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+----- Thread: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks (/showthread.php?tid=265)
Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - GeoKM - 11-26-2015
Hi Jim,
Just got my new SCP, thanks. 8-)
I have the SCP connected to both a 3.5in floppy as drv 0 and a 5.25 96tpi drive at srv 1. Seems to all be working great 8-)
I am going to be Archiving all of my disks to Flux images over the next few months.
I have a about 300 Amiga Floppies, 60 C64/C128 Floppies and around 40 IBM PC Floppies to image. Around 30% are original Program Disks, the rest are Data or work disks or prog copies..
From reading through the forums I think i have worked out what I need to do is.
For original Software (Purchased) Disks of any of the Disk types, I should select INDEX Mode
For all my other disks written on my local machines I should use SPLICE mode set to 2 or 3 revolutions?
Is that correct?
Also couple of other questions if you don't mind
Why is there no selection for 1.2Mb IBM Floppy?
Do I need to do anything special when moving through the 4 different Commodore 8 bit type disks? That is I have 1541 SS, 1541 Notched Flippy's, 1571 DS, C64 CP/M Cart Disks) and C128 CPM Disks.
I have a few SFD 1001 disks too, what setting would you suggest for those?
Are there posts explaining what I am seeing with the Flux Display and Disk Layout pagers in the analyzer?
I apologize for all the questions, but its all new stuff to me. 8-)
Thanks so much for your help and a great product. 8-)
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - admin - 11-26-2015
If the disks are in fact index' then you can use the INDEX setting.
1.2MB disks are the same as 720K disks. The Disk Type just sets the start/end and step for the copying mode.
ALL C64/128 disks can be copied with the C64 Disk Type.
You will not be able to copy SFD1001 disks because those drives use 100TPI mechanics. PC drives are either 48TPI or 96TPI.
There is really nothing that explains the flux display data. It's a rather complex thing to learn. I created that while developing SuperCard Pro and just the functionality in the software when it was released. If you have particular questions about certain data, let me know.
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - GeoKM - 11-28-2015
(11-26-2015, 10:45 PM)admin Wrote: If the disks are in fact index' then you can use the INDEX setting.Hi Again,
1.2MB disks are the same as 720K disks. The Disk Type just sets the start/end and step for the copying mode.
ALL C64/128 disks can be copied with the C64 Disk Type.
You will not be able to copy SFD1001 disks because those drives use 100TPI mechanics. PC drives are either 48TPI or 96TPI.
There is really nothing that explains the flux display data. It's a rather complex thing to learn. I created that while developing SuperCard Pro and just the functionality in the software when it was released. If you have particular questions about certain data, let me know.
Couple more quick questions after my start on the c64 disks today.
If a c64 Disk is a flippy, I can't flux image the back of it because even in SPLICE mode the drive still looks for the index hole?
Is that correct?
From your experience, and in the wish to get the best possible archive before they all fail, should I enable half tracks
and record all the way to track 40 regardless of what might be on the disk. Storage is not an issue and I would not really know if a disk uses those areas for protection, but my desire is to pull as much potential image and archive it as possible. I Guess the question is, would enabling those options enhance or degrade the Flux image from an Archive point of view.
My Goal is recording the best conceivable ARCHIVE of all my disks before they die. 8-) (both Originals and copys/data disks). I know that is not really what you designed the SCP for, but given the age of most peoples floppy disks, this will become more and more important over time don't you think. Would be great to know that no matter what happened to the physical disks, I have the best possible recording, and that somehow I could rewrite them or convert them for use in an emulator eventually 8-)
Are you thinking of adding Flux image to d64/d71 image for splice mode recordings at some point? 8-)
Thanks again for the great product.
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - admin - 11-28-2015
If you turn off the INDEX requirement (pull-down menu), you can image the back side of a disk by just flipping it over and using the SPLICE mode.
If you want the best archiving, use SPLICE mode with 5 revs. There are only a handful of programs that used 1/2 tracks, Bounty Bob Strikes Back and DiSector 2.0 are the two most recognized.
Yes, at some point I will add .scp->.d64 and vice-versa.
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - SomeGuy - 11-28-2015
The problem is that 1.2mb drives, at least the Teacs I have tried, will never enter the "ready" state if the drive itself can not detect an index hole.
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - admin - 11-28-2015
Sure they do, but you have to turn off the index requirement (pull down menu).
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - longbow75 - 01-07-2016
I had a similar question as the OP. When archiving Amiga originals (games) which mode is better Index or Splice? You said if disks are index' , how would I know that?
Sorry for these noob questions.
Thanks.
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - admin - 01-08-2016
To be safe it seems that most everyone archiving their collections are doing so using SPLICE mode set to 4 or 5 revolutions. Technically you only need 2 revs to capture any type of disk that is not index'd.
There is really no way to know for sure if a disk was created index'd without examining the flux data.
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - Relayer - 02-10-2016
(01-08-2016, 05:37 PM)admin Wrote: To be safe it seems that most everyone archiving their collections are doing so using SPLICE mode set to 4 or 5 revolutions. Technically you only need 2 revs to capture any type of disk that is not index'd.
There is really no way to know for sure if a disk was created index'd without examining the flux data.
This answers the majority of my question(s) as an SCP newbie.
I, too, have over 1000 disks of various (and some unknown) formats. If I take the time now to start archiving the flux on these disks, I'm basically 'snapshotting" their current flux pattern condition, correct? So if something happens to the disks after that moment in time, I can reasonably assume I have a good backup. All I would need after archiving is a way to decode and convert the flux patterns into useful data.
I realize that such conversion tools are of limited availability now, but I believe that when they do become available, it is my understanding that my SCP copies will always remain ready for conversion because the flux pattern had been preserved.
That being said, what would be the best "universal" copy mode for all unknown disk types, regardless if they are FM, MFM, GCR, half-track, etc? Should I just pick IBM 1.2MB (5.25) and IBM 1.44MB (3.5) to capture everything, then figure it all out later through conversion software?
RE: Simple Flux Archive of all my Disks - admin - 02-10-2016
There really is no "MODE". The "DiskType" just presets the number of tracks and that's it. The data is imaged the exact same way for every type of disk, 3", 3.5", 5.25, or 8". As long as you are using SPLICE mode with 2 or more revs, and you are always cleaning the drive heads (I typically do it just about every new disk read, especially for 5.25" disks), then you are pretty much guaranteed that you are going to have the flux data that you need to re-create a working disk.
The HxC floppy drive emulator handles just about every disk format known for conversions for emulators.