STDISK
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STDISK diskimage writing utility v2.0b (b)- readme.txt
(c) 1999 8Hz Productions - http://www.8hz.com/stdisk
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- General Information ----------------------------------------------------------
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Because of the lack of any usable tools for making disks out of .st
image files, we have decided to have a go at such a tool.
Makedisk (latest v1.4) does not work for us, it usually goes on about bad
sectors/tracks and after pressing 'i' (ignore) a couple of billion times
it finishes after about 25 minutes. More than 1/2 the disks we've tried to
make did not work on my ST, STe or Mega ST4. Other options, like using the
tools fdformat and then dcopy work better, but give too much trouble.
I've tried the linux /dev/fd0xxxx devices to format floppies and copy/cat/dd
the images directly to them. Seems not to work too reliably and is a lot
of work also.
So, there :) We have hacked an alternative and we love it! It looks
kind of great (anachronism though it is), it seems to work pretty
reliably for the less exotic formats and again, we love it! Our first
attempt at a, kind of hardware oriented thingy. (Not counting the 'ol
assembler vga stuff).
The executable runs under MS-DOS or in a win95/win98/(NT) MS-DOS box.
It's a 16bit executable, so it should work on any Intel/Microsoft PC.
(NOTE: This is an assumption, not a fact :)
Our tool only makes DD floppies, but using HD floppies as such should work
(providing your ST will read them). It just takes a couple of minutes, including
formatting and writing/verifying, to make a disk.
Oh yeah... We are /not/ responsible for giving your floppy drive (or any other
part of your system) an early 'fare thee well'... You might want to check the
extensive disclaimer at the bottom of this page.
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- Helpscreen looks as follows --------------------------------------------------
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STDISK diskimage writing utility v2.0b (b)
(c)1999 8Hz Productions (http://www.8hz.com)
Usage: stdisk <drive> <file> [h:# t:# s:#] [v] (format/write)
stdisk <drive> h:# t:# s:# (format only)
stdisk <drive> <file> [h:# t:# s:#] w [v] (write only)
Where:
'drive' Can be one of: a or b
'file' Filename of image.
'h:#' Where '#' is number of heads. Default: 2.
't:#' Where '#' is number of tracks. Default: 80.
's:#' Where '#' is number of sectors. Default: 9.
'w' Write only.
'v' Enable verifying writes.
This is about it. If you leave out the h/t/s parameters, then the tool will
try to decide what disk parameters to use. If it cannot find an internal
setting to match the image, it will ask you to specify settings and exit.
Most general sizes are supported, though.
(!) Please note, that the tool will determine the file format (either .ST or
.MSA) from the extention of the file. When reading MSA files, the h/t/s
parameters are ignored and the parameters provided in the MSA header are used.
The 'v' switch enables verifying writes. It reads back a written track and
compares it to the original. Verifying the tracks after formatting is
enabled by default. Because this is a critical stage and writing on a
nonformatted disk is bogus anyway ;)
Leaving out a filename will result in formatting the disk only and as an added
feature the w flag will result in writing only.
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- Files in the archive ---------------------------------------------------------
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- stdisk.exe The program.
- readme.txt This here readme.
- test.zip A zipfile containing diskimages to test stdisk.
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- Testing stdisk --------------------------------------------------------------
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The 'test.zip' contains these images of valid formatted st disks :
- 360k.st Single sided 9 sector 80 track disk (standard ST format)
- 720k.st Double sided 9 sector 80 track disk (standard ST format)
- 720k.msa same but in uncompressed MSA file format
- 720k_com.msa same but in compressed MSA fileformat
- 729k.st Double sided 9 sector 81 track disk
- 738k.st Double sided 9 sector 82 track disk
- 800k.st Double sided 10 sector 80 track disk
- 810k.st Double sided 10 sector 81 track disk
- 820k.st Double sided 10 sector 82 track disk
- 880k.st Double sided 11 sector 80 track disk
- 891k.st Double sided 11 sector 81 track disk
- 902k.st Double sided 11 sector 82 track disk
You can use these to test if you can create floppies that your Atari ST will
read. There are images to test if your drive will write 9/10/11 sectors per
track and images to test if your drive will write beyond the standard 80 tracks.
(Actually the utility will do up to 12 sectors and up to 84 tracks).
They contain a file 'readme.txt', you can test if they work in your atari by
double clicking that file and 'show' it, it should read:
WOW !,
If you can read this on your ST,
you successfully wrote a diskimage !
Have fun with stdisk !
If your drive writes all these images successfully you'll be able to write
just about every ST image out there...
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- Future features --------------------------------------------------------------
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- Disk to file.
- With luck, better parameters for the floppydrives so 11 and 12 sectors give
less problems.
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- Known Bugs -------------------------------------------------------------------
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-This is a bit hairy... (It actually is not a bug.)
Some floppydrives are more flexible than others, so it can happen that one
particular format will work and another will not. It's worse than that.
Often it helps if you first format a couple of tracks of the disk with a
standard format: ie. h:2 t:80 s:9 *which sould work on all drives*. It seems
the floppy controller has calibrated the drive properly after this. Then
doing a nonstandard format works (usually).
For the same reason 9 and 10 sectors/track work nearly all the time, 11 and
12 sectors/track is difficult, your mileage may vary.
-NOTE:
This utility will not format (at this time anyway) nonstanderd disks that can
be read by MS-DOS.
-Floppy drive light stays on sometimes (minor detail in the grand scheme of
things).
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- Revision history -------------------------------------------------------------
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v2.0b (b): Wed Mar 10 23:59:55 CET 1999
- Fixed compressed MSA format writing. It didn't seem to work.
v2.0b (a): Mon Mar 8 22:59:21 CET 1999
- Added MSA file format support...
v1.0b (c): Wed Mar 3 23:33:12 CET 1999
- Fixed some minor bugs and other un-niceties. Notably:
- Added 'Format Only' and 'Write Only' options.
- Tweaked the DDPT parameters.
- Added more possible formats.
- Patched up this readme.
- What is this thing called 'life' you're always talkin'bout ?
v1.0b (b): Mon Mar 1 02:47:15 CET 1999
- Fixed number of bugs and other un-niceties. Notably:
- Fixed rogue output functions.
- Fixed semantics in format/verify loop. Prints sensible errors now (I hope).
- Fixed some string code.
- Added signal handler for 'SIGINT'. Resets system tables and resets drive
before exit. Now does the same on most fatal errors.
- Added another useless field in the output.
- Cleaned up code a bit.
- Written this here readme.
- Lost a substantial piece of my life (again). Personal note: 'Stop hacking,
start living'. Well, whatever...
v1.0b (a): Sun Feb 28 12:17:32 CET 1999
- STDISK has first seen the day of light...
- Cost us about a weekend of our lives.
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- Disclaimer -------------------------------------------------------------------
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You can distribute this utility to all your friends, but
please note the following:
THE PROGRAM MAY NOT BE ALTERED IN ANY WAY AND ALL
ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS HAVE TO BE INCLUDED.
NO PART OF THIS PRODUCT MAY BE COMMERCIALLY REDISTRIBUTED
IN ANY WAY WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS.
-THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT
PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE
STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER
PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF IT
(THE PROGRAM) BEING MERCHANTABLE AND FIT FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, PLEASE
CONTACT THE WRITERS. ANY GUARRANTEES DO NOT COVER
ADDITIONS AND/OR CHANGES TO THE SOFTWARE.
-THE COPYING, INSTALLATION AND USE OF THE PROGRAM IS AT
YOUR OWN RISK. IN NO EVENT WILL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL,
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM
(INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD
PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY
OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
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