Re: Cracking HomeWord

["N.N. Thayer" <nnthayer@hotmail.com>]

On Aug 12, 2:02 pm, schmidtd <schmi...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> On Aug 12, 2:40 pm, Ivan X <ivan...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > I love HomeWord. Its preview mode at the bottom right of the screen was
> > really innovative.
>
> > If you can get it to work in AppleWin at all, and they're truly cracked,
> > then you should be able to just use COPYA (or C2+ or Disk Muncher or
> > whatever) to copy them to a regular .DSK in drive 2. Of course, I have no
> > way of predicting whether it will work under ][+ emulation, but at least you
> > could try it on other emulators easily.
>
> > Or if you want to snailmail me a copy on a floppy, I can easily make a .DSK
> > image with my LC IIe Card.
>
> > On 8/12/09 2:30 PM, in article
> > bdd87fbf-249e-499b-a70a-183afd1c4...@g31g2000yqc.googlegroups.com, "N.N.
>
> > Thayer" <nntha...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > I'm no expert on cracking, or the Apple II disk subsystem, which can
> > > be something of a barrier in my perpetual mission to rip and archive
> > > images of every single piece of Apple II software that I come across
> > > (since 500 years from now, the images are all that will exist).  :)
> > > My latest obstacle: Sierra On-Line's HomeWord!
>
> > > In terms of UI, this is an excellent piece of software - I've found it
> > > far easier to use than any of the other word-processing programs of
> > > the time, with the possible exception of Bank Street Writer.  (Funny
> > > how that ease of use seems to disappear with more professional-level
> > > utilities...)  HomeWord Plus, the version on Asimov, requires a 128k //
> > > e or //c or later; only the original HomeWord runs on a ][/][+.
>
> > > I actually have two versions of HomeWord: version 1.1, released in
> > > '83, and version 2.4, released the following year.  Both are pirated
> > > copies from my dad's old collection.  I know they weren't originally
> > > copied via a nibble-copier or Copy II Plus, because when I tried those
> > > methods, the results were unusuable.  I was able to use ADT to rip DSK
> > > images - but those turned out to be unusuable as well.
>
> > > Puzzled, I dug around and found this cracking doc for HomeWord:
>
> > >http://www.skepticfiles.org/cowtext/apple/krack2ap.htm
>
> > > Examining the track and sector that the doc specified, I found what it
> > > referred to in HomeWord 1.1, but not in 2.4.  I made the change it
> > > described, saved, and it worked as advertised - I was able to make
> > > straight copies of HomeWord 1.1 to other disks.  So however my dad had
> > > originally managed to copy this disk, it was without the aid of this
> > > particular crack.
>
> > > What I was still *not* able to do, however, was rip it to a DSK image
> > > over ADT; the images produced were unusuable.  In a last-ditch effort,
> > > I used the Saltine's Super Transcopy method to create a NIB image...
> > > with interesting results.  When loading it in the AppleWin emulator,
> > > the image will boot and function perfectly if I'm set to //e
> > > emulation, but in ][+ emulation it simply halts claiming that
> > > "HomeWord will not run with a joystick plugged into the game port."
> > > This is an odd claim for it to be making, since (1) I have the
> > > joystick disabled in the emulator and (2) I have a real joystick
> > > connected to my real Apple ][+, with no ill effects (although it is
> > > through a 9-pin adapter).
>
> > > So, that's my status at the moment - a NIB image of HomeWord 1.1 that
> > > functions in one specific emulation mode.  Better than nothing, I
> > > suppose, but I'd like to get it into the more desirable DSK (for what
> > > I do, that's far and away the best image format), and I'd also like to
> > > get HomeWord 2.4 ripped as well, especially since the physical disk
> > > for that one is on its last legs.  If anyone would like to assist, or
> > > is just curious, I can post the NIB or even send out disks.
>
> There's a Hardcore Computist article showing a de-protect for version
> 2.1 - worth looking at.  Volume 39, page 23:http://victa.jamtronix.com/display/page/1397

Man, I don't know why it didn't occur to me to check Computist.  I
also found a crack in their first "Book of Softkeys," for the older
version of HomeWord, that is slightly different from the one I
linked.  I will be trying both of these tonight.  Thanks guys!