Re: Creating .dsk images on WinPC?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Ernest writes ...
> 
> Is there a program that will allow me to create a .dsk image on my PC, that
> I can then use ADT to transfer to my A2e?
 ....

     There is a way which is pretty easy and works for converting most
ShrinkIt .sdk files.

     NuLib v3.24 can be used to make .po disk images from ShrinkIt 5.25"
whole-disk archives-- e.g. .sdk files.  (NuLib v3.24 is the version of NuLib
currently available on most Apple II archives.)

Note: NuLib will, at present, create 5.25" disk images only for .sdk files
created by 8-bit ShrinkIt (not ones created by GS-ShrinkIt).  Since most .sdk
files were created by 8-bit ShrinkIt, there is usually no problem.

     The .po disk image can be changed into a .dsk disk image and transferred
via ADT.


     For instance, suppose you have a whole-disk archive (.sdk file) of a
5.25" disk of modem utilities named "modem1.sdk".

Note: Such a file will usually have a name ending in ".sdk". It may have a
name ending in ".shk"; but, usually, people use ".shk" to indicate an archive
of a bunch of files. The ".sdk" indicates that an entire disk, track-by-track,
has been shrinked.

ShrinkIt archives are almost always compressed; so, the size of modem1.sdk
will usually be quite a bit less then the 143,360 bytes contained on a typical
5.25" disk side-- something like 80,000 bytes is fairly typical for an .sdk
file created from a moderately full 5.25" diskette.

     When converting .sdk files into disk images with NuLib v3.24 it helps to
have Nulib in its own directory in the PC drive's main directory-- like all of
your NuLib stuff could be in C:\nulib. Then, to convert a file, the first step
is to copy it or move it into C:\nulib.


Example

Suppose you have downloaded NuLib v3.24 and unZIPed it and, now, have all of
your Nulib stuff (nulib.exe, docs, etc.) in C:\nulib on your PC.


I. Creating the disk image


1. After downloading to the PC, check the file name of the .sdk file you want
to convert. The name should have from 1 to 8 characters followed by ".sdk". If
it doesn't, rename the file so that it does.

The file modem1.sdk follows the above rule; so, there is no need to rename it.


2. Move or copy modem1.sdk to the C:\nulib folder.


3. Since you are probably in Windows95 (or later) open an MS-DOS window.


4. In the DOS window, go to the nulib folder ...

C:\WINDOWS>cd\

C:\>cd nulib


5. Enter this command to create the disk image from modem1.sdk:

C:\nulib>nulib xd modem1.sdk

You should get a message saying the 'NEW DISK' image is being extracted ending
with "...done".


6. Exit the MS-DOS window-- e.g. click on the "X" in the corner.


7. Open the C:\nulib folder. Probably, your new disk image will be named
"new.dis". Rename the new file to "modem1.po". It should show up with a size
of 140k in the usual Windows listing. (If it shows size 0, go to "View" for
the window and click "Refresh".)

If the new modem1.po has some size other than 140k-- like size is shown as
75k, etc.-- it means that modem1.sdk was probably created by GS-ShrinkIt and
can not be converted to a disk image using NuLib. You might as well delete
such files.

Most likely, though, the conversion will work and modem1.po will be a good
disk image.



II. Converting the .po disk image to .dsk

Although you have a disk image which will work on a number of Apple II
emulators (e.g. AppleWin), it is still a .po ProDOS order image. ADT can not
transfer this kind of image.

To convert a 5.25" .po image into a .dsk image you start an A2 emulator which
deals correctly with .po images and do a disk-copy to a .dsk disk image. A
good emu choice for Windows95 users is AppleWin.

A good disk copier program is Disk Muncher. It is included on the TNILUTIL.DSK
available from Ground.


1. Move modem1.po to the folder you use for your disk image files.

2. If you do not have TNILUTIL.DSK, download it from Ground at
ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/apple2/useful.stuff/Disks/ . Move TNILUTIL.DSK to
the folder you use for your disk image files.

3. Make sure you have a good .dsk disk image to use for the target dsk. For
instance, since you know TNILUTIL.DSK is a good .dsk file, you can make a copy
of it by Right-clicking, dragging, and dropping TNILUTIL.DSK inside its
current window. (Click "Copy" in the prompt window.) Windows will create a new
dsk named "Copy of TNILUTIL.DSK".

4. Rename the target dsk (e.g. Copy of TNILUTIL.DSK) to "modem1.dsk".

5. Start AppleWin and select TNILUTIL.DSK for Drive 1. Boot the dsk and select
Disk Muncher to start the program.

6. Swap modem1.po into Drive 1. Select the modem1.dsk for Drive 2.

7. In the Disk Muncher screen, select COPY. When you are at the COPY screen,
press Return (or Enter) to copy modem1.po to modem1.dsk .

Note: If the .dsk file you pick for the target has the Read-only attribute
set, Disk Muncher will detect this as write protection and refuse to do the
copy. To fix this, exit AppleWin and Right-click on the file. Select
"Properties". In the Properties window, uncheck "Read-only" and click "Okay".
The .dsk file will no longer be "write protected".

Usually, the Disk Muncher Disk-copy will proceed without a hitch.


     Since a Disk-Copy adjusts ordering to match the target, modem1.dsk will
be a copy of the stuff on modem1.po except that it will be in DOS 3.3 order.
The modem1.dsk file should transfer fine using ADT.



Rubywand