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    Mounting .iso/.mdf images in OSX.

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by sagebrush, Oct 13, 2007.

  1. sagebrush

    sagebrush Notebook Consultant

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    My MacBook Pro should be arriving on Tuesday morning, and I have at least one more question...

    What is the best method of mounting .iso and .mdf disc images in OSX? Does it work like a .dmg with a simple double-click, or will I need a specific software app?

    I have a bunch of images sitting on my external harddrive, and I want to know whether or not I will be able to access them without utilizing an WinXP app via Parallels or the like.
     
  2. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

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    I've never tried mdf images on OSX, but .iso images mount just fine. You don't even need to use 3rd party apps like Daemontools or Alcohol. Just double-click the image.
     
  3. system_159

    system_159 Notebook Deity

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    .mdfs can not be read natively on OS X as they are a proprietary format of Alcohol 120%. Fortunately they are the exact same format as .iso, so all you have to do is rename the file from *.mdf to *.iso and it'll mount.

    edit: if you don't trust that method, there's software that does it for you.
     
  4. sagebrush

    sagebrush Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks! Very nice to know. +1 to you both!
     
  5. Xander

    Xander Paranoid Android

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    Renaming .mdf files to .iso has never worked for me. I always get the same "failed to mount" error message as when the file was originally named .mdf.

    The only method that has worked is using the application system_159 already linked to, MDF2ISO.
     
  6. 00fez

    00fez Notebook Deity

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    I have toast 8, so I just right click 'mount it', it is instant. Way faster than double clicking a .dmg file. I'm impatient though, so yeah. And Toast costs $80, so it's not everyone's cup of tea.