Re: Backing up Larry

["Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com>]

BLuRry wrote:
> I discovered in boxes of well-preserved floppies (my dad's house is
> always 68 deg. F) a complete copy of Leisure Suit Larry I for //e and
> //c.  I was very surprised and delighted when it booted up perfectly.
> I haven't played enough to veryify the disks are 100% intact but I was
> able to go all around the bar and secret area (password: ken sent me)
> and I was also able to catch a cab, walk around the casino and play
> some blackjack and slots.  This confirms that Disk 1, side 1 and 2 work
> as much as I could tell, as well as disk 2 side 2.  Yay.
>
> Since this is copyrighted material, and knowing Sierra's emphasis on
> copy-protection, how do I back these suckers up successfully?  Copy ][+
> nibble copier?  What about backing up to PC?
>
> thanks for any tips!

A bit copy is probably possible, though I haven't checked on the copy
parameters for Larry.  Backing up to a PC, though, will almost certainly
require deprotecting the disk ("normalizing" it), since the protection
used is not likely to be representable in a .nib file.

> (on a similar note, I have 3 non working copies of infiltrator II --
> odd -- and a totally shattered heart when I discovered that airheart
> wouldn't get past the boot screen.  Good thing that one was cracked)

In my experience, if a diskette has not been overwritten or demagnetized
(both rather unlikely, but possible), disk read errors are usually the
result of a physical defect or dirt on the media (on the bottom side, of
course).

I recommend turning the non-booting disk slowly with two or three
fingers inserted in the central hole, while examining the bottom
surface of the media through the head access hole very carefully.

If there is a small piece of dirt adhering, or some surface blemish,
a Q-tip dampened with a small amount of Windex can often be used
to clean it off.

If there is a small crease in the media, it can sometimes be corrected
sufficiently to read the disk by *very* careful application of a firm
(but not sharp) edge to the crease on its protruding side.  This can
be done against a firm, but yielding backing surface, like a stack of
clean paper.  Sometimes a creasing problem can be overcome temporarily
(long enough to read it) by applying additional pressure on the pressure
pad opposite the head in an opened disk drive while reading it (to make
a copy).

-michael

Music synthesis for 8-bit Apple II's!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

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