How To Convert Apple II Disk Images Using an 8-bit Apple II Computer

[obsbedia2@aol.com (Obsbedia2)]

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: |                                                       | :
|O| How To Convert Apple II Disk Images From The Internet |O|
| |                                                       | |
| |            To Run On Real Apple II Computers          | |
|O|                                                       |O|
| |        By Using an *&^%$$# iMac and an Apple //E      | |
| |                                                       | |
|O|               by Jay Edwards, May 26, 2001            |O|
:_|_______________________________________________________|_:


                    _The Problem_
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Disk images of Apple II programs are common on the 
internet, but they do not run on real Apple II computers, 
only emmulators.

     I'm having my first success with using Disk Images of 
Apple II programs and I'm putting down what I've done for 
my benefit and the possible benefit of others.

_What You'll Need_:   A deforking program, a deimaging
program, and a supply of formatted 5.25" floppy disks.
I'm using:

                    Fork Split v0.5
                    UNIMAGE.PRO v0.1.

     Apple II files on the internet are available in two 
main types.  There are ShrinkIt files and Disk Images. 
ShrinkIt files are the standard for Apple II computers, but
the library for Disk Images is growing all the time because 
of the need of Apple II emmulator users on other platforms.


          _Why you'll need two programs
     if you use a Macintosh for downloading_:
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     The Macintosh computers do a bad thing.  They add a 
resource file to every data file, hence "forked files." 
These forked files are unreadable by the Apple II's 8-bit 
software.  Even ShrinkIt can not read them, only identify 
that they are there.  Sounds bad, but don't give up--the 
Apple II has a long history of making the impossible possible.

     There are a few programs that separate the forked 
files.  I'm having success with Fork Split, so I'm going 
to reference it here.  Fork Split lets you select the 
forked file that you want and then select where you want 
the Data and Resource files to be written separately to.

     There are also programs that convert the Disk Image 
to a regular 5.25" floppy disk.  Again, I'm having good 
luck with Unimage.Pro, so that's what I'll be basing my 
procedures on.  Unimage.Pro will require that you know 
the pathname of your deforked data file, so write it 
down.

     Both programs are fast and easy.  I wish that I had 
learned how to do this years ago.

     I'm going to suggest keeping the deforked disk 
images of favorite programs in a subdirectory on the hard
drive. This has two benefits.

_First_, it provides you with a backup of your favorite 
programs in case their floppy disks degrade and become 
unplayable.

_Second_, while having the programs on the hard drive in 
their disk image form necessitates a little time and a 
formatted floppy disk to convert them, it could be a lot 
faster than finding that floppy, depending on how large a 
program library is and how well it's organized.


                    _The Procedure_
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.   Identify that the program that you want is a Disk 
Image.  ShrinkIt program titles often end with ".SHK".  
Disk Images usually end with ".DSK", ".DSK.GZ", or ".ZIP".
If the file ends with .DSK.GZ or .ZIP, then be sure to 
click on the file after downloading.  The file will expand
to a .DSK file or a folder containing .DSK files.

2.   On a ProDOS, preformatted 3.5" floppy disk, drag the 
.DSK files to the ProDOS disk.  I'm using an iMac, which 
doesn't have a floppy drive.  I have a third party 
external floppy drive, but doesn't work with 800K disks, so
I'm using a SuperDrive and card with my Apple //e.  Owners 
of real Macintosh computers can use 800K disks just fine.

3.   Insert the 3.5" floppy in the Apple IIe drive and 
launch Fork Split.  I like to have a bunch of subdirectories
ready to accept the Data and Resource files.
3a.  Select the file to defork.
3b.  Select the receiving subdirectory.
3c.  Type in file type.  Unless you know the file is a text 
file (.txt) or BASIC (.BAS), I'd suggest choosing BIN 
(Binary) as the file type.
3d.  OPTIONAL -- Use the file searcher to write down the 
name of the data file.  Fork Split adds "D." to the data 
file name, so unless your file name is 14 or 15 characters
long, you probably already know the file and pathname. 
Longer pathnames will be truncated.

4.   Exit Fork Split and run Unimage.Pro.
4a.  Type in the data file's pathname.
4b.  Type in the file type.  Same advice as 3c.
4c.  Insert a preformatted 5.25" floppy disk and press 
Return.  You're done!  Start enjoying your program!


                    _Improvements_
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Again, this is only my early successful attempts at 
Disk Image conversion.  Other programs may be better, but 
this does work.

     There is a program for the Apple IIgs that quickly 
sets up the RAM disk to act as a real disk.  It does this 
by setting the RAM to the correct size to convert disk 
images on to it.  This should be possible on the 8-bit 
Apple II computers as well.  This would eliminate the 
need for floppy disks for one-disk programs and speed up
the deimaging as well.

                    ][ Infinitum!
 ___________________________________________________________
: |                                                       | :
|O|         never judge a person until you've             |O|
| |                                                       | |
| |           walked a mile in his shoes...               | |
|O|                                                       |O|
| |          ...that way, you're a mile away              | |
| |                                                       | |
|O|               and you have his shoes                  |O|
:_|_______________________________________________________|_: