> That said, does anyone know of software which will convert .dsk > images into real disks on the Apple II? I'm trying to avoid ADT > since looping one serial port to another sounds a tad inconvenient > when everything should be doable in software. (The IIe card's > software does allow for a 32 MB hard drive partiton after all.) > > Byron. >
I'll tell you what I do. It works with 99.9% of downloaded disk images unless they are corrupt. There are a couple catches. First is you have to know if the .DSK image files you download are DOS 3.3 order or ProDOS order. But if they have the .DSK extension, 99.9% of the time it is safe to assume they are DOS 3.3 order. The secod catch is that your Apple-series machine needs a 3.5" disk drive. I use a PC as my main Internet machine but if you use a Macintosh to access the Internet you will elimate a step here. Either way works just as well. A.) download the .DSK image to your PC (or Mac) B.) use TransMac or an equivalent Windows program to put your newly downloaded .DSK image files onto a Macintosh-formatted 1.4MB floppy. you can skip this step if you are downloading directly to the Mac. C.) copy the files from the floppy to your Mac. once on the Mac, use ResEdit to change the file type *AND* the file creator to "DISK" for ProDOS image files or to "DSK5" for DOS 3.3 image files. D.) get a hold of a Macintosh program called "ImageConverter". it is either freeware or shareware. i can't remember. i can give you a URL for it if you like. drag and drop any ResEdit-modified .DSK image files you want to turn into *real* floppies onto the ImageConverter application icon. when you've done this, ImageConverter will pop up a short menu with a few options for an output image format. choose the "Copy ][+" option and click OK. ImageConverter will create a new file with the extension ".IMG" E.) you need to get these new .IMG images to your Apple. if you have a ][GS you can just put them on an 800k-formatted Macintosh HFS disk as GS's System 6.0.1 will read Macintosh floppies. if you don't have a GS, you'll need to format an 800k ProDOS disk on your Apple and copy them from the Mac onto that. to be honest, i'm not sure what the first Macintosh OS that can read ProDOS disks is. I am using System 8.6 and i know that it *does* read ProDOS 800k floppies. F.) once you get them to your Apple, you are going to want to put them on your hard drive if you have one. if not, put them on a RAM disk. if you don't have one of those, put them onto a ProDOS formatted 800k floppy (if they're not already on one). it is very important that the capacity of the volume containing the image file is not the same as the capacity of the destination disk. so if you are wanting to create a "real" 5.25" disk from an image, DO NOT place the image onto a 5.25" floppy. more on this below. G.) finally, you're going to need Copy ][+ version 7.1. NOTE: the version is VERY IMPORTANT! versions later than 7.1 do NOT support image files, and I don't believe that versions prior to 7.1 do either. from the Copy ][+ main menu, choose the "Copy" function. next select the "Disk" option. when it asks for the SOURCE DISK, you are going to want to select the drive that contains the image files: your hard disk, RAM disk, etc. the TARGET DISK selection is going to be the drive that has the blank floppy you want to become the image. now if you followed step F correctly, Copy ][+ should tell you that the sizes of the two devices don't match and it will pop up a list of your .IMG files. go ahead and hilite one then press "G". you're off and should now have a "real" disk created from your image. if you didn't follow step F correctly, and you placed the image file(s) on a device with the same capacity as the Target disk, Copy ][+ will simply proceed to do a disk copy and you'll just end up with a duplicate of the disk that contains the images. Now I've just used quite a few words to describe a process that really takes quite a bit less time to perform than it did to type out the instructions. I'm sure I made it sound a lot more complicated than it really is. Once you've done it once or twice it becomes second nature quickly. Don't let my long-windedness discourage you. I can, on average, use the above process to make about 6 "real" 5.25" floppies from images in 10 minutes. The procedure is basically foolproof and the only time it won't work is if you come across an image that is corrupt (and there are a handful of those out there). Let me know if you have further questions. Good luck! -Nat -- Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
