extension = Windows only sees DOS-style fallback names ("DISK.INF"). Very bad.

[thomas]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Use of Amiga CDs without uaescsi.device+amiga cdfs can be bad idea:

- Windows sees all files as write-protected (Never install OS3.5/3.9 from CD this way)
- Some Amiga CDs use Amiga specific rock ridge filesystem extension = Windows only sees DOS-style fallback names ("DISK.INF"). Very bad.

- Windows sees all file names as upper case. Bad for some programs, especially disk-based system files which shall replace rom-based couterparts. (Never install OS3.5/3.9 from CD this way )

[antonvaltaz]

Toni,

Just to clarify...

If I copy some files directly (in Windows) from the CD ISO to a WinUAE HD directory - in other words, I don't actually use the ISO directly in WinUAE at all - does that mean the emulated Amiga will think all files are still read-only?

Originally Posted by thomas

- Windows sees all file names as upper case.

That's not the case for the CD ISOs I've downloaded, the files still have their original case.

But they were all magazine cover CDs, and from memory the publishers wanted to make sure people who had a PC with CD-ROM could copy files across to their Amiga without CD-ROM. So maybe they didn't have the "Amiga specific rock ridge filesystem extension" which Toni mentioned.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by antonvaltaz

Toni,

Just to clarify...

If I copy some files directly (in Windows) from the CD ISO to a WinUAE HD directory - in other words, I don't actually use the ISO directly in WinUAE at all - does that mean the emulated Amiga will think all files are still read-only?

Yes, it will treat it like a cd. Mount the iso and then run emulator and take files off cd that way. It will keep all data as it should be.