Files from mac HDD cannot be read on Win7 PC

[encAmateur]

Hi all,
I have several large (between 30-40gb) MOV files that I am trying to transcode to mpeg2. The external drive that they are on is formatted for mac and all files are readable from there. However when I copy them to the PC internal HDD they appear to copy over ok but are then unreadable in any application. Media info will read all the file details from the external mac drive but only reports the files as an MPEG-4 Quicktime file when read from the internal drive. This is on a win7 64-bit PC formatted as NTFS and using Macdrive 8. Can anyone offer some suggestions as to what might be the problem? I can post the media info files if they would be helpful.

[Ghitulescu]

The translation layer (probably macdrive8).

[encAmateur]

I´m sorry Ghitulescu, I don´understand what you mean by that. There are no options in Macdrive for translation layer.

[Ghitulescu]

the translation layer is the driver that "translate" one file system into another.

[encAmateur]

Ok I understand now. Am I right in thinking that if this is causing the problem I should reinstall macdrive? The drive is currently in use so I can try this later. If it doesn´t resolve the problem can you recommend some other software that will do the same job? Thanks for the help by the way....

[Emulgator]

If you can see the files but not decode them then the Win764bit machine where Macdrive8 is installed on
might be missing some of the video codecs that are already present on the Mac.
On my Win7U64 system some formats like SONY XDCAM EX 35 in Quicktime container
could not be decoded even by the newest version of Quicktime for Windows.
Quicktime was asking me for additional updates but did not tell which...
The codec might be available only from the software disc that came with the camera that made the files.
There might even be the unlucky chance of having an installer for MacOS, but not for Windows...
Post the mediainfo log.
In my case something like Format_Commercial_IfAny: XDCAM EX 35 occurred.
If you happen to have a NLE like SonyVegas or Adobe Premiere
there are separate XDCAM Importer Modules for this occasion
but I believe only to import from the data carrier the camera wrote.

[encAmateur]

The thing is Emulgator, I can access the files on the Win7 machine from the External drive fine. It´s only when I copy them over onto the computers internal NTFS drive that they cannot be read.

[Emulgator]

Does "can access" mean being able to successful decode and playback or only being able to copy ?
Does "cannot be read" mean not being able to see the files in Explorer or not being able to decode these in an NLE or playing application?

BTW, hfsexplorer (Freeware, now in version 0.21),
should be able to read (not write) from HFS+ volumes connected to a Windows machine.

Paragon ($) HFS+on Win (can read and write on HFS+ Volumes connected to a Windows machine)
would be another choice. I actually have a license, but did not install,
because my case was solved faster from the Mac side writing to my NTFS disc
(NTFS-3G + MacFUSE on Mac).

[encAmateur]

I can play and re-encode the files from the external drive, just not the internal one.

[Emulgator]

This would point to translation faults as Ghitulescu suggested.
You may try hfsexplorer then.

[encAmateur]

Ok, I`ll try that then so. Thanks for the help guys and I`ll let ye know....

[encAmateur]

Thanks guys. Hfsexplorer did the job. It's a bit of a hassle that I need to go through the GUI but at least I can now access my files. In appreciation I now present to you a joke I heard over the weekend. Ghitulescu, your sig reminded me of it...

Spent an hour at the wife's grave this morning.
Bless her, she thinks I'm digging a pond.

/gets hat....

[Mug Funky]

ubuntu live CD can read/write HFS+, and read HFS+ journaled volumes.

it can also read/write NTFS volumes, so it covers windows and mac land.

i'm sure there's some lighter-weight distros that will do this without the space footprint of ubuntu.