UMAzone UMA-ISO drive enclosure takes the sting out of mounting disk images
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted November 18th 2009 10:47AM
posted November 18th 2009 10:47AM
Hey, man -- aren't you sick of all the pain and expense of mounting disc images from the desktop? OK, we weren't either -- until we saw this: UMAzone's UMA-ISO is a drive enclosure (supply your own 2.5-inch HDD) that features a small display and jog wheel for scrolling through CD / DVD image files. Simply select the file of your choice and plug it into your machine via USB or eSATA and the disk will be mounted, the same as if you'd inserted an optical disc. It's that simple! There is also a mode for mounting as a standard external hard drive. Be forewarned, however: this guy is only compatible with a few flavors of Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7), and it's only available in Japan -- for the princely sum of ¥9,980 yen (about $111).
There is a sting to mounting disk images?
On Windows there is. OSX and Linux can mount images by double-clicking the file - in fact, Mac software is usually distributed online through disk images.
Easy image mounting is one of the top things people have been crying out to Microsoft for. They make powertoys to do it, so they obviously recognise the need to integrate the functionality.
Wait, as awesome as Pink Floyd was I dont see the connection. Feel free to start throwing in their video's everywhere though.
I think it's supposed to be a play on the brand name, Umazone, and the album Ummagumma.
That's kind of cool, actually. I could definitely find a use for this in fixing laptops.
And a lot of pirated movies and games will be much easier to play. :(
I think it will still know when it is being mounted, its like using daemon tools from an external hard drive.
Combine this with an xbox and you might have a winner :p
i don't see the difference between this and a portable hd/free software combo?
This one is bootable I think.
It would be very useful when you are working with other people's machines. You don't always have the time/opportunity/ability to install imaging software.
I think I just might get this...
Barry smells of spam...
Interesting... treats your ISO drive like a Swiss Army knife - only the tool you want, when you need it.
So will older computers see this as an external dvd station and be able to boot from it? It might be handy for repairing computers.
This is spectacularly cool. Finally, I don't have to create 40 virtual drives with Alcohol.
This is actually a pretty cool idea.....
Make it bootable and I would buy it in a heartbeat for my computer repair business. The idea is a nice alternative to MagicDisc which doesn't require a reboot after install but to me, if it's not bootable, it's not worth it
(continued) 4GB in size or less.
Since the thing shows up on the USB bus as both a hard drive AND an optical drive, when you select and ISO to be loaded into the "Virtual" optical drive, as far as the BIOS is concerned, you have an optical drive attached to the USB bus that has a disk in it. Which means, as long as the computer's BIOS supports booting from a USB CD/DVD/BD-ROM, you *CAN* boot your computer to an ISO stored on the I-Odd. And, yes, the thing CAN handle Blu-Ray ISOs.
I've used Daemon Tools for years to do this
This would be a pretty damn cool alternative ... if it came stateside
This kind of things is not new. IO-DATA of Japan has been offering similar functionality on their external hard drives. These drives areonly marketed in Japan though.
The only difference is that the io-data does not have an external screen to select ISO images - it just has a button to jump to the next ISO image. It also only has 4.7GB total capacity for registering a maximum of 6 or 7 disc images (CD and DVD capable), and the images must be imported with its proprietory application, which is Windows only.
I have been using these drives for OS installations and booting live linuxes like 2-3 years... which is plain great.
That said, it would be perfect to have this UMA-ISO drive if it fixed the above limitations.
Sorry. Accidentally posted my response to your comment as a comment to the article rather than a response to you.
In short, none of the limitations of the IO-Data device apply to this thing.
For the more detailed answer, I'll let you read the other comment.
Barry, a couple of questions if you don't mind:
Does this enclosure come in a black version and a white version?
You say this thing shows up on the USB bus as *both* a hard drive and an optical drive, does this mean it can be accessed as both simultaneously?
"Be forewarned, however: this guy is only compatible with a few flavors of Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7)"
I think think they've got us all reading this blog covered here... :)
That statement is simply untrue.
The drive is usable with any computer that supports USB, and you can load ISOs from any OS that supports FAT32.
The only thing that's "Windows only" is the firmware update utility. The manufacturer only provides a Windows utility to update the firmware. However, I should be able to put together Mac and linux utilities soon.
Other than that, it's all standard USB.
Dam I was trying to develop something like this. O well less work for me
I've simply been using VLC media player all this time.
You've been using VLC to install software off of CD images, run games without physically putting a CD in the drive and installing linux without burning a CD?
oh god oh god oh god i love this
gone are physical copies!! install windows 7 and any version of anything without burning a thing! run recovery discs at boot time! fix your comp when your optical drive is broken! carry two hundred virtual CDs with you!
the possibilities are endless!
i like the idea of storing dvd/blu-ray rips...but 3 questions:
1) how do you split the .iso into multiple files
2) is the switch between .iso files seamless?
3) what handles the switch between .iso files, the host or the drive?
1) what the hell are you trying to say? Why would you need to split an ISO into multiple files??
2) seamless? again what the hell are you talking about? I'm pretty sure you go through a list of image files, press ok on the one you want and within a few seconds the drive has it mounted, how did you think it would work?
3) The drive
1) Any ISO bigger than the 4GB maximum that FAT32 supports a single file being will need to be split. If you're using linux or mac, it's a fairly straightforward string of commands. For Windows, there's a splitter utility. The I-Odd will automatically reassemble the parts to mount the ISO.
2) Yes, it's seamless. You use the control on the drive to select a new ISO, and the computer sees the "virtual" drive eject and then close with the new ISO
3) see #2.
Umazone what? These things are actually made by a company called CNS Co Ltd.
I was one of the first to get my hands on one and they work very well.
Their site as well as firmware updates are here:
http://www.i-odd.com
I must add that even Engadget Chinese had an article on these a while back. Note that the older version of the I-ODD is mentioned.
http://chinese.engadget.com/2009/06/03/computex-2009-iodds-optical-drive-emulation-hdd-enclosure/