01-15-2014, 09:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2015, 03:12 PM by admin.
Edit Reason: changed BLIND/NON-BLIND to INDEX/SPLICE
)
Here's a cheat sheet on my experiences with making a copy/image various C64 protections as of v.99:
I always leave the option for "index sensor" set to "required" for both reads and writes.
Rapidlok: tracks 1-36 in SPLICE mode. Even though the disks are mastered to the index hole, the key track requires the SPLICE handling for writing back to a real disk. For a G64 image, tracks 1-36 INDEX mode works.
V-Max: tracks 1-40 INDEX mode should work for almost all of these. There are a few I've encountered that had the directory track unaligned and required SPLICE mode (Rastan and Renegade). After Burner requires SPLICE mode.
Vorpal 1: tracks 1-35 SPLICE mode.
Vorpal 2: currently requires reading in SPLICE mode, 2 revolutions and then writing back out manually from the analyzer after specifying start/end. Hopefully added to SPLICE handling in a future release.
EA track 2 PirateSlayer: Some of these disks are mastered to the index hole and can be copied in INDEX, but some (eg. Skate or Die!) are not. Use the SPLICE mode when in doubt, tracks 1-35.
EA fat track 34/35: tracks 1-33 INDEX mode. Tracks 34-35 in INDEX mode with half-tracks enabled. Have "wipe tracks" turned off when writing 34-35. Writing out the whole disk with half-tracks will generally result in a copy full of errors that won't load. You will need to image 1-35 with half-tracks and INDEX mode if you want to make a G64.
Xemag fat track 35/36: Same as EA fat track, but use SPLICE mode as all Xemag disks I've seen so far are aligned about 1/8 of a rotation off the index mark. There's at least one Xemag game that has the fat track on track 6/7 (F-15 Strike Eagle).
Bounty Bob Strikes Back: Copy tracks 1-11 with INDEX mode on and half-tracks on. Copy tracks 12-35 with INDEX mode on and half-tracks off. Make sure to write-protect the copy or it will fail to load. Currently, the byte count protection on track 12 will very likely fail if you write the copy on a drive that spins at a different rate than the one it was read from. If this happens, the title screen will appear but it will hang on the "Player 1" screen when you try to start.
Others: The majority of original disks can be mastered with the INDEX mode option enabled, but if you encounter difficulty, or are unsure, leave this option disabled and let the software determine where the data is. Always leave half-tracks off unless you know the protection uses them, and even then, only copy the half-tracks and surrounding full tracks with this option enabled.
I've noticed that some of my originals show up with errors when read from the PC HD drive; errors that don't appear when reading the same disks with the 1541. I'm not sure why, but it may have something to do with the smaller read/write head of the HD drive being a little more finicky about the data it reads.
I always leave the option for "index sensor" set to "required" for both reads and writes.
Rapidlok: tracks 1-36 in SPLICE mode. Even though the disks are mastered to the index hole, the key track requires the SPLICE handling for writing back to a real disk. For a G64 image, tracks 1-36 INDEX mode works.
V-Max: tracks 1-40 INDEX mode should work for almost all of these. There are a few I've encountered that had the directory track unaligned and required SPLICE mode (Rastan and Renegade). After Burner requires SPLICE mode.
Vorpal 1: tracks 1-35 SPLICE mode.
Vorpal 2: currently requires reading in SPLICE mode, 2 revolutions and then writing back out manually from the analyzer after specifying start/end. Hopefully added to SPLICE handling in a future release.
EA track 2 PirateSlayer: Some of these disks are mastered to the index hole and can be copied in INDEX, but some (eg. Skate or Die!) are not. Use the SPLICE mode when in doubt, tracks 1-35.
EA fat track 34/35: tracks 1-33 INDEX mode. Tracks 34-35 in INDEX mode with half-tracks enabled. Have "wipe tracks" turned off when writing 34-35. Writing out the whole disk with half-tracks will generally result in a copy full of errors that won't load. You will need to image 1-35 with half-tracks and INDEX mode if you want to make a G64.
Xemag fat track 35/36: Same as EA fat track, but use SPLICE mode as all Xemag disks I've seen so far are aligned about 1/8 of a rotation off the index mark. There's at least one Xemag game that has the fat track on track 6/7 (F-15 Strike Eagle).
Bounty Bob Strikes Back: Copy tracks 1-11 with INDEX mode on and half-tracks on. Copy tracks 12-35 with INDEX mode on and half-tracks off. Make sure to write-protect the copy or it will fail to load. Currently, the byte count protection on track 12 will very likely fail if you write the copy on a drive that spins at a different rate than the one it was read from. If this happens, the title screen will appear but it will hang on the "Player 1" screen when you try to start.
Others: The majority of original disks can be mastered with the INDEX mode option enabled, but if you encounter difficulty, or are unsure, leave this option disabled and let the software determine where the data is. Always leave half-tracks off unless you know the protection uses them, and even then, only copy the half-tracks and surrounding full tracks with this option enabled.
I've noticed that some of my originals show up with errors when read from the PC HD drive; errors that don't appear when reading the same disks with the 1541. I'm not sure why, but it may have something to do with the smaller read/write head of the HD drive being a little more finicky about the data it reads.