Can a CD-RW be used on OpenVMS 8.3?

[Kenneth Toler]

I am trying to copy Microsoft Windows files from a CD-RW to a SCSI VMS drive. I know I can do this from a CD-R, but can I do this from a CD-RW? If so, How?

[Art Wiens]

As always, a few more details always helps the non-psychics. What are you doing with a CD-R that works ... what are you doing with a CD-RW that doesn't work?

Are you physically loading the cd media into a VMS cd drive? MOUNTing it /FOREIGN and trying to use EXCHANGE or something?

Cheers,
Art

[Hoff]

Two sentences is slim pickings as a prolog to a question, and usually entirely inadequate as a question.

Various CD-RW drives are compatible with OpenVMS, and various are not.

Few CD-R/RW drives are officially supported on OpenVMS, and that support depends on the specific OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS Alpha or OpenVMS I64 system and the specific drive. Fewer drives are supported than actually work, of course.

OpenVMS can read and can also record CD-R and CD-RW, yes.

OpenVMS can read ISO-9660:1988 strict subset.

OpenVMS cannot read (without help) FAT or NTFS.

Some common and widely-used third-party commercial Windows tools for burning disks (in simplest terms) don't work, or are not compliant with ISO-9660:1988, or both.

Old OpenVMS SCSI CD-ROM drives can be incompatible with media formulation. More recent RRD drives tend to be better; older drives are often incompatible.

So. What are you really up to? And why? And with what gear? And what software? Versions? Etc...

Some good reading material on asking questions - and with all respect intended, asking good questions takes some effort; it's tougher than it looks -- is here:

http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] can I do this from a CD-RW? If so,
> How?

Sure. Same way.

If/when that doesn't work, try to explain
better exactly what you did, what you did it
with, and what happened when you did it.