Hmmm, so Sam DOS numbers tracks from 0, but sectors from 1? Or am I suffering a deficit of logic?
Follow-on questions - does Pro-DOS use 9 or 10 sector tracks and/or is there a CP/M tool for imaging Sam format disks, I guess to multiple floppies if necessary? I guess it's best to contact Edwin directly with Atom Lite purchase questions, but it sounds like a compact flash formatted for use with the Atom is readable only by Sim Coupe? The Atom won't read disk images from a FAT32 volume on the compact flash and just make them looks like dfisks to the Sam? And I guess a Trinity Ethernet thingy from Quazar is equivalent to an Atom Lite from a storage point of view? I was actually thinking of getting a compact flash for my Nintendo DS and trying some homebrew - have you any opinion on the ease of porting Sim Coupe? The DS's native screen resolution of 256x192 is almost begging for it. On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 9:10 AM, Simon Owen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thomas Harte wrote: >> >> Although I'm aware that my USB drive may be hard coded somehow not to >> support anything other than the PC layout > > That's pretty much it I'm afraid! USB floppy drives are seen as simple > block devices, and the linear->CHS mapping is done inside the unit. I > believe DD disks will always be treated as 9-sector 720K (and HD as > 18-sector 1.44M), so be missing the 10th sector of each SAM track. > > I have heard rumours of USB drives with an unofficial way to change the > geometry mapping in the drive, but I've yet to find one myself. Until > someone creates something like a USB CatWeasel, you'll be unable to access > 10-sector disks on a Mac. > > >> Even if I can't image original disks, is there any way I could use this >> drive for some sort of data transfer? > > You'd be much better off with an Atom Lite board in the drive 2 slot, so you > can share a Compact Flash card between SAM and SimCoupe. It's faster, > easier and more reliable than dealing with floppies. Edwin can provide them > if you're interested. > > The USB drive situation could be improved, with specially crafted disks that > lock out the 10th sector on each track. SimCoupe could assist by returning > matching dummy contents for the inaccessible directory and data sectors. > You still wouldn't be able to use existing 10-sector SAM disks, but 90% of > the space would be usable on new ones. > > Si >
