Re: Patching the ProDOS Disk ][ driver?

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

<ferdimh@gmx.de> wrote:

> Oh dear! This is going to be difficult!
> Maybe I could leave the command code check out to gain space. But I
> think there must be at least one other location to patch: ProDOS needs
> to KNOW that it can now use 640 blocks. The FORMAT routine needs to
> format more tracks and to use 160 tracks I also need to make it seek
> to half-tracks.

What FORMAT routine? ProDOS doesn't have a built-in disk formatter. You
have to use a standalone application such as FILER (going right back),
Apple II System Utilities, Copy II+ or similar to format a disk.

You'll probably need your own formatting code for this project.

Back in the day, I wrote my own one, cobbled together from a disassembly
of the DOS 3.3 formatter, a copy of the boot blocks, and my own code to
provide the user interface, manage the process and/or call the FORMAT
function in the ProDOS block driver on other disk controllers.

My formatter could also create custom sized root directories, rather
than hard coding them as 4 blocks.

> But while trying to patch I noticed that my good old Bag of Tricks
> doesn't support the ProDOS filesystem. Do you know another hexeditor
> which supports it?

Bag of Tricks II, if I remember right. I certainly had something of that
nature.

> I tried to read the code using the monitor, but this doesn't work
> because ProDOS is in the language card and enabling the language card
> also disables the monitor.

I assume you are doing this on a IIe. No problem on a IIgs.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz