Is there any reason that I couldn't use this to copy floppy drive alignment disks? Given that I verify the drive alignment with the original before making the copy? Those disks can cost a lot, and I'd hate to ruin one. Thus my questions..
Kipp
The expensive alignment disks you get from companies like Accurite are quite special and not written with any standard PC drive, hence you can't copy them and retain the special patterns they contain.
If you have one, try copying it, then put it in a drive you have hooked up to an oscilloscope and compare the patterns to the original.
Unless you are using a Dysan or Accurite disk, you can copy standard alignment disks just fine - like Vorpal utility disk, Free Spirit, etc.
(01-15-2014, 06:56 PM)admin Wrote: [ -> ]Unless you are using a Dysan or Accurite disk, you can copy standard alignment disks just fine - like Vorpal utility disk, Free Spirit, etc.
I tried copying my Free Spirit Amiga Alignment disk and the copies fail.
There's likely two issues here.
One is that SCP currently doesn't copy Amiga disks that aren't aligned to the index hole. So if your disk is like that and you're using SCP to copy it, it will fail.
The other issue is the two different types of alignment disks. One type (the analog alignment disk) requires an oscilloscope and can't be copied with a standard drive. The other type is just a software program written to disk with a perfectly aligned drive. This type doesn't require a scope, but it's not as accurate. Generally accurate enough to get you loading your disks again though, so for end-user game loading, it's fine.
Those software-only alignment disks can be copied, but the resulting copy is only as good as the alignment of the drive that wrote it. An out-of-alignment alignment disk is like being lost in the woods and not knowing that your compass doesn't point North.
Thanks,
So what category do my Free Spirit Commodore 1541 and Free Spirit Amiga alignment disks fall under?
(01-19-2014, 06:45 PM)LordCrass Wrote: [ -> ]There's likely two issues here.
One is that SCP currently doesn't copy Amiga disks that aren't aligned to the index hole. So if your disk is like that and you're using SCP to copy it, it will fail.
The other issue is the two different types of alignment disks. One type (the analog alignment disk) requires an oscilloscope and can't be copied with a standard drive. The other type is just a software program written to disk with a perfectly aligned drive. This type doesn't require a scope, but it's not as accurate. Generally accurate enough to get you loading your disks again though, so for end-user game loading, it's fine.
Those software-only alignment disks can be copied, but the resulting copy is only as good as the alignment of the drive that wrote it. An out-of-alignment alignment disk is like being lost in the woods and not knowing that your compass doesn't point North.
Those don't require the use of an oscilloscope, they're standard software packages that read data from a well-aligned disk.
From the manual:
"Don't attempt to back up the Calibration disk. For the Calibration disk to be effective, it must be precision copied on a professional duplicating machine. Although AMI-ALIGNMENT SYSTEM will happily believe the copy of the calibration disk is valid, you cannot trust the Alignment Test results with anything but the original disk. The floppy drive you copy the calibration disk with may be slightly misaligned, resulting in a misaligned calibration disk and subsequent unreliable test results."