Re: What's the deal with HyperCard IIGS at apple.com?

[lesherjt@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (John Lesher)]

Tony Morales (hexman@shellx.best.com) wrote:
: > I've been trying to download HyperCard IIGS from ftp.support.apple.com
: > since yesterday.  At first I tried to grab the .bxy versions, but after
: > downloading them to my GS, no utility would recognize the file format.
: > Eventually I went to the Mac lab here at UM and downloaded the Mac .hqx
: > versions, decoded them, unshrunk them, and used the DiskCopy program to
: > put the images onto ProDOS disks.  When I was done, the Mac I was using
: > recognized the disks as ProDOS disks, and they all seemed to contain the
: > right files; but I just tried them at home, and the Finder can't recognize
: > the disk format.  I have the HFS FST installed, so I'd know if the disks
: > got turned into HFS disks somehow, but that's not the case.
: > 
: > Yes, I did use binary mode when downloading the .bxy versions.
: > 
: > This is very frustrating.  Does anyone know why these archives are so
: > obstinate?

: I once examined one of the .bxy archives on ftp.support.apple.com and found
: what appeared to be a 512-byte header preceding the normal .bxy header.  If
: you can get a hold of a utility to strip off the 512 bytes at the beginning of
: the file, GSHK should be able to process the files.  I'm not sure what these
: 512 bytes are for, and it is very annoying that they even exist.

	If you d/l the files onto a UNIX server, (and you have the nulib
utility), you can type nulib bx filename.bxy to remove the header.  The
nulib source file is available from many ftp sites (I think ground has it.)
	Another way to remove these pesky headers is an application (again
to be found on one of the FTP sites, called HC.BXY.FIX.  This file is
specifically designed to remove those headers on HyperCard archives.  Look
for that application in the Hypermedia/Hypercard directories.  Again,
probably at ground.

: As for your troubles with the .hqx files, it sounds as though you are
: downloading the files correctly, and DiskCopy is able to make disks out of the
: .image files.  The reason the IIgs isn't recognizing the disks could have
: something to do with the 3.5 drives on the IIgs and Mac not being exactly
: in sync with one another.

	GSCII is able to de-BinHex files on a IIgs.  I recommend it very
highly. (See ground.)

Tilghman