Notes on backing up Digital Solutions titles (Paperback & Pocket series productivity)

[kentsu]

Greetings. Jim mentioned the following to me in a PM:

The protection for Pocket Writer 3 is the exact same that has been used since day one on the original Paperback Writer. When creating a .g64, the SCP software attempts to find the write splice for each track and there are cases where a write splice (which is a 'smearing' of the flux data when the write head turns off and the magnetic field collapses) just so happens to create a flux bitcell that is valid. Almost (but not always) this is an invalid bitcell time and easy to spot.

So, in your case with Pocket Writer 3 it has a few tracks where the software can't figure out where the write splice is so it just uses the end of track, which happens to be in the middle of valid data and the copy (or .g64 conversion) will not load.

What I did was manually copy each track using the editor/analyzer so that the disk was 'indexed', which means that the start/stop point of the track occurs on the index pulse.

Most all commercial disks are produced this way and INDEX mode is a simple way to copy/convert just about everything made. Once I made an indexed disk, I made a .g64 conversion using INDEX mode (because I know the disk is indexed, because I did it myself!) and it made a perfectly good .g64 conversion.

Thanks, Jim!