DSK images for Cromemco

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cro memcos

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Jun 14, 2021, 7:27:11 AM6/14/21
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Dear All,

 

I created an awful lot of DSK images, and it went a little like this ....

 

Having spent the first 15 years ish of my Computer Career without a GUI,  they did not exist except in research ...

so when they actually started to exist in the mainstream I always chose them!

 

So despite all that UNIX (and CROMIX) command line training I do like the HxC Floppy Emulator  GUI presentation

 

 

image.png

 

You can press the LOAD button and read in an .IMD file

 


image.png


 

Then press the Export button and select BMP format  which can be used as what I call a .DSK format

 

 

 

 

----

 

But wait, there is more ...


image.png


 

The program has a Batch conversion function!

 

 

Annoyingly the IMG output is not present but RAW works

 

 

 

 

 

So several hundred conversions in my VM later, then transfer to the workstation, then sync from Workdir to Production, then Github up to the cloud,  you should all notice a DSK directory  inside code , disks

 

 

-----

 

 

image.png

 

 

Due to a limitation on the number of files in a directory for Github  I had to quite significantly change the way that images are stored

 

You will see there is now a sep dir for IMD  HxC and DSK etcetera.     So now you can browse the filetree in gihub graphically  (ah, feels good )

 

-----

 

Some errors ....

 

Whilst checking a few images I noticed that some .IMD files are in error , hence translating them to other formats will fail.  Example, some have the wrong RPM rate, so when a 1.2MB image is converted to HFE format, if it embeds 300rpm then loading on a HxC drive fails because Cromix is expecting 360 rpm.  Correcting it is a large segment of work.  In principal you can take the files in the actual directory  and then convert them via various means back to a working .IMD.    I know Damian may add this facility to his java cromixfs so if I got really keen   (no promises) I could check and convert.  At some point in future!  But for now I think there are many copies of OS levels so there should be at least one working copy per Cromix or CDOS or App level etc.

 

Okay,  as usual, if I made any horrible faux pas, do report back.

 

m

 

damian

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Jun 14, 2021, 4:36:14 PM6/14/21
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Marcus, as far as I am aware, the IMD format does not specify the a RPM value.  The conversion program must be deriving a value from other parameters.

BTW, I have released version 1.4 of cromix-fs which includes support for:
  • listing and extracting from ftar images
  • support for disk images in hfe format in addition to imd format.
You may download it from here: cromix-fs R1.4

On Monday, June 14, 2021 at 9:27:11 PM UTC+10 cro memcos wrote:

Dear All,

 

... 

cro memcos

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Jun 14, 2021, 7:07:18 PM6/14/21
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  Damian,

Thanks for the comments re IMD and RPM .... The symptom is this

a) I take one of the IMD files that I made many moons ago on the IBM PC
b) Use the HxC GUI tool to convert it to an .HFE
b1) Extract the file from my VM and place it onto the SDcard that goes into the HxC emulator
b2) select that particular .HFE file on the emulator  (can be done with Cromix running)
c) it will not mount in Cromix or pass a check command
d) I take the file and in windows use the HxC track view and I notice that the 1.2MB image it says 300 RPM
e) I checked some other working .HFE and they say 360 RPM!!
f) I concluded that the wrong RPM is output from the HxC product back to the Cromemco Disk Controller,  someplace in 68000 Cromix is checking and throwing an error. [Another possibility is somehow the .IMD file I made is otherwise bad]

Will have to do a double check to see what an earth is going on, in case my analysis is somehow flawed.


----

Will check out cromix-fs at 1.4 and report back.


marcus


damian

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Jun 14, 2021, 7:34:03 PM6/14/21
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Hello Marcus

Could you send me copies of the working and non-working hfe files and their associated imd files. They need to be for the same floppy type.

Re:  f) I concluded that the wrong RPM is output from the HxC product back to the Cromemco Disk Controller,  someplace in 68000 Cromix is checking and throwing an error. [Another possibility is somehow the .IMD file I made is otherwise bad]

Yes, the floppy driver calculates the rotational speed of the disk from the drive's index pulse rate and checks that against the size (derived from the device's minor number).

  val = fdc_index();
  if (!val) {
    d_printf("CFLOP unit %ld: No index pulses\r\n",mindev);
    goto reterr1;
  }
  if ((mindev & FSIZE && val>330)||(!(mindev & FSIZE) && val<330)) {
    d_printf("CFLOP unit %ld: Wrong size drive selected\r\n",mindev);
    goto reterr1;
  }

cro memcos

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Jun 15, 2021, 4:20:48 AM6/15/21
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Damian,

I will reply to you privately about the cromix-fs issues,   I really hope it is not my IMD'ing as this would be difficult to correct.

My IMD dates back to around 2010 I believe so maybe on an earlier release of the IMD for IBM PC than the 118 current level

regards marcus


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fpflyers

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Feb 16, 2022, 8:42:03 AM2/16/22
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To All
i have been using the HXC emulator and came across 2 images (285RDOS2-.01-disasmbled_IMD.hfe & 285RDOS-15-512-500_IMD.hfe) that are 8" 77track 360rpm but show up as a 300rpm disk. has a way of changing the hfe file to make it play at 360 been found? i have seen a script file with commands to do just that, but don't see any reference on how to use it.
thanks
bill

cro memcos

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Feb 16, 2022, 5:32:41 PM2/16/22
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Bill,

So I think for disk 285 you can find the actual contents in the archive here


It is quite possible that the .HFE image here

is not created correctly.

I can think of a way to regenerate it (on a non vintage system)

a) download the files from the github
b) use the cromix-fs program from damian to create an .IMD file
c) use the HxC utilities to translate from .IMD to .HFE

Surely that would work?

I think damian's cromix-fs is a major step forward as it enables you to create a real .IMD image file on a modern system i.e. without the need for a compatible IBM PC with Dave's software.


One last thing.  Also check out disk 821 which is Malcolms disassembly ...


regards m





fpflyers

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Mar 10, 2022, 1:28:49 PM3/10/22
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hi marcus
i have looked at your suggestions and also found that the commented listings in the early rdos books will be useful for identifying and labeling sections of the code .
thanks
bill
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