[Solved] Should be simple -- Mac cannot read Linux ISO

[jon_m]

Neither my 10.6.8 or 10.7.5 (Server) can read the ISO 9660 files downloaded from either Ubuntu or OpenSUSE. DiskImageMounter and DiskUtility do not recognize the format.

The ISO files open fine on my OEL (Oracle's RHEL) laptop.

I prefer to use ISO files on the hard drive instead of CDs or DVDs for the guest image. Any pointers to a utility or procedure to allow these to mount? I've spent a couple hours searching to little avail.

[loukingjr]

Macs have been able to read .iso files long before OSX. Perhaps you mean something else?

[mpack]

VirtualBox is able to read ISO files. It doesn't require any help for that from the host OS.

I would run a checksum test on the actual files being mounted in the VM.

[jon_m]

VirtualBox is able to read ISO files. It doesn't require any help for that from the host OS.

I would run a checksum test on the actual files being mounted in the VM.

Well that's a great idea! The MD5 and SHA1 checksums don't match.

Will post back in a few hours after the new download completes.

[jon_m]

Macs have been able to read .iso files long before OSX. Perhaps you mean something else?

As an aside, OSX appears unable to read Level 3 ISOs. But without cracking into the actual file, there's no simple way of knowing if the ISO is a Level 1, 2 or 3. Some have said the only way to open a Level 3 ISO on OSX is with Roxio Toast. But this may be a moot point as it would seem I have a corrupt ISOs.

Food for thought is that after burning the corrupt ISO to a DVD (using DiskUtility) the DVD mounts properly on a RedHat box. But I didn't try booting.

[mpack]

As I mentioned, VirtualBox requires no help from OS X in order to read ISOs, so what the Mac supports or doesn't support isn't really important here. It's actually the VM BIOS (for booting) and guest OS which decodes the contents of data CD sectors.

IME, if you want your data CD to be portable then use only single session finalized disk images. I do that as a matter of course, so I've never tested what deviations from that are supported by the VBox BIOS. I would expect all OS setup CDs to use a most widely accepted CD format.

[jon_m]

VirtualBox is able to read ISO files. It doesn't require any help for that from the host OS.

I would run a checksum test on the actual files being mounted in the VM.

Well that's a great idea! The MD5 and SHA1 checksums don't match.

Will post back in a few hours after the new download completes.

Downloaded a new openSUSE .iso and the VM launches. There are, of course, new problems both that's for a new post if I don't find answers on the forum.

Thanks!

[mpack]

Thanks for reporting back, it's a surprisingly rare act of politeness.