A Glut of software, manuals etc for new PCW or Gotek owners. Enjoy :)

[Jasmin]

Perfect - this just the sort of thing I've been looking for to get started. Thanks so much for this!

[genesis8]

The other page I referred to is:

http://www.retroarchive.org/maslin/disks/amstrad/index.html

I don't know of a way to directly turn a .td0 into a .dsk, but I could do it within Joyce OK.

TD0 are disks images created with a msdos utility called Teledisk (Sydex). So it needs a retrocomputing computer.

[JohnElliott]

LibDsk can convert TD0 to DSK:

Code Select Expand

dskconv -otype dsk file.td0 file.dsk
You may even be able to do it with the dsktrans utility that comes with JOYCE.

Code Select Expand

dsktrans -otype dsk file.td0 file.dsk

[zzarko]

@PCWPIP Thank you for all those archives! That must have taken a lot of time to prepare!

[kitt_2000]

Hello friends, 

  I've arrived too late to this thread, does anybody have the files of the google drive links?

   If you have these files please upload them to the amstrad ftp server:

ftp://amstrad:amstrad@amstrad.serveftp.com
the incoming directory has write permission

There is more pcw and cpc software in this ftp.

Thank you.

[PCWPIP]

I only just saw this request, so for kitt_2000 and all new PCW owners here are ALL my PCW files (for a limited time):


https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1thYOQMYkXeStnWZ23WicgOxHKhqw08bf?usp=sharing

[kitt_2000]

Thank you very much, my friend.

[Boetz57]

I only just saw this request, so for kitt_2000 and all new PCW owners here are ALL my PCW files (for a limited time):


https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1thYOQMYkXeStnWZ23WicgOxHKhqw08bf?usp=sharing

WOW !!! It's just enormous!!!

I'm a "new" french PCW 8512 user:
last year, I rescued the venerable Amstrad that was lying around in my father's attic (-10°C in winter, +50°C in summer, full of dust, wasp nests, etc.). After putting a Gotek on Drive A, changing the belt on Drive B, and cleaning the dusty keyboard (which was creating loose electrical contacts), it booted up like a charm!!!
I came across your archive, brimming with discs, manuals, and other great tools of all kinds.
It's fantastic: enough to feed the venerable computer!!!

PS: I have a floppy disk containing a copy of Locoscript 2 "French version," but there are errors on the disk, which prevents me from using it.
If I manage to copy it, I'll post the .dsk image on this great site so someone can try to repair it... ;-)

[Boetz57]

Just 2 questions that are been bothering me:

Is it possible, for example via a ".fid driver", to have the Gotek (physically installed in drive A) detected as a "B drive" by the Amstrad (i.e., Double Sided / Double Density)? And of course, also let the vanilla physical B drive in its original location.
Like 2 DS/DD 720k drives onto the PCW 8512...?
This would allow you to quadruple-densify the .DSK images, which could be used as soon as the machine boots (and thus limit disk swaps...) ;-)

Is it possible to expand the physical memory to more than 512k (by using other memory chips, or mounting special cards on the expension port, and tweaking the PCW "EMS bios"...) ?

Kind regards.

[salvogendut]

Just jumped in the party with a PCW8256 !!!! Thanks @PCWPIP
Salvo

[Boetz57]

salvogendut: For me, the Download worked, but you must let time to Google to "zip" the files before downloading... (about 4.5Gb...!).

[JohnElliott]

Just 2 questions that are been bothering me:

Is it possible, for example via a ".fid driver", to have the Gotek (physically installed in drive A) detected as a "B drive" by the Amstrad (i.e., Double Sided / Double Density)? And of course, also let the vanilla physical B drive in its original location.
Like 2 DS/DD 720k drives onto the PCW 8512...?
This would allow you to quadruple-densify the .DSK images, which could be used as soon as the machine boots (and thus limit disk swaps...) ;-)

Is it possible to expand the physical memory to more than 512k (by using other memory chips, or mounting special cards on the expension port, and tweaking the PCW "EMS bios"...) ?

Kind regards.

1. Yes, it is possible - use CP/M 1.15 with a suitable A35.FIB file (indicating that drive A: is 3.5"). You do need a version of the Gotek that's been modified to return Not Ready when the motor is turned off, otherwise CP/M will hang on startup.
2. Yes, you can expand memory up to 2Mb with an external pack or with an internal Sprinter card. (I think Isenstein also made internal RAM expansions, but I've never seen one).

[Boetz57]

@JohnElliott, thank you very much for your replies!!! 
I'm delighted to be able to communicate directly with you on this forum, as I've been using your great Joyce emulator for some years now, and your website is full of information (although I often admit that my limited computer skills can only understand snippets...).

Of course, I now have other additional questions:

1. I'm therefore taking advantage of your extensive expertise to find out where I can get a copy of the "A35.FIB" file?
(could you please provide one yourself? (With the age of PCW, we could almost say that it's now in the "public domain"... )).
2. Similarly, without modifying the GOTEK's hardware, would setting it to "motor-delay = 200" (as indicated here) solve the hang-on-startup problem?

For the .FIB file, in "exchange," I'm linking my copy of LocoScript 2.32, French version.
Following my first message, I finally managed to preserve my old, faulty floppy disk (thanks to the "TK.COM" Toolkit found in the @PCWPIP archive. Thanks to him too!).
Actually, the ".dsk" image seems fine (DISCKIT verified), but when I try to launch it via my GOTEK (A: 180k), the PCW displays the black/green charging lines, and then freezes on a black screen, while the GOTEK screen remains stuck on Track n°16 (with its green LED lit steadily).
So, I tried to launch this image under Joyce, and I get the following error:
JOYCE fatal error
Failure on LibLink connection to lpt1:: No such file or directory
But when I close this error window, the image continues to load under Joyce, and I then access a "presumably" functional Locoscript.
So, I don't think it's related to the contents of the floppy disk, which now seems functional (see capture...).
3. So what could be the problem that's freezing the loading on the PCW8512?

Thanks in advance for your great help ;-)