[Coco] Help - CoCo emulator disk image formats...???

[Robert Gault]

Bert & Peggy Schneider wrote:
> What PC operating system are you running?  I'm using Windows XP and for
> some reason, I can't copy data onto a 3.5" floppy in the CoCo format.  I
> can format the disk (of course I can format it on my CoCO) but I can't
> copy data onto the floppy.  Someone said that Omniflop doesn't really
> work well for CoCo formats under XP.
> 
> Just curious.
> 
> Bert
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com]
> On Behalf Of Carey Eugene
> Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 1:41 PM
> To: Coco at maltedmedia.com
> Subject: [Coco] Help - CoCo emulator disk image formats...???
> 
> After shipping off my program collection to be disk imaged, I finally
> got to 
> work on my own personal collection.
> 
> I have about 300 personal disks, but I'll probably only save half that.
> 
> I then spent a full day trying to get my 5.25" drive working again...
> Due 
> to a flaky drive cable, even the 3.5" wouldn't work for a while.
> Finally it 
> dawned on me...  I had gotten it working, but because the drive sits out
> of 
> the case by an inch or so (it wont fit fully in the case), the room
> light 
> was interfering with the LED to detect the index hole.  So after
> covering 
> that up, the drive is now working again.  (I just thought I'd throw that
> in, 
> in case anybody else ever has this problem and wants to throw the drive 
> across the room.)
> 
> I had previously tried OmniFlop 2.01i, but it couldn't read my os9
> disks. 
> It said it was a new format.
> 
> That was a bit odd.  As near as I remember, when I set up my OS9 disks
> to 
> use both sides, I just followed normal directions for setting double
> sided. 
> I don't quite remember what they were since that was many years ago, but
> it 
> wasn't anything unusual.
> 
> Anyway, I reported it and I've just downloaded 2.01j and it detects the 
> format.  (the 2.01j isn't listed on the web page.  I just noticed it
> because 
> of the online reg page.)
> 
> And I save it in .img or .dsk format, and the old dos based msdos<->OS9 
> transfer program can read the disk images.  At least it'll show the 
> directory contents.
> 
> But the disk images don't work under the CoCo emulators.  Neither the
> old 
> Jeff V. emulator nor Mess seems to like the disk format.
> 
> I played around with most of the disk formats that omniflop can do:
> img, 
> dsk, chs, hcs, fea, etc.
> 
> None of them work properly under mess.  A couple will show the 'DOS
> BOOTING' 
> notice, but that's all.  Nothing else happens.
> 
> Soooo.... what disk image format am I supposed to use for emulators?
> 
> I even thought that maybe my old OS9 boot disk that I used was patched
> or 
> configured in such a way that MESS didn't like it.  But trying two
> others 
> didn't help.
> 
> I remember way back when I last messed with my OS9 stuff, there was a
> bit of 
> confusion then about how to handle double sided OS9 disks.  Looks like
> it's 
> biting me again.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (I was a bit surprised that omniflop didn't recognize my os9 dsdd disks.
> To 
> my knoweldge, they are just standard dsdd 360k os9 disks.  But
> apparently 
> not, because omniflop couldn't recognise them.  They are certainly
> different 
> from the NitrOS9 disk format.  [shrug])
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
Please indicate exactly what commands you are giving OmniFlop. I have 
been able to create OS-9 disks with OmniFlop and read them on a Coco.