UDF (Universal Disk Format) was created along with DVD drives. It's the newest file system available for personal computers and it was written with current and future needs in mind. The maximum volume size and file size are enormous. The best feature is its cross-platform capability. Once a disk is formatted in UDF, then any platform can read it. Copy files from a Mac hard drive to the DVD-RAM disk and take that disk to Windows 95/98 or Windows NT and the files will be readable. Most applications available on multiple platforms can share files so there is no translating needed. More info about UDF is available at www.osta.org.
We've found Macs hang while loading the Iomega Driver extension if a Toshiba DVD-RAM drive is connected and set to SCSI address 0. This occurs with the version of Iomega Driver shipping with Mac OS 8.5.1, as well as Iomega's most current version on their website. This problem is easily solved by changing the Toshiba's SCSI address to something other than zero.
This problem does not occur with Panasonic or Hitachi DVD-RAM drive mechanisms.
DVD-RAM TuneUp only supports DVD-RAM drives. However, most DVD-RAM drives, can read DVD-ROM, CD-ROM CD-R and CD-RW disk.
DVD movies are encoded in MPEG2. This requires a special decoder that are either hardware or software. SAI makes neither. MAC O/S 8.6 and above provides a MPEG2 decoder which may work depending on your system. Mac catalogs should have one available.
No. Currently available, first-generation DVD-ROM drives cannot read DVD-RAM disks. This is a problem with the information on the disk, not the fact the disk in is a cartridge. The next generation of DVD-ROM drives will read DVD-RAM disks. There will also be DVD-RAM cartridges that open to allow removal of the disk.
Yes, DVD-RAM TuneUp version 2.1 supports MacOS9 and earlier versions. DVD-RAM TuneUP versions 1.0.4 and 2.0.5 support Mac OS 8.5.1 and earlier versions.
The speed is a function of the drive not our software. The drive manufacturers are aware of this and continue to improve the speed. Our write cache improves the speed beyond that of the drive. The read times of drive are fast and comparable to other storage devices.
Last updated 1/22/00.