Re: SST back to real apple?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Jon Co writes ...
> 
> Anyone ever try to transfer emulator .nib images back to an apple II
> disk?  First I ran SST on an emulator to create 2 .dsk images.  These
> I transferred to an Apple //c using ADT.  Then I run SST on my IIGS to
> re-create the copy protected software (my //c only has 1 drive).  I
> made sure the destination drive has the head in track 0 before
> writing.  I tried it in high speed, normal speed to no avail.  Is
> there an issue for using a IIGS to write the image?  Should I use my
> //e instead (im a bit lazy to set it up and transfer the drives from
> the GS) Does adjusting the drive speed matter ? If anyone has
> successfully transferred anything back to a real apple, your help
> would be really appreciated.

     Have tried it but got nowhere. The problem seems to be on the emulation
side.

     For one thing, a .nib file is bytes (not a bit stream).  You don't have
long bytes. Plus, emulators are just simulating disk access. Some emus seem to
come closer than others; but, SST wants to do pretty low level stuff (like
detect sync bytes).

     One approach would be to use a bit copier to work with the .nib file on
the IIgs. Have the bit copier load in track-size blocks (think that's $1A00
bytes) from the .nib file-- similar to getting a nibble-ized or "raw" track
dump. Then write the track to diskette. Maybe SST could be modified to do that
without too much bother.

     Fortunately, many .nib files are not really copy protected. A disk image
will often be in .nib form to preserve the volume number of a DOS 3.3 disk
because a game uses volume numbers to identify particular disks.

     A workaround when .nib is used just to preserve volume numbering is to
copy the .nib to a .dsk. Transfer the .dsk to your IIgs and move it to a
diskette INITed with the correct volume number.

     If the .nib is not copy protected, you may be able to get the volume
number via a CATALOG. If it's some weird DOS, you can use DISK ID SCAN on the
TnilUtil disk (from Ground or GSWV) to read the volume number.



Rubywand