Re: Any way to run .DSK images -directly- on Apple // ?

[magnusfalkirk <dean.phares@gmail.com>]

On May 30, 3:28 am, ol...@web.de (Oliver Schmidt) wrote:
>
> I second that - but for a slightly different reason...
>
> I'm considering to implement a program that would allow to "run" .dsk
> images on an Apple2 but I'd like to understand two things:
>
> 1. Is there already such a software?
>

There is but it only works on the GS. Antoine created it, it's called
Mount It. it's at version 1.3.

> The only thing I could find is DOS MASTER but from the documentation
> its usage is way more complicated than just using a .dsk image as-is.
>
> Don't get me wrong: DOS MASTER is surely a great piece of software and
> btw. more flexible than being bound to the 140kB of .dsk images...
>
> 2. Is there a need for such a software?
>

I think it's a great idea. This way all I'd need to do is get the
image to the IIe/c and be able to run it, instead of needing to write
it to a real disk again.


> To help you forming your opinion some additional info on what I have
> in mind:
>
> It would be a ProDOS system program requiring a 128kB machine. It
> would know the .dsk image name to run from the 'startup file' method
> and bring up a UI to choose the .dsk image if no startup file was
> given. It would allow to assign up to four .dsk images to s5,1 s5,2
> s6,1 s6,2.
>
> It would be compatible _only_ with .dsk images containing software
> that does its disk I/O through a "DOS 3.3 like" RWTS. That explicitly
> includes DOS 3.3 clones like Diversi-DOS, David-DOS, ...
>
> The general approach would be copy the running ProDOS from MAIN RAM to
> AUX RAM. Then the .dsk image would be "booted" into MAIN RAM. A rather
> small hook into the DOS 3.3 RWTS would switch to AUX RAM, call into
> ProDOS to read/write the appropriate data from/to the .dsk image(s)
> and swtich back to MAIN RAM.
>
> That approach would require a double buffering of the data slowing
> down disk access performance but on the other hand much of AUX RAM
> could be used as (write-through) cache speeding up things.
>
> Regards,
> Oliver

Sounds good to me, I'd be willing to try it when ever you have it
ready to go.

Dean