CBMSTUFF FORUM

Full Version: Apple IIe Disks....
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Pages: 1 2
Was curious about Apple II(e) diskette reading and writing... this would be very nice, because otherwise you have to take ADTPro or a Catweasel PCI Controller (which is meanwhile very rare), or DISK2FDI (see also http://www.oldskool.org/disk2fdi for this software).
Disk image formats are .img (comes from Copy II Plus), .fdi (as a raw format like .g64 for the C64), or maybe also Diskcopy 4.x files (.dsk).

I can test it via my Apple IIe Card in my Color Classic. I have no real/original Apple IIe, just an original Diskdrive connected to my above mentioned card.

I am also interested in TeleDisk (TD0) or ImageDisk (IMD) format for other CP/M computer, but that's another story.
(01-01-2014, 11:13 AM)z80.eu Wrote: [ -> ]Was curious about Apple II(e) diskette reading and writing... this would be very nice, because otherwise you have to take ADTPro or a Catweasel PCI Controller (which is meanwhile very rare), or DISK2FDI (see also http://www.oldskool.org/disk2fdi for this software).
Disk image formats are .img (comes from Copy II Plus), .fdi (as a raw format like .g64 for the C64), or maybe also Diskcopy 4.x files (.dsk).

I have a real Apple IIe with dual disk drives and I can also test.
I don't have a real Apple II machine. I do have a Laser 128. I helped debug the ROMs for the Laser 128 when I worked at Central Point Software (where I also wrote Copy ][ 64/128). I also have an Apple II emulator for the Amiga that I worked on, so I know the image formats. My plan is to support .dsk and .nib formats. NIB is the best format as that is the raw data, like .g64 for the C64.
Why not a true flux-based image format? It seems to me that the goal should be a single format (container) with a decoding layer between it and the emulator. Doesn't your approach above fragment the format/container space even more?

why not drive for a common format across all emulators?

thanks!
Robert
.scp is a common format that is being used already, but I don't know anyone writing/updating any of the Apple emulators that are out there. So, the next logical thing is to at least support the existing file formats.
Is there any ETA for when there will be an emulator that supports scp? (preferably either c64/128, or Amiga). I'm interested to see how it works out in practice.

thanks!
No, but the FPGA Arcade will likely be the first unless it gets introduced into Hatari or Steem before then.

Its a lot easier to implement flux because you don't have to try to break down the bits (MFM or GCR) to run through a data separator emulation. The data is already broken down in the lowest form. You just need a controller emulation that will process the flux.

The best thing about supporting the .scp file format is that you can immediately support reading/writing real disks in a real drive through the SuperCard Pro board. The data is the same, so instead of fetching the track data through the file, you fetch the same data through calls made to the SCP board itself. The only extra work is turning on/off the motor and stepping the head.
But then just an easy question about scp files ... how can I convert these scp files into a known format like nib or better dsk ?
I mean, it's great to read and/or write the whole disk image, but what about using the images later in emulators or just for my Apple IIe Card etc. ??
I'm guessing a .nib image is an Apple GCR representation of the disk, much like G64 is for Commodore disks? And that .dsk format is a decoded sector based format like .d64?

I can't seem to find a description of the nib file format.
That is correct. .NIB is just the tracks in GCR format and .DSK is the standard sector format in original sector order. .PRO is the standard sector format in ProDOS sector order.

I am working on converters for .NIB, .DSK, .PRO for Apple II disks. Like LordCrass has mentioned, the .NIB format is similar to the C64's G64 format.

In the developer area you will find information about the SCP file format. If you want to make a conversion program or implement SCP directly into an emulation I would be happy to help you.
Pages: 1 2