Questions about Central Point Deluxe Option board

From: Fred Cisin <cisin_at_xenosoft.com>
Date: Mon Jul 1 14:25:44 2002

> > Actually, I didn't notice any RAM on the board that was scanned
> > and put up on the web. But I did notice a little 8-pin chip that
> > I didn't recognise. A Google search for "UM8326" revealed

On Mon, 1 Jul 2002, Eric Smith wrote:
> That's a data separator for FM and MFM data. Using that chip, there is
> no way to read other formats like GCR. So it's not equivalent to the
> Central Point stuff.
> no way to read other formats like GCR. So it's not equivalent to the
> Central Point stuff.

Is, or is not, the picture being discussed a picture of an option board?

> The Central Point boards let the software read the raw data from the
> drive at a point *before* any data separation would be done in a "normal"
> disk controller.

The option board was designed for making unauthorized copies of copy
protected software. Being able to read non-MFM diskettes was a bonus, NOT
part of the original primary design goals. It actually has some serious
difficulties with trying to read some non-MFM formats. If it uses a
UM8326, that could account for some of the problems.

'course being able to read some other stuff was VERY handy, in being able
to point to a use for it OTHER THAN piracy. Brown of Central Point was
VERY adament that the board was NOT a tool for piracy, even though that's
all that most folks ever used it for.
Received on Mon Jul 01 2002 - 14:25:44 BST