OS/2 Warp 3 XDF Diskettes
#1
Hello everyone!

I want to backup a rare version of OS/2 Warp 3 ME Localized. As you may know, OS/2 uses XDF diskettes and I'd like to know if the following settings are correct for backing them up:


Weakbits: Raw
Index Sensor: Ignore
Disk Types: IBM 1.44MB
Copy Mode: Splice
# Revolutions: 2

I'll not be able to test the images after doing the backup because I currently don't have a computer with a legacy floppy (USB drives cannot read XDF disks). I'll get rid of the physical diskettes after doing the backup, so, I really want to do it correctly!


Thank you
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#2
You should be able to duplicate these with INDEX mode, but SPLICE mode will work.

Have you checked to see if the HxC Floppy Drive Emulator software can parse/convert XDF disks?
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#3
I made images with different settings. Here are the tracks as displayed in HxC software for different settings:

Copy Mode: Index, Index Sensor: Required
[Image: Screen%20Shot%202019-02-08%20at%2012.49.....png?raw=1]

Copy Mode: SpliceIndex Sensor: Required
[Image: Screen%20Shot%202019-02-08%20at%2012.52.....png?raw=1]

Copy Mode: SpliceIndex Sensor: Ignore
[Image: Screen%20Shot%202019-02-08%20at%2012.56.....png?raw=1]

In all images, the HxC is able to browse the outer FAT12 track, which in case of OS/2 installation disks contains PACKING.LST file. (More info about the XDF format here: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/the-xdf-diskette-format/)

I cannot tell if any of the above .scp images is good. Exporting them using HxC software results in corrupted images, which can't be mounted by any emulator. (VirtualBox for example can mount XDF images dumped from the original disks by OS/2 tools, such as ftp://osfree.org/upload/win1.dsk)
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#4
If HxC can't do it then it's unlikely the that you can convert these to .xdf format. You would have to create a conversion program. You should be able to make real disks though.
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#5
It sure looks like HxC shows a 8K/2K/1K/0.5K sector track in your images.
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#6
Ok. Did some checking. You can load the .scp image and then export it as a .xdf image file. HxC does support it!
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#7
Thank you admin for the help.

Yes, the images look like in the correct XDF format, 9 FAT12 sectors in the outer track and 4 sectors (8K, 2K, 1K & 0.5K) in the inner tracks. I just want to test them to be sure they are good before getting rid of the physical disks.

It's good to know HxC software can convert .scp to XDF image. Maybe I'm missing something because in my version of HxC (2.1.22.3) there is no mention at all of XDF in the Exporting's Save As list!

[Image: attachment.php?aid=213]

By the way, here is a sample .scp image for OS/2 installation XDF disk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1f8xymdw63qbpt...p.zip?dl=0


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
   
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#8
/*********************************************************
07/11/2009: HxCFloppyEmulator 1.3.3.0
-> New files Support : *.HDM and *.XDF (x68000: - 360rpm,500kb/s,8 1024B sectors, 2 sides,77 tracks).
*********************************************************/


There is some info in the HxC forum about the XDF format having different length sectors.
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#9
That is a different "XDF" used by Sharp X68000 emulators. Completely different from IBM XDF.
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#10
Hmm... Ok, I will ask Jeff about OS/2 XDF format.
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