[Coco] [Color Computer] Fw: DSKINI problems

[Neil Morrison]

FYI

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mvTuop" <mvTuop at yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.coco
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 10:00 AM
Subject: DSKINI problems


>
> DSKINI problems:
>
> I have seen many questions about DSKINI and RETRIEVE.
> The question are always the same type of questions so I made and posted
> this faq.
> Please add to this FAQ and please post your changes or additions so we all
> can see them.
>
>
>
> DSKINI FAQ:
>
>
> 0001: Track zero error: Use a bulk tape eraser on those floppies. I've had 
> disks fail track zero work fine again after bulk erasing them, as long as 
> there's no physical damage to the floppy.
>
> 0002. I have found that using a Disk, Formatted first on the Pc, Does tend 
> to make it very erratic , when used on the Coco 3, I have found formatting 
> the disk first on the coco 3,  works 95% of the time better. A way to 
> really make the disk work again, Put the disk on a very powerful magnet, 
> this will Bulk erase it no sweat, Do this for 30secs, then format the disk 
> on the coco 3, Then use DSKINI.EXE on the Pc, to make the real disk copy.
>
> 0003: My question: How do I get the programs from a PC to a coco floppy 
> disk? So far I've not used any of the coco Emulators. All help will be 
> appreciated. This is a Very popular question. Here is the simple facts.
>
> 1. One way to make real copies any time, invest around $150US for a 
> Catweasel Mark 4 card, That's what I did, and it's been the best $180AUS I 
> have spent for Coco archiving purposes. Since by what I have read on the 
> Web, Some PC Floppy Disk Controllers will not work properly , When used to 
> make real copies, I Think Certain Panasonic Brands have a incompatibility 
> problem making Coco disks. laters. Viva Le Coco.
>
> 2. Quite a few questions deal with using: PORT.EXE. How do I move files to 
> and from real coco floppy disks? If you use port then first read the 
> documentation that comes with Jeff's download and read all of it. Also 
> look at the source code because there is no other better documentation 
> then that. Get use to the interface and how the program works. Basically 
> you can move files to and from real floppy disks but only from within a 
> MS-DOS system. Nothing else will work. You must use MS-DOS. And you should 
> actually run the coco3x emulator and any of the tools such as: dskini, 
> retrieve, port, cas2rom, casin, casout, coco3x, external, and os9. Note* 
> become familiar with any and all documentation  dealing with the above 
> programs.
>
> 3. People want a easy way to get and put emulated coco floppy disks to a 
> real coco floppy disk. There are several things you can do. You can buy 
> OmniFlop and use it. You can use one of the several ways found on the news 
> group list gmane.comp.hardware.tandy.coco. You can use dskini or retrieve 
> but you must use a MS-DOS system. I have discovered a easy to use system 
> already on the internet. I don't need a FAT 16 or a FAT 32 . However, I do 
> need a 3.5 1.44 Meg floppy disk drive. If your computer does not have a 
> standard floppy disk drive then you cant use this method and you'll need 
> another alternative.
>
> Down load the file describe below:

> In that down load is a file named makeboot.exe and it will make a MS-DOS 
> 6.2 boot disk for booting tour computer into MS-DOS 6.2 FAT 16 system. The 
> system has enough of a system to transfer virtual disk file to and from 
> real coco floppies. But you must have a real floppy disk in your computer 
> that is running MS- DOS. I can transfer virtual images from 1.44 Meg real 
> disk to the RAM drive that this MS-DOS system run in and use the 3.5 inch 
> drive for coco real floppies and 1.44 Meg for virtual floppy disks. I also 
> had the use of my CDROM drive from MS-DOS. Since I only have FAT 32 and 
> NTFS the MS-DOS system
> only had the RAM drive as the C: drive and my CDROM drive as D:
>
> Note* I did change the bat files to reflect the fact that there is no Hard 
> Drive because MS-DOS FAT 16 can't see these partitions. I changed all ram 
> drive occurrences to C: and all cdrom drive occurrences to D: and it 
> worked. I like this system because it means I do what I want to do, that 
> is transfer my virtual disk files to and from the real coco. When I am 
> done there is nothing to do except boot back into Windows XP and the 
> MS-DOS system I used is exactly the same with no changes waiting for my 
> next flood of disk to disk coping.



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