Copying copy-protected dumps to real disks?

[khaz]

Hi, I've been trying to copy .dsk over to real 3.5 floppies, but some of them give me trouble. More surprising is that they load fine in WinAPE.

Take Head over Heels for example. I tried to copy the original dump found on cpc-power to a real floppy, either via cpcdiskxp (with and without "use dsk gap information"), or via the HxC and Discology6+ as ROM. Both give me a disk that loads for a while, then stop at a black screen. I never get to the loading picture. The HxC doesn't load it either. The same dsk loads fine in WinAPE.

Am I doing something wrong? Are you able to load the original dump on real hardware?

I know I could just use the cracked dsk, but I'm interested in the preservation and reproduction of the original data.

[pelrun]

Some formats cannot be physically written by the CPC hardware, although they can be read.


You can manage it for some copy protected formats by connecting the cpc drive to a PC and using SAMdisk (http://simonowen.com/samdisk/) which leverages the much more powerful disk controller in the PC.

[khaz]

Thank you. I tried SAMdisk to copy the dsk to a 3.5, but with the same results. the disk CAT fine and the programme starts loading, but I end up with a black screen.

Regarding to what you said about the CPC being able to read some format but not write them, shouldn't that mean that the HxC should be able to load the game properly?

[Kris]

2 possibilities:
- Super Card Pro
- Kryoflux

[khaz]

2 possibilities:
- Super Card Pro
- Kryoflux

Fair enough. I hoped the PC floppy controller would be able to do it though.

[CraigsBar]

Let me have a look tomorrow. I have access to a PC with a catweasel floppy controller so might be able to do these.

Sent from my ONEPLUS 3t using Tapatalk

[merlinkv]

I have Kryoflux board ... can't write Amstrad dsk files.

Tested original dump of HoH with the last SAMDisk version ... 3.8.10 ... the game works 100%

Use AMSDOS (not PARADOS or other) and set the 3.5" as drive A: (I have an switch on my units to set the FDD A or B)

I hope this help.

[khaz]

I have Kryoflux board ... can't write Amstrad dsk files.

Tested original dump of HoH with the last SAMDisk version ... 3.8.10 ... the game works 100%

Use AMSDOS (not PARADOS or other) and set the 3.5" as drive A: (I have an switch on my units to set the FDD A or B)

I hope this help.

what command and dsk did you use?

[merlinkv]

Hi,

I use the standard command ... SAMDisk HoH.dsk A:

The image I use is very old but appears to be a dump from the 1987 UK original version (but I'm not sure 100%).

I've attached screen captures of the dsk content readed with CPCDiskXP 2.5.1

Track 1, Sector 8 is not an standard sector (protection?) but everything works ... game loads fine and I can play without problems.

Admins/Mods ... it's allowed to upload the dsk?

[khaz]

No need for further testing, turns out my X-MEM was interfering somehow. I unplugged it and the original copy loaded fine. Something (a ROM or the extra RAM?) prevents the original copy to load. I used cpcdiskxp and SAMDisk to copy it on a 3.5 in XP and both were fine. I copied the original image to a 3" with the HxC and Discology, and it runs fine too. Cracked copies have no problem either way (and load much faster).

I found the dsk here http://cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&onglet=dumps&num=1066
and also just tried this one http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=dldir;sa=details;lid=648

Sorry for the confusion.



To make it a broader subject, do we have a list of confirmed images that can't be written by the CPC?
Same question but by a PC with SAMDisk or cpcdiskxp?

[merlinkv]

To make it a broader subject, do we have a list of confirmed images that can't be written by the CPC?
Same question but by a PC with SAMDisk or cpcdiskxp?

A list of confirmed images? Uffff will be a big list ... 1000+ ....