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Packing and crunching DOS 3.3
- Subject: Packing and crunching DOS 3.3
- From: Steve Nickolas <lyricalnanoha@usotsuki.hoshinet.org>
- Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 02:40:15 +0100
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OK, this is a weird idea I came up with and don't know how to implement.
:P
This is an Exomized image of my DOS 3.3 variant:
http://xtra.usotsuki.info/pakastos.zip
Inside the .ZIP there is a file with a short (12 bytes, I think) BASIC
stub that loads at $0801. (No doubt it'll need relocated, or a wrapper
that loads it from a different address, since boot sectors load at
$0800-$08FF - I know this much.)
I don't know much about the disk ][ firmware or hardware, but I figured...
The file size is 6788 bytes - 0x1A84. so it takes $1B (27) sectors. As
long as the bootstrap takes less than 5, that's a win - the disk will
still take less space than a disk normally formatted with this system.
(Yes - a normally formatted disk with this variant has only 2 system
tracks, not 3 as in standard DOS 3.3. The hack comes from AAL.)
So, I'm thinking I want to do a reasonably snappy load of this image into
memory, then jump over the stub to decompress DOS.
Also - I'm thinking of adding options that can load additional tracks to
show an image on the screen, or to forceload BASIC, etc., and a tool to
ease with the formatting of such disks?
-uso.