Howto open .daa files (Direct-Access-Archive) under Linux / UNIX

Posted on in Categories , , last updated July 24, 2008

Q. How do I open .daa file under Linux or UNIX or Windows?

A. You need to use PowerISO for Linux (windows xp/vista/2000 user see below)– This is a free utility for linux which can extract, list, and convert image files (including ISO, BIN, DAA, and other formats). Type “poweriso -? ” for detailed usage information. It is a disk image format that supports advanced features, such as compression, password protection, and splitting to multiple volumes.

Update: Checkout AcetoneISO – a GUI utility for Linux and the disk image emulator that mounts images of DVD and CD media. It can open your .daa file.

Open .daa file – Linux only program

Download poweriso here. Or use wget program:
$ wget http://poweriso.com/poweriso-1.2.tar.gz
$ tar -zxvf poweriso-1.2.tar.gz
$ ls
Output:

poweriso

Task: list all files and directories in root direcory of /mnt/iso/obsd39/cd39.iso

$ ./poweriso list /mnt/iso/obsd39/cd39.iso /
$ ./poweriso list /mnt/iso/obsd39/cd39.iso / -r

Convert files/directories from .daa image file

Convert image file to other format. For example convert image.daa to standard iso file, enter:
$./poweriso convert image.daa -o image.iso -ot iso

Extract files/directories from image file

Extract all files and directories in root directory of /mnt/iso/obsd39/cd39.iso to /tmp recursively:
$ ./poweriso extract image.iso / -od /tmp

Task: Display help

Type poweriso -? for help:
$ ./poweriso -?

Open daa file – MS Windows only program

You need to use special shareware program called PowerISO to open .daa extension files. This program only works under MS-Windows. See PowerISO web site for more information.

Download PowerISO

Download a free copy of PowerISO (trial version i.e. try it before you purchase software) for MS-Windows.

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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25 comment

  1. Just noticed that PowerISO have now released a free extractor/converter for Linux – it worked fine for me. From their website:-

    PowerISO for Linux — This is a free utility for linux which can extract, list, and convert image files (including ISO, BIN, DAA, and other formats). Type ” poweriso -? ” for detailed usage information. File Size: 253KB

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  3. Note for PowerPPC Linux users: The Linux version is a i386 binary only, so don’t bother downloading it…

    I don’t understand why somebody uses a single platform (i386) closed source compression utility when there are many better, more compatible, open source utilities available.

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  6. “Please have some patient while your comments go through all these anti-spam technologies.”

    Er, I’m not a doctor, you probably mean “Please have some patience”? ;)

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  9. skOre: Actually, AcetoneISO is using PowerISO (and several other existing converters). Without these converters, AcetoneISO is nothing; without PowerISO, AcetoneISO can’t access DAA files at all.

    AcetoneISO may even be illegal, violating PowerISO’s license and GPL, since it’s distributed under GPL and PowerISO is a copyrighted close-source program.

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  11. to sebestien: in fact AcetoneISO uses poweriso to convert and there is nothing to be shamed of it since it’s proprietary. did you see the new AcetoneISO2? it’s not a simple program anymore, it is in qt4 and handles ISO BIN MDF NRG IMG and mounts them in automatic without needing destination , shows them on display and much more.

    saying “AcetoneISO is nothing” is just a free offense to their work. and you know what? the new version doesn’t inlude poweriso but it will download as an external program only when needed. so it is not illegal.
    c ya

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  16. Hi, I have a problem once with a zip file. I tried to open it with fileroller and ark, both should work to open that file but they wouldn’t. I installed wine and I ran winrar succesfully to open the file. You could do the same but with IsoBuster or PowerISO.

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  18. I followed your instructions. Unfortunately, after accessing the file, the system comes back with a message:

    “File version mismatch. To open this file, please visit our website to get the latest version.”

    Can you advise on what to do?
    Thanks.
    Jayne

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  22. There is a much better option than converting… direct use / mount .daa files…

    For Linux: use CDemu it can mount .daa (with compression and encryption also) directly as a VirtualCD unit (Note: cdemud must be running as daemon, better if –bus-type=system)

    For Windows: use MagicDisc, or any other Freeware VirtualCD/DVD

    Why you all people tell others only conversion utilities? While there exist direct mount utilities.

    In my personal case i have more than one thousand CDs ripped to .daa on an external USB disc… when i need one i mount the file as a virtual cd drive (no matter if i use Linux or Windows) and use it as if i had converted and burned to a CD-R… also is valid for DVDs.

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  23. @Vivek Gite,

    Hi, I took the liberty to translate your post in French on my blog, indeed I add a notification about you and link to original post.

    You can find it here

    Feel free to e-mail me, if you want me to remove it.

    Keep going
    max

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