mdj wrote:
On Feb 1, 12:03 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:sicklittlemonkey wrote:<snipped useful summary from Antoine> On Feb 1, 8:09 am, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:In any case, if a format were developed that was only, say, twice the size of a typical .dsk or .nib image, but that supported, say, 99% of the desirable programs, that would be a fine tradeoff.You don't even have to double the size of NIBs that use half tracks. Because adjacent tracks cannot be written (using the Apple II at least) we can just round down to a whole track. Actually AppleWin already does this. (Shh! ;-)This would be true for whole tracks only. Any use of partial tracks (track arcing) would require additional information.If we add track length and track sync that should be 99%, no?I don't know. I'm beginning to think that no one does.Unless such a format can allow for a bitream that records every readable flux transition in a continuous track at every possible track position, there's no way to guarantee it will not prove inadequate for some software title or another :(
I think that's ultimately the case. But if this extreme is only needed to support fewer than 1% of the desirable protected disks, then "the market" may choose a less capable but more economical approach. My question is not about what can be done, but about how much is seen as "worth it" to emulator users and archivists. Although I would very much like to see a format in wide use that can capture essentially *everything* about a disk that a Disk ][ can discern, I suspect that the tradeoff in cost and complexity to achieve the ability to image *100%* of protected Apple II disks might be too great to ensure its wide acceptance. In this case, a widespread "good enough" would certainly be better than a little-used "perfect". -michael ******** Note new website URL ******** NadaNet and AppleCrate II for Apple II parallel computing! Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/ "The wastebasket is our most important design tool--and it's seriously underused."