Is Catweasel still around?
On 5/30/18, Mike Stein <[email protected]> wrote: > In general it's not the drive but the controller that controls whether the > format is FM or MFM. Many PC controllers can do both FM and/or MFM no > problem; in fact, some formats use both on the same disk. > > I don't see any fundamental reason why you couldn't read/write a TPDD disk > on a 'standard' PC drive but I don't have a drive or disks to try. > > m > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Stephen Adolph > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2018 7:28 PM > Subject: Re: [M100] TPDD Utility Disk > > > Only an fm drive can make a tppd disc. Mfm can't > Do It. > > > https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_Frequency_Modulation > > > > > Translation...a standard 3.5 drive can't work. But the idea of a program > to make a boot disc is possible provided you have a good Tpdd. > > > > > > On Tuesday, May 29, 2018, Kevin Becker <[email protected]> wrote: > > Unless the pictures on eBay are wrong, mine is definitely a TPDD. > > > > > > On May 29, 2018, at 7:01 PM, Brian White <[email protected]> wrote: > > > If what you have is a TPDD-2 and not a TPDD, I can supply a copy for > TPDD-2. Send me an address off-list and I'll mail it tomorrow. > > > > Conversely I would like a copy for TPDD myself if anyone is willing to > either make me one, or trust me with mailing me theirs and I'll mail it back > after making a copy myself. > > > From what I've been able to tell, although people have tried and > failed for 30 years, it actually *should* be physically possible to generate > a new disk purely from a download, as long as you have a real drive and a > working special cable. After all, the included floppy dos + backup.ba does > it, and the drive is controlled entirely by mere serial communication which > anything can do. > > > A little progress has been made recently wrt recording the entire > serial conversation during a backup, but it still has not yet gone all the > way to being able to generate a disk from scratch from a download. > I think the tools are there to at least work on it and eventually get > there. So if you want an interesting project that hasn't already been solve > at least 7 different times over the decades, yet looks within reach, there > it is. :) > > > You absolutely need a working TPDD or TPDD-2 drive to make these > though, even if you use a modern pc to control it. It's not just a matter of > an odd number of tracks or sectors or other formatting. The raw magnetic > format is FM instead of MFM which all pc drives & drive controllers use. No > amount of special software can overcome that! > > > > > > On Tue, May 29, 2018 at 4:58 PM, Kevin Becker <[email protected]> > wrote: > > A little deeper googling is leading me to believe there is a special > floppy_sys file on the utility disk that nobody has figured out how to > recreate. I'll try it anyway when it arrives but If that ends up being the > case, then I wonder if there is anyone on the list who would be willing to > make my a utility disk. I'd be happy to send a blank disk and a > self-addressed stamped envelope. > > > > > > > On Tue, May 29, 2018 at 4:38 PM, Tom Dison <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Ah that's a good question, is like to know also. > > > On Tue, May 29, 2018 at 3:29 PM Kevin Becker > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I don’t mean with a PC. I should already be able to use the > drive via TS-DOS so I’m assuming I can just copy floppy.co to my M102 using > desklink and then save it to the TPDD. I’m just wondering if that is good > enough or if there is some special boot sector magic necessary. > > On May 29, 2018, at 3:55 PM, Tom Dison <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > I don't believe you can create one with a PC floppy > controller. I'd buy a copy off of someone is I could. For now, I'm planning > on using the python library on Linux box connected to the drive to create > the disk. I'd much rather just have the floppy. > > > On Tue, May 29, 2018 at 2:31 PM Kevin Becker > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I've been watching eBay on and off for a TPDD or TPDD2 > complete with cable at a reasonable price for what feels like forever. I > finally pulled the trigger on one today but doesn't include the utility > diskette. > > > I already have a REX with TS-DOS and I know how to bootstrap > TEENY if necessary, but I'd like to have a utility disk with floppy.co just > for the fun of it. I believe I found floppy.co in an archive on the Club100 > site. Is there anything special about the utility disk or can I just save > floppy.co to any formatted disk and then be able to use it to bootstrap > floppy.co later? > -- > > Faith without Works is Dead... > > -- > > Faith without Works is Dead... > > > > > > > -- > > bkw >
