On 3 Oct 98 at 16:09, Mark wrote:
> On Thu, 01 Oct 1998 Max Eskin wrote:
> >Is there a device that would allow _any_ disk, independently of
> >format, including Apple ][ disks, to be read? I know Teledisk can do
> >this for all conventional formats, but not Apple disks. It would be
> >nice to connect one of these and read the disk image into a file.
> >The main reason why I ask is for rescuing messed up floppies...
>
> There is a product called Catweasel which is available for the Amiga and PC
> (ISA card). This is a floppy disk controller which is capable of reading and/or
> writing many disk formats.
>
> According to a magazine article that I have in front of me, the ISA version
> currently supports (amongst others) Amiga DD & HD, Apple II, Mac 400K & 800K,
> Commodore 1541 & 1571. I don't know whether reading Mac 400K & 800K disks
> requires a non-standard type of 3.5" drive or not.
>
> PC software support is apparently not too good at the moment, meaning that you
> will have to write your own code for more exotic disk formats. The supplied
> MS-DOS programs require a 486 for no good reason. A Linux driver is supplied,
> but this is object code only, not source. (IMO trying to keep the software that
> accesses the card private like this is a really silly thing to do.)
>
> Anyway, the URL given was http://www.jshoenfeld.com/eindex.html
>
While Catweasel purportedly works well on an Amiga, from all reports including
the info on it's home page ,the PC version leaves much to be desired. Oh well
it's a start. Something for PCs like Sydecs 22 disk would be lovely.
>
> On Thu, 1 Oct 1998 Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
> >Atari ST uses DOS format in the first place. Amiga can be read on the PC by
> >Amiga emulators. C64, I have no idea, but I know at least you could use a
> >C128 to copy files to CP/M format.
>
Atari's format is based on the MSDOS but not all Atari disks can be read by
DOS. PC's added an identifying header on disks which the Atari doesn't use.
There are also programs that can format additional sectors to expand the disks
beyond 720k. Many of the old ST Format 'zine's free disks used to be formatted
with extra sectors so that they could cram more PD on disks. There was a rumor
that Fastcopy Pro could format the Rainbow quaddensity 5 1/4 SS disks. Haven't
tried it since I don't yet have a 5 1/4 hooked up to my ST. FCpro could also
format different step-rates and additional sectors as well as SS and DS disks.
> Amiga disks cannot be read by normal PC disk controllers.
>
When I get a Workbench disk for my newly acquired Amiga 2000 I'm going to
see if FCpro will copy the Amiga 880k format. Would be a solution to transfer
problems from the net.
Now if I could only find an easy way around the bastard Mac Plus and earlier
800k format.
> You can make a cable to hook up a 1541 disk drive to a PC or Amiga and read
> files or disk images using this.
>
I take it you're referring to the X1541 cable. I wasn't aware that it could be
used with Amigas. That looks promising.
>
> -- Mark
>
ciao larry
lwalker_at_interlog.com
Received on Sat Oct 03 1998 - 14:23:34 BST