How do I create a actual CPM boot disk from a .DSK file

[RobertM]

Hi, Please save my sanity!

I have a M4 board and I am trying to create a CPM boot disk on the CPC with a 3.5" FDD from a .dsk file on the M4 SD card!!!

I have tried everything I can think of and now so much has changed I can't even work out what drive letters to use.

I have loaded HDCPM and it works fine but I don't know how to point disckit3 to the cpm.dsk file/directory in the SD card to get the hidden system files.

The whole thing is a god damned endless loop you can so so so easily create a CP/M boot disk if you have a CP/M boot disk!!! insanity. But why the god I don't know, did someone decide that you need a working boot disk to create a boot disk. I don't even have a 3" floppy drive, only a 3.5"

I have been trying this for three week or more. I want to recreate the original disks that came with the machine and use the CPC6128 without the M4 Board. I have the disc images in .dsk files.

I did see something that can take a file written by windows on a 720kB disk format and make a cpc format disk from that but it doesn't say that it will do boot disks with a reserved system sector. I have ordered a USB 720kB/1.44MB floppy to try ... to further destroy any remaining sanity.

I'm sitting here contemplating connection an ATMEGA2560 Arduino to a 3.5 FDD and transferring the sectors from flash. I have started reading on the .dsk format so I can convert it to a sector based binary file.

Now if I just read Soft968 I'll be good to go :S from memory it was hundreds of pages long!

Someone out there must have solved this problem before. I bet they're bald now!!!! God all my hair is on the floor!!!

There are 2 CP/Ms that came with the CPC 6128 here 2.2 and 3

[Audronic]

RobertM

This afternoon I have just made a similar disk

? Do you have a gotek? And a way of having Parados available.

3.5" drive as Drive A
Gotek as Drive B

If you do then :-

|Drive. Will run Parados

Shift C to Configure
Press F to set the format up
Up arrow to Romdos D1 block
Press ENTER 3 times and PCW formats will be ENABLED
Scroll down to OK

Put xxxx.DSK in gotek and select it (Drive B)
Put BLANK (ERASED) DOUBLE DENSITY ONLY Disk in 3.5" drive

Shift L to logon Drive B

Shift B to Backup Choose A

Press return and it should make you a copy

Have fun

Keep Safe

Ray

 

[HAL6128]

I have loaded HDCPM and it works fine but I don't know how to point disckit3 to the cpm.dsk file/directory in the SD card to get the hidden system files.

With the target you want to copy hidden/system files you could change the attribute to dir-files and copy them via pip commamd. Is it that what you want? Or do you mean hidden/system tracks? That would require another command.

Copying a DSK is possible with the application M4FE (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/M4FE_-_A_front-end_for_M4) DSK to Disc transfering

[ComSoft6128]

Use a disc copier (Discology, Xexor, Nirvana etc) to copy the entire source .dsk to a physical disc.

[d_kef]

The whole thing is a god damned endless loop you can so so so easily create a CP/M boot disk if you have a CP/M boot disk!!! insanity. But why the god I don't know, did someone decide that you need a working boot disk to create a boot disk

Well, I think that most software houses and OS producers would like you to have purchased their software before allowing you to make "backup" copies of it. 
That said, you can also boot Symbos and use the DiskDeDumper utility (dskddump.exe). It works most of the times.

d_kef

[RobertM]

Fair enough but that works both ways. I am wanting to make this disk to use with the machine it was purchased with in the first place. What else is the disk useful for? it doesn't work with anything else.

The concept of "thou shalt pay royalties at every opportunity for the same copy-write" is what destroyed the music industry. History has proven it a failed business model and it is now only used by failed businesses.

That's why when you buy a version of Windows, you have it for life and Microsoft goes to great lengths to ensure that.

If you force people to pay for something they have already paid for then they quickly look somewhere else. With music they dumped the entire industry and now musicians are going to effectively brokers who are ripping them off.

Anyway - I got a bit off track there.
I'm giving the situation a rest for a while to preserve my sanity. I will see if I can load Symbos with only 128kB, I will start with a fresh SD card. In the mean time I think I will make a SD card with just games.

Thanks.

Also I am all ears for any other easier suggestions.