<fred569us@yahoo.com> ha scritto nel messaggioI'd like to write apple 2 disk images on 5"1/4 disks. The only 5"1/4 unit I have is a 1541 for my C64. I have the necessary tools to write C64 images on 5"1/4 disks and I'm wondering whether I could use them or similar ones and use my C64 to write apple 2 disks. Is this possible? What are you guys using to use disk images on your real apple 2? -fred
Mirko wrote:
Mirko, I reckon Fred is using the term "disk image" to mean a binary file containing all the information from an A2 floppy disk (not in the sense of a graphical image saved to disk).On the Apple II you normally would use a rom machine language subroutine to save portions of memory , simply writing on a disk file the bytes starting at locanion 2000 hex (hi res page 1) or 4000 hex (hi res page 2) using an applesoft/dos call like : BSAVE <name of file>,A$2000,L$2000 where A$ is the starting byte location (in hex) and L$ the number of bytes to be written. or you might call the correspondent machine language subroutine from assembly. Don't think you can use the 1541 drive other than connecting it to the apple II with some custom hardware card.. Mirko
Fred, I'm not an expert but I have been able to convert downloaded disk images into real disks to use in my Apple //e. I hook up my Dell Windows laptop COM1 serial port to my Apple II's serial card with a cable, then I execute a program called ADT on the Apple and ADT for Windows on the Dell. The two programs communicate via the serial cable, and I can then transfer .DSK disk image files from the Dell and they will be written onto a floppy on the Apple.
ADT = Apple Disk Transfer, available freely on the internet in several locations.
I got the ADT program onto the Apple in the first place by setting up the serial link, then putting the Apple into its machine language monitor program and redirecting standard input from the keyboard to the serial card. I could then send down a stream of characters which "typed" the hex bytes of the ADT code into the Apple's memory. The block of bytes were then saved to disk as a binary program file.
I don't know enough to say for sure, but my hunch is the same as Mirko's, that writing an A2-readable floppy from a Commodore 1541 drive would either be physically impossible due to hardware differences, or else REALLY REALLY difficult to accomplish. For writing to Apple II disks, I strongly recommend using an Apple II.
An afterthought: if you only have Commodore hardware, why do you want to be able to write Apple 2 disks? Of what use to you will they be?
Martin