Hello,
Is there any prog that will allow the creation of a disk image file ACTUALLY ON a PCW? I assume a .DSK would be OK, or even a 'raw' image. Anything really. A prog for a CPC that runs under CP/M might still be OK.
All the ones I know about actually run on a PC. But someone asks about something that will do the job right on the PCW.
Geoff
If you have any C source code, you can try to compile it under CP/M because it should be just an open file, and start outputing a known bunch of chars until you have the DSK.
With some little fight I was cable to compile an Amiga C code for extracting info from an IDE device, working with the Symbiface II IDE, so this should be easier!!
The problem I see is how do you get your image out of the PCW?
I mean, is he transferring it to a 3.5" disk or via serial port? Otherwise what's the point?
Sorry, I should have clarified that.
He has a PCW with both 3" and 3.5" drives. So the images would primarily be of the 3", then transferred via the 3.5". But could of course be an image of the 3.5, saved to M:, and then moved to PC via a 3.5" disk. Of course, easier to do the images of the 3.5" disks on the PC to start with!
Geoff
For example an DSK of a Vortex disc is 761 KB in size....
Then M needs at least 761 KB space (for a 3.5" 80 Track, DS, DS, 0.7 MB disc). But even an 3.5" MS-DOS disc only provides 720 KB. So you would need to compress the DSK at least a little bit.
Hmm, yes.
Good point.
I should have remembered that the size of the disk image MUST be more than the FILE SPACE available on the disk! Obvious when you think about it!
I'll have to draw that to the attention of the person asking!!
Geoff
Well, one could easily "compress" by not saving empty sectors (filled with &E5) to the DSK, but then it wouldn't be a DSK any longer. So it would need that 'simple uncompress' on PC side.
You could use Elliott's DSKWRITE to write the DSK on the PCW.
I don't remember if Elliott's DU has DSKs writting capabilities.
Hello,
Sorry, but DSKWRITE is not relevant.
This prog is used to write a disk from a DSK image, already created. It supports a .DQK file as well as a .DSK, which sounded interesting, regarding the file size problems already discussed.
However, we need to create the .DSK file in the first place. That's the problem. DSKWRITE doesn't do that, as far as I can see?? Creating the .DQK would be a help too, rather than having to create a DSK and then squeeze it.
Geoff
Greetings all,
I'd sent a message directly to John Elliott.
I've just got a reply, he says the DU54 system you can get from his website will allow this.
Will not handle any copy protection.
Need 2 @ 720k floppy drives (which my contact does have!).
DU54 will ALSO allow the creation of an 800k format (I assume 10 sectors per track instead of the usual 9) giving a file space of 786k which will be enough for the image file of 768k.
I understand from John's website that DU54 is a pretty big system itself!! Need to see how it goes??
Thanks all.
Geoff