TR-DOS disks

Mon Feb 23 1998 20:31, Vitaly Serov wrote to All:

VS> Or did I not use the ones I have correctly?
VS> I really don’t want to lose information from these floppy disks...
Use FUT/DCU and everything will be a bundle...Everything is written in the FAQ.

<- With best regardz,Pavel ->

ZX - The Power of Shock (c) Pol Freeman

VS> Please tell me if it is possible to transfer files from floppy disks that were
VS> formatted on the Spectrum. I tried to use HOBETA and
VS> the utility built into the emulator by N. Shalaev - nothing worked.

Guys, who writes the FAQ, I will suggest perhaps the most reliable way of transferring
games/tools from native ZX disks to a TRD image for emulators, though hemorrhoids
slightly.

Two ways:
1) There is no 1.2" disk drive on the PC. Well, okay, that’s not what I really wanted; we are looking for
one/two/many 3.5" floppy disks at 720k and format them _on_PC_ with a Hob
formatter.
Now we need connect a 3.5" drive to a live ZX; it connects simply,
exactly the same as a 5.25" and it is powered only from +5V, there is no need to supply +12V.
Any drive can be connected, I tore it out of my Penta and it’s fine, though on the ZX
it’s visible under the letter C for some reason, but okay, it’s even to The best one, with jumpers
didn't have to fiddle around with it. In short, we have a native ZX drive for 5.25" "A:" (in the general
case. Someone here can only use 3.5" and it works) and a PC drive for 3.5" "C:".
Now on a live ZX we copy the floppy disk one to one with all sorts of ZX programs, such as
boot PSW SOFT, etc. Now insert the recorded 3.5" floppy disk into the PC and roll it all file by file onto the screw. Thus, we get a bunch of files *.$b, *.$c, etc., i.e. a bunch of hobbetsfiles. Then we roll them into a TRD image using
well-known utilities such as ZCOP/Spectrum Navigator/ZX Tools.
2) The PC has a 1.2" disk drive. We do the same thing only with 5.25" floppy disks.

In short, those who don’t understand, the hobeta sees the disks perfectly formatted on the PC by it
(more precisely, by the formatter hofrmt.exe).

There are (at least for me) five programs that supposedly see native Sinclair disks, but they see them only if this floppy disk is formatted
with the same
the very program, i.e. Discs formatted by Khobeta will not be read by Shalaev's emulator and vice versa.

The disadvantage of this method is that it is too bulky and hectic. Well, I have not yet come across a single program that reads the entire disk, formatted with a Hobby formatter, directly into a TRD image. Why Khobetny? Well, I don’t know, Hobeta files have become some kind of standard, let formatting disks with Hobeta will also become a standard.

Plus - 100% guarantee that you will drag all your Sinclair disks onto the screw.

In principle, since Shalaev’s emulator reads disks formatted by itself, you will need to
try to write some kind of image onto a floppy disk with the formatting option,
then on a live ZX roll it up one in one or even as an “unreadable disk” on this
just formatted floppy disk and try to read the whole thing with the emulator disk
immediately into a TRD image. I don’t even know...

Another onenuance. I had a problem, well, I formatted the disk on a PC, and as soon as I made any recording on a live ZX, that’s it, Khobeta doesn’t see this disk. The problem turned out to be that the drive controller was “turbocharged”, i.e. there the heads go two times faster. The turbocharger scheme was for Pentagon128 at KP11. I removed
and everything became normal.

RomanRom2 [Team MAZDAI - RULEZ] [Team women - love]

RK> Guys, who writes the FAQ there, I’ll suggest perhaps the most reliable way
RK> of transferring toys/tools from native ZX disks into a TRD image for emulators,
RK> though it’s a bit crap. I won’t contribute, because in essence it’s all just
a repetition and combination of the methods described by the fact.

With all sorts of regards and wishes.
Igor.

... Whoever has no illusions often eats well himself.

In general, as a person who has just done this, I can recommend 2
utilities. Maretrd and makefdi. The 2nd program is included in the package of the MAKE_UKV emulator (that’s what it’s called for me). Maketrd is the best known program that allows you to copy a Sinclair disk to an IBM. There is 1 minus - the disc must be in
a condition close to ideal, because... at the slightest sign of error, the program crashes and it is impossible to count what is next through it. Makefdi has another disadvantage - it reads the disk very slowly in your and my case (when started with the -d switch). But you can ignore it.

And in the Shalaevsky emulsion there is a somewhat crooked processor for Spekov floppy disks. But emul itself is the best, IMHO, of all those available today. The fdi2trd or zcop program will help you transfer .fdi to .trd
The fdi2trd or zcop program will help you.
VS> In the book by Yu. Pomortsev “TR-DOS for professionals and amateurs” there is
VS> the following text: “...The absence of an index field is the main reason why
VS> it is impossible to read a disk from SPECTRUM on other computers,
VS> for example, IBM PC..." Is this true?

True :)

VS> Or are there any utilities?

But there are also exceptions ;)

VS> If they exist, which ones? Maybe they are somewhere on the Internet?

Why go so far ;) Besides, the Internet is mostly crooked
bourgeoisпpоги...

VS> were formatted on the Spectrum. I tried to use HOBETA and
VS> the utility built into the emulator by N. Shalaev - nothing worked. In the book

Perhaps it’s all due to the fact that the sectors on your disks are not arranged in order, and the hobets and shalaevs don’t read them, try using UKV-Debuger!

VS> Yu. Pomortsev “TR-DOS for professionals and amateurs” there is the following text:
VS> “...Lack of index field - the main reason why a disc with
VS> SPECTRUM cannot be read on other computers, for example, IBM
VS> PC..." Is this true? Or are there any utilities? If
VS> exist, which ones? Maybe they are somewhere on the Internet? Or I don't

I don't know how on the Internet, but there are BBS oriented towards the spectrum there and you will find .

VS> correctly used the ones I have? I really don’t want
VS> to lose
VS> information from these floppy disks...

I recently threw “make.trd” into the echo, see if you can find it.

VS> Vitaly.

All the best. /──────────────────────\ [ Fantasy World - Rulez ]
Sincerely, │ Wanderer 'Sagacious' │ [ Getting up early - Must Die]
─────────────────── ────\──────────────────────/ [ Station 106.8 - Rulez ]
... Studying too hard one doctrine at the expense of others narrows one's horizons...

Slightly? Well, well...

By the way, regarding sealing index holes, changing cartoons and
other shamanism that is recommended for reading Spec's floppy disks
on IBM. I myself had this problem for quite a long time (when formatting
hofrmt or DCU the floppy disks were readable). The drive used was of _very_ quality, it "pulled out" IBM floppy disks that could not be read on any
else. But I didn’t read floppy disks formatted by TR-DOS, no matter what shamanistic tricks...
The other day I bought myself a second 5.25", fortunately they are no longer fashionable on IBMs.
I installed it. I checked it - it works. I especially draw your attention - the cartoon
and the motherboard have not changed! Just for fun, I used a hobeta and stuffed an "unreadable" floppy disk into it. I read it! Without any messages about an error in the first sector... To check, I started copying files, almost without any problems, only at the very end of the disk I had to repeat the reading a couple of times... So, a lot can depend on the specific instance of the drive...

Sincerely, George

VS> That's the problem, that there is no live ZX anymore (only a bunch of floppy disks
VS> remain)... Is this case incurable?

Well, you're familiar with the living ZX yeah? Well, or try these very notorious programs
maketrd/makefdi (it’s hard to believe in universality).