Fluenz French (f2) Level 1 [WIN + MAC]

!!!-- INSTRUCTIONS ARE BEING UPDATED --!!!


New Instructions (Windows only)

[1] Install Alcohol 120% - Free Edition or Trial Version
- If you already have Alcohol 120% then you can probably skip this step.
- Other programs may work (such as Daemon Tools), but I am currently only supporting the use of Alcohol 120%.

[2] Extract the Fluenz disc image from the "Fluenz French (f2) Level 1.7z" file
- Use 7-zip or another program that supports [.7z].

[3] Mount the disc image
- The disc image is composed of 2 files: a [.mdf] file and a [.mds] file. It does not matter which file you select.
- You can open Alcohol and add the disc image in the program, or right-click the disc image and choose "Mount Image"

[4] The disc should mount and prompt to run the Fluenz setup. You can choose to run from the disc or install to the hard drive.


This has been tested using Alcohol 120% Trial 2.0.2.5830 and Alcohol 120% Free Edition 2.0.2.5830 FE on fresh installs with full updates of the following systems:
- Windows Vista Home Basic / Home Premium / Business / Ultimate (SP2) 32-bit / 64-bit
- Windows 7 Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate (SP1) 32-bit / 64-bit

Other versions of Windows and OSX will be tested in the future. If you cannot get Fluenz to work, try using a virtual machine such as VirtualBox (free) or Parallels for Mac and one of the operating systems listed above.


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Old Instructions


Intro

These are updated (v2) instructions for Fluenz French version f2, for both Windows and Mac.

This is not a cracked version of Fluenz. It is a direct copy of the original DVD, including the SecuROM disc protection. This means if you want to burn or mount the image file on Windows* you will need to install software that supports RMPS emulation. If you do not have such a program or utility installed, Fluenz will most likely not work for you. If you wish to use Fluenz on a Mac, the process is much simpler and no extra programs are required.

*Apparently this copy of Fluenz will not work on Windows 8 (as I’ve been told it needs an update). I do not have Windows 8 nor do I currently have access to Windows 8 to try and resolve this issue.

All of the programs required to successfully run Fluenz on Windows are either free in whole or have free trial versions available. I have tested all programs mentioned in these instructions to both mount the image and burn to a disc (when available) and they worked for me. You can check the Validation.txt file in the torrent for more information regarding this process.

If you use any program that does not support RMPS emulation to mount or burn the image, most likely you will receive an error message when trying to run Fluenz claiming you are using a backup disc and you will not be able to use the software!

The instructions included here are basic and are provided only to inform you of the options and issues regarding the successful use of the Fluenz software. More detailed instructions are included in the torrent. Please read those instructions carefully.


 
Overview of Methods

Mounting the image file (WIN) -- you will need to use a program that supports RMPS emulation, otherwise Fluenz will not work. I can only vouch for the following programs (these versions or newer):
Alcohol 120% Version 2.0.2 or newer
- http://www.filefacts.com/alcohol-120-info
Alcohol 52% FE Version 2.0.2* or newer
- http://www.filefacts.com/alcohol-52-free-edition-info
Daemon Tools Pro Advanced Version 5.3.0 or newer
- http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtproAdv#features
SCSI Pass Through Direct (SPTD) Layer Version 1.84 or newer
- This is a not a standalone program. It is a utility that provides extra access functionality to storage devices (physical or virtual). Installing this utility should allow you to successfully mount Fluenz using any other disc-mounting program not mentioned here, such as MagicDisc.
- http://www.duplexsecure.com/downloads/

* The Alcohol 52% FE installer will try to trick you into installing a bunch of extra stuff, so be cautious. The installation process is covered in more detail in the instructions provided in the torrent so you don’t end up with all sorts of unwanted programs and toolbars (see “2_Installing Alcohol 52.pdf”).

Mounting the image file (MAC) – Change the extension of the .MDF file to .ISO - you should then be able to mount the ISO normally and run Fluenz.

Burning the image file (WIN) -- you will need to use a program that supports burning RMPS:
Alcohol 120% Version 2.0.2 or newer
Daemon Tools Pro Advanced Version 5.3.0 or newer

Burning the image file (MAC) -- change the extension of the .MDF file to .ISO and then use Disk Utility to burn the ISO to a DVD.

DVD burner -- you will need a DVD burner that supports writing RAW DAO and sub-channel data, otherwise Fluenz may not work if you try burning a disc. There are various ways to check your drive for this. Using Alcohol 120/52 (for Windows) and checking System Profiler (for Mac) are the methods I cover in the instructions included in the torrent. Or you can do a web search and find a different method.

The aforementioned programs and methods are ones that I have used successfully and I recommend. The use of any other programs may not yield successful results.


 
Using the software - Windows

There are three ways you can run the Fluenz software on Windows. Detailed instructions (including screenshots) are included in the torrent, and it is highly advised that you read those instructions!

1) Mount the image file and run program
2) Burn image to a disc and run program
3) Mount or burn image and install to hard drive*

*Least convenient option and IMO, is pointless.

Option 1
Probably the most convenient. Mount the disc image to a virtual drive using a program that supports RMPS emulation, otherwise Fluenz will not work.

More detailed instructions (including screenshots) on how to successfully mount the image using Alcohol 120/52 and Daemon Tools Pro Advanced are included in the torrent. Please read those instructions otherwise Fluenz will not work!!!

Option 2
Burn the image to a DVD using a program that supports RMPS, otherwise Fluenz will not work.

More detailed instructions (including screenshots) for successfully burning the image to a disc using Alcohol 120 and Daemon Tools Pro Advanced are included in the torrent. Please read those instructions otherwise Fluenz will not work!!!

CAVEAT! - You need a DVD burner that supports writing RAW DAO and sub-channel data. You can check your drive using Alcohol 120/52 to see if it supports these writing methods. There are other programs and ways to check your drive. The internet is your friend.

Option 3
Fluenz provides the options to install to the hard drive or run from the disc. If you install to the hard drive, Fluenz will ask you to insert the disc once every five times you run the program. To "insert the disc" you can either mount the image file or insert a DVD copy.

This is the least convenient option since you will still need to mount or burn the image file to even access this option. Rather than installing to the hard drive, mounting the image to a virtual drive and running Fluenz directly from there will give you the same performance as installing to the hard drive, but without any error messages once every five times. Running Fluenz directly from a DVD also works but will result in slower loading times of the program.

 

Using the software - Mac

Running Fluenz on Mac does not require any special programs or utilities, though the options for running the program are the same as with Windows:

1) Mount the image file and run program
2) Burn image to a disc and run program
3) Mount or burn image and install to hard drive

Option 1
The image file is an MDF/MDS pair (similar to BIN/CUE images). Change the extension of the .MDF file to .ISO - Example: Rename “Fluenz French (f2) Level 1.mdf” to “Fluenz French (f2) Level 1.iso”.
You should then be able to mount the image file by double-clicking on it.

Option 2
This option requires that you follow Option 1 first. Rename the .MDF file to .ISO and then use Disk Utility to burn the ISO to a DVD. This DVD will load on Mac as well as Windows.

Option 3
Running Fluenz from a mounted disk image will allow you the opportunity to install Fluenz to the hard drive. On Windows, I suggest not doing this since it will ask you to insert the disk once every five times you run the program. However, this does not happen on Macs. You can install Fluenz to the hard drive and run it as many times as you want and you shouldn’t* get a message requiring you to insert the disk.

*I say should because I have only tested this on OSX 10.6. This may be different on newer versions of OSX.

Because of the simplicity of running Fluenz on a Mac, no extra detailed instructions are provided. If you are using OSX 10.6, Fluenz may require you to install Rosetta. It will provide Rosetta for you, just click “Install” on the message box. I found it helpful to restart my computer after installing Rosetta as my computer had trouble reading the Fluenz DVD otherwise (both with running Fluenz from the disc and installing it to the hard drive).


 
System requirements

Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
Intel Macs, OS X 10.5 and above, including Mountain Lion
DVD-ROM drive
1 GB of RAM
1 GHz processor speed
Resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher
Video card
16 bit sound card

“If you want to take full advantage of the Fluenz recording engine, your computer must have a microphone. All Fluenz applications support both standard and USB microphones. They also support most internal microphones on laptops, but we can't guarantee that all types will be compatible.”

 

Other comments

Please read the instructions provided here and the more detailed instructions provided in the torrent. As long as you follow the instructions, you should have no problems, assuming you don’t have a weird system configuration or some setting or program that interferes with any of the processes mentioned here. Again, using any program not mentioned in the instructions is at your own risk, nor will I make any effort to help you if you do so. I have provided enough information and resources for anyone to get Fluenz working with the programs listed (assuming you’re not using Windows 8).


I spent a good deal of time creating and testing these image files to ensure that they work under a variety of scenarios, as well as providing you with adequate information and resources regarding the successful use of the software. Please do not complain about anything. As far as I know, no one else is offering all levels of Fluenz French (I assure you that I will upload subsequent levels if this one is successful), and paying nothing for software that would otherwise cost $398 for the full Fluenz French package is a pretty damn good deal. However, that being said, I fully support the Fluenz team and what they are doing. I have tried many other language learning programs including Rosetta Stone, Rocket Languages, Pimsleur, Mango Languages, Colloquial Series, Living Language, Teach Yourself, For Dummies, and others. I believe that Fluenz is the best computer-based language learning program out there, and definitely one of the top language learning programs overall. So if you can, please support Fluenz by actually purchasing their products. They dedicate a significant amount of time and resources into crafting each language pack, essentially building the program from scratch for each language. Fluenz is not a cookie-cutter program like Rosetta Stone!