Re: Help with creating disks from disk images...

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net> wrote: 

>Memory Usage:
>-------------
>
>DOS 3.3 Launcher saves ProDOS 8 in auxiliary memory when a DOS 3.3
program
>is launched. It also uses auxiliary memory for its quit code, and for
tables
>used by the RWTS routine. This means that most DOS 3.3 programs that use
>auxiliary memory will not work with DOS 3.3 Launcher. However, DOS 3.3
>Launcher does not use the portion of auxiliary memory required for
double
>high resolution graphics, so programs that only use auxiliary memory for
>this
>purpose should work OK.
>
> ....
>
><<
>
>     Since more than one disk side can go into a file, it does not seem
>likely that D33L's format is compatible with emulators. 

Actually, the images D33L creates are compatible with ONE
emulator at least.  Back a few years ago when emulators were novel
ideas, there was one for the Mac called II in a Mac.  A Mac LC user
on a BBS I frequented got this emulator and I at the time just found
DOS 3.3 Laucher.  I made an image of an issue of Uptime disk
magazine using D33L and sent it to him for testing.  To his surprise,
it worked!

Later, the Apple II+ emulator written by a college prof started using
the DSK images.  This, I think, was the emulator that started using
this format and thus standardized it.  I tried using DSK on D33L
and D33L images on the II+ emulator.  Sometimes it would seem
to work some (running the Copy II+ on the II+ emulator and catalog
a D33L image named as a DSK file...you'll sometimes see a list
of files, ...maybe half scrambled...).  Obviously the two image
formats are very close.

>     One major limitation is not being able to run DOS 3.3 products
>which use the Language Card space in which D33L puts ProDOS. This
>eliminates "64k" games which want to use the space.

Read the doc you posted -- D33L puts ProDOS in AUXILIARY mem.
This is not the language card space from 48k to 64k, but the IIe's
Extended 80 Column Card space...that's why D33L's author left the
space for the graphics memory unused so that DHR will work.  I
think, for example, deprotected Airheart will run with D33L....

>     Another major limitation is requiring that the product use the
>standard RWTS. Even software which has been copy-deprotected may retain
>a non-standard RWTS. These products would have to be detected and either
>modified or excluded.

But...many wares are already deprotected...

I agree, though, and one of the drawbacks of II in a Mac (other than
the poor performance...0.5Mhz max equivalent on a Mac LC III, most
of the time much less...speed fluctuates...) was that protected wares
could not be run...without deprotection....

>     None of the above prevents D33L from being used to archive quite a
>few wares; however, it is not a general-purpose format which could
>substitute for DSK disk image files.

BUT...like the Copy II+ experiment shows, many non-protected DSK
images are not that different from D33L images.  A conversion prog.
should be possible...

>     If you want to store and run a wide variety of 5.25" wares from
>hard disk, it looks like you need a way to handle DSK files on the GS as
>though they were diskettes.

That would be best, but I'll be very happy with a DSK to D33L util
for converting images instead.  I know it probably will not happen,
but it would be cool if it did!