Re: Help! Mac, //e card, disk images, files, etc.

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

In article <Invid-1605961644360001@ppp78.localnet.com>,
Invid fan <Invid@localnet.com> wrote:

> 1.I have downloaded some apple files with my mac, for example
> 'shrinkit.exe', but they at the moment are simpletext documents. How
> can I make it usable (ie creator type settings)?

To change a file into a ProDOS text file, use a Mac creator of 'pdos'
and type of 'TEXT'.  To change a file into a ProDOS binary file, use a
creator of 'pdos' and a type of 'BINA'.  Both of these types should be
transferred to a ProDOS disk successfully, without adding an
extraneous resource fork (unless the file already has one).

In the case of ShrinkIt.EXE, you want to make it a TEXT file, so that
you can execute it from ProDOS BASIC.

> 2. I have the mac program ImageConverter, which can convert disk images
> into CopyII+ images, to be then transfered to floppies. CopyII+, however,
> refuses to copy the disk image from a 3.5 disk to a 5 1/4 (at least as the
> instructions to ImageConverted said it would).

Copy II+ stopped supporting disk image files in version 8.0 or
thereabouts.  Use version 7.2 or 7.4 to copy a disk image back to a
5.25" floppy.

> 3. What is the procedure for transfering programs (such as Ultima V) from
> the original disks to either the hard drive or a 3.5inch disk?

Not easy.  Ultima V uses a custom operating system which is loosely
based on ProDOS (same file system, but limited to a single root
directory), combined with direct block access to the disk, AND it has a
copy-protected startup disk.  All of these factors make it very hard to
get it working on anything other than a normal 5.25" disk.

I made an attempt at getting it working from 3.5" disks several years
ago, and got as far as deprotecting the boot disk and getting it
running, but the game locked up after a small number of moves, and I
didn't feel inclined to spend a large amount of time trying to find
out why.


Similar problems are likely to occur with other programs that run on a
5.25" disk.  If the program uses a standard version of DOS 3.3 (and
complies with several other limitations), it may be possible to run it
using John MacLean's "DOS 3.3 Launcher" program, which turns a DOS 3.3
disk into a disk image on a ProDOS disk.

Any ProDOS-based 5.25" disk program should be transferrable to a 3.5"
disk, provided it doesn't do any direct disk accesses (bypassing the
operating system).  It may be necessary to use the same directory
structure and disk name as the original disk, if the program has been
written assuming several details.  This makes it tricky to use on a
hard drive.

> 4. My computer refuses to copy some files (disk images) from my mac area
> to a prodos disk. Are there any restrictions I should know about?

Too big, perhaps?  I can't think of any specific reason why this
wouldn't work.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand