[comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc] PC <--> Mac 3.5" floppy transfers??

sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava) (01/19/91)

Excuse the wide distribution, but I tried to select only those
newsgroups that are general enough and relevant.

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I don't know when.

I've recently installed a 1.44 MB 3.5" floppy in my PC/AT compatible
and would like to know if either PC or Mac utilities exist to
read/write the other's floppies.  i.e. PC r/w Mac floppies or Mac r/w
PC floppies

Currently I'm making transfers via modem and network, or sometimes I
can use a special arrangement of PC and Mac connected by parallel
ports.  However, I cannot always get access to these when I need them.

Thanks in advance for any help.

-- 

Sanjay Keshava   Student in the UT Austin Graduate School of Business
    ->|<-        Class of July 1991, Information Systems & Finance
                 ... Anyone want to hire a computer engineer with an MBA?
                 Greetings to fellow Anteaters, Trojans, and Longhorns.
sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu  |  ...!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!sanjay

paul@gacvx1.gac.edu (01/28/91)

In article <42743@ut-emx.uucp> sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava):
> I've recently installed a 1.44 MB 3.5" floppy in my PC/AT compatible
> and would like to know if either PC or Mac utilities exist to read/
> write the other's floppies.  i.e. PC r/w Mac floppies or Mac r/w PC floppies

This is my first attempt at replying using NEWS so I hope that it works.

There is another option for exchanging files between the Mac and PC's.
There was a file on the Sumex Info-Mac archives which enables the Mac to
mount a 720K and 1.44MB 3.5" DOS disk like a Macintosh disk.  It was
archived as /info-mac/demo/dos-mounter.hqx.  I just checked today and it
seems to have been removed.  It is a Demo from Dayna Communications but
its use is unrestricted.  Its only limitation is the DOS disk must have
the letters DEMO at the beginning of its volume name.  Price for the full
working version is $59 mail order.  I called Dayna Communications some
months ago and they did not have a problem with my continuing to use the
Demo.  I save $59 by always using the same few disks to transfer files.

A word of caution.  The program writes Mac Desktop information to the PC
disk. There is a hidden desktop file in the root directory (DESKTOP. 0K),
a hidden system file (DYNARID.SYS 4.6K), a hidden system directory
(RESOURCE.FRK) and a hidden file in the hidden directory (DESKTOP. 6K) I
had trouble copying one of these disks using the DOS command DISKCOPY and
I suspect that these files may be the culprit.

Appended below is information from the documentation.  If anyone is
interested in the file I will email it to them.  It's size is 60K in
its BINHEX and self extracting archive form. Dayna's address is:

          Dayna
          50 South Main Street, Fifth Floor
          Salt Lake City, Utah, 84144 U.S.A.
          (801) 531-0203

+-----------
| Apple Computer's FDHD (Floppy Drive High Density) disk drive is able to
| read a number of 3.5 inch disk formats, including MSDOS. However, MS-DOS
| disks do not appear on the desktop the way Macintosh disks do. In fact,
| the FDHD drive can only accept MS-DOS disks when Apple File Exchange is
| running.
|
| With DOS Mounter in your System Folder, any MS-DOS disk you put in the
| FDHD drive will appear on the desktop. You can select and drag it with
| the mouse. You can copy files, documents, and applications to and from it
| and drag items to the trash. The only restriction is that you must use
| Apple File Exchange to erase a disk and format it in MS-DOS format.
|
| DOS Mounter makes MS-DOS data look and behave just like Macintosh data.
| When you open the disk icon, its subdirectories are displayed as folders
| and its data files as documents. Like any Macintosh document, these
| documents can be opened and edited by any compatible Macintosh
| application.
|
| The DOS Mounter software contains a feature called extension mapping that
| lets you open an MS-DOS file into a Macintosh application by simply
| double- clicking on the file's document icon. For example, the Lotus
| 1-2-3 file extension of WKS is mapped to Microsoft Excel. This means that
| Excel will start automatically when you double-click on a DOS file with a
| file name extension .WKS.
|
| DOS Mounter is compatible with MS-DOS file conversion programs such as
| Apple File Exchange and MacLinkPlus.
|
| How to Install it...
|
|      Start up your Macintosh
|
|      Make a backup copy of the DOS Mounter demonstration disk.
|
|      Insert the backup copy into the Macintosh drive.
|
|      Select the DOS Mounter icon and drag it to the System Folder on the
|      hard drive.
|
|      Restart your Macintosh.
|
|      The DOS Mounter startup screen will appear briefly, indicating that
|      the software has been installed correctly and that DOS Mounter is
|      ready for use.
+---------------

Paul Kleeberg, M.D.      | Internet:   Paul@GAC.EDU
Methodist Hospital       | Bitnet:     Paul@GACVAX1.BITNET
217 West Swift Street    | Fax:        507-931-6752
St. Peter, MN 56082      | Voice:      507-931-6721