Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

I need to drag some files off some data CDs that were written back in the late 90s on a Mac. That would be OS9 era I think?

I’m using an Apple SuperDrive and none of multiple disks I’ve tried will mount in OSX Catalina. Does anyone know of a way to make them readable? The SuperDrive is working fine.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

Maybe the cd's themselves are the problem? Those things don't last forever you know. I've seen old cd's and dvd's with the internal layers failing.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

Most likely bad media. AFAIK there should not be anything different in how OS9 and OSX burn ISO9660 format, a.k.a. CD-ROM. Even if yours had HFS in it, OSX should be able to read it.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

It seems unlikely every disk would be faulty. I’ve tried over 20 now written over a two year period from various reputable manufacturers.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

That certainly sounds strange. Back in the day I remember PC needed extra software for reading certain Mac CDROM that were not burnt as hybrid, but first I hear OSX cannot read OS9 media

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

Doesn't matter. I have boxed collections of Doctor Who reboot dvd's done by BBC from Chris Eccleston through Matt Smith and almost everyone is unplayable due to the media delaminating - you can see the colors when you look at the back of the disks. It's not the normal silver but looks like black & blue from bruising one's body. And these collections are less than a decade old.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

Hmmmm ... to troubleshoot, I'd try a different computer.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

Exactly! I’m going to try my studio Mac running Mojave tomorrow. I was wondering if Catalina security was blocking things. My laptop running Catalina is reading data CDs/DVDs written in early OSX versions fine, just not OS9 disks.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

Iirc, there was a warning about old cd Roms not working around 10.10.x from chicken systems, saying you need to convert all of your old libraries before upgrading. I have a lot of old cd-r backups from the OS9 era... I’ll see if I can test a few of them to see if they load up on newer Mac OS.

Interestingly enough, I was always taught in the early 2000’s that CD-r was the most stable form of backup. It may have been at the time, but certainly not a preferred form of backup today. The thing I hate the most about it is I had large sessions that were split across multiple CD-Rs because they only held 700mb. I have hard drives that are over 10 years old that still spin up and work fine. Definitely not relying on them as a main form of backup, but it’s interesting to see how well they hold up.

Re: Mac OS9 data CDs not readable in OSX?
 

That’s very kind of you John. Let me check if I can read them in Mojave in the morning and I’ll report back before you go to any trouble.