Date   : Thu, 03 Jun 1999 17:55:15 +0100
From   : Richard Harker <rich@...>
Subject: Re: BBC software to grab DFS disc images

In message <199906031056.MAA20408@...>
          "Robert Schmidt" <robert@...> wrote:

> Steven Flintham wrote:
> > 
> > I'm thinking of (gradually!) copying all of my BBC discs onto my PC's
> > hard disc, so that I don't need to worry about them dying of old age
> > and so that I can use them conveniently in an emulator. Most of them
> > are DFS (only 40T SS as well), so I thought I might as well store them
> > as straight disc images - IIRC there's a `standard' format (.ssd/.dsd
> > extension) for this. Assuming I'm not imagining it:
> > 
> > a) Is there any documentation on these formats around?
> 
> David A. Gilbert introduced the format (i.e. the sector-by-sector
> layout) with his BeebEm, so the docs for his emulator gives the best
> description there is.  Both formats are only straight dumps of the data,
> fairly intuitive - ordering only becomes an issue with .dsd files.  I
> think it was my humble self who introduced the extensions - just to make
> it easier to distinguish single/double-sidedness.  Size (40/80) can be
> easily determined by the image file size.  The formats do not handle
> weird sector sizes.
>  
> I have not come across such a program yet.
> 
> I've come across some ADFS images - I think Chris Richardson offers some
> ADFS dumps in his excellent 8BS archive.  I've never really used them,
> so I don't know their peculiarities.  Chris has chosen the extension
> ".A" for such images.
[cut]

Does anyone know of a program for the Archimedes which will write one of
these ADFS images to a disc, or better still let them be used in Risc OS, via
an image filing system (like PC format hard drive partitions)?

ATM the only way I've got of using ADFS images is to write them to ADFS L
disks using FDC on a PC.

Cheers, Rich.

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