Archiving CD images using Toast 3 (1997)

pl212

Well-known member
Versions of Toast earlier than 3.x don't seem to include support for saving images from a physical CD-ROM. Toast 3.5 does, however -- in a variety of formats:

Mac Volume
Mac Files & Folders
ISO 9660
Mac/ISO Hybrid
Audio CD
---
CD-i
Video CD
Enhanced Music CD
---
SCSI Copy
Disc Image
Multitrack CD-ROM XA
---
Audio Tracks

Of these options, at least Mac Volume and SCSI Copy result in a file readable by DiskJockey -- albeit in different ways. It's not as clear to me if there's a viable path to a compliant ISO file, however.

I should mention first that there is an unfortunate entanglement between the format of the project, and the possible output format. We are used to thinking of .toast files as being interchangeable with .iso -- and perhaps they are, but Toast requires you to first define the format of the project, and saving it is almost an afterthought. This will let you easily create .toast files that in no way conform to standard iso formats.

Here are the results from 1994 CD-ROM from Apple:

Mac Volume:

Screenshot 2024-09-20 at 10.50.37 PM.png

SCSI Copy:

Screenshot 2024-09-20 at 10.51.18 PM.png

Note the macTOPiX name -- this was mastering hardware/software from Optical Media International. The size differences in the main partition are mainly due to the SCSI copy including the blank space, which is optional on the Mac Volume format.

ISO 9660 may look like a tempting choice, but you need to enable "Allow Macintosh Names" from the drop-down list on the Settings tab. (This is a poor UI choice, as Allow DOS Names and Allow Macintosh Names are mutually exclusive.) The "Use Apple Extensions" setting is checked by default, probably best to leave this one.

This does seem to result in a legitimate Mac ISO image -- at least, the Virtual CD/DVD-ROM Utility mounts the resulting file in System 7.1 without issues. However, icon positions and colors are not maintained -- I believe this is because Toast's file picker does not see or allow you to include the various Desktop files.

Amusingly, this iso also mounts in OS X 10.15 Sequoia, which it really shouldn't! Classic Mac CD-ROMs of this era should be in HFS, and generate an error on current systems. As stated above, Toast is sort of conflating the format of the files in the project with the output format here.

That's all I've had time to experiment with so far. I'd be curious if anyone has tips for generating forensic/correct/useful ISO images using 1990s copies of Toast under System 7...
 

ymk

Well-known member
No proper CD ripper should concern itself with filesystems, HFS or otherwise.

An ISO image should be 2048B/sector and a BIN image should be 2352B/sector with a CUE or TOC index.

I've seen broken Toast files with partial sectors (file size not divisible by 2048B).

I use cdrdao to rip. Whether data or mixed mode, it does a great job every time.
 
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