+DjayBee Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 While dumping my floppies some questions popped up which I would like to know: Can .atx or .pro files be written back to real disks and how? Atarimania (unfortunately) has only atx-Files for several games and I would like to copy them to real disks. Is it possible to create an atx with simple bad sectors from an atr file? I have working copies of the original protected versions of Synapse's Filemanager 800+ and SynFile I would like to "atx" them. How can I do this? I know that SynFile can be copied without a Happy run-time disk since my own version is such a copy. But I do not remember how this can be done. It might be one of the disks which need a Happy 810 with the potentiometer to slow down the drive. [*]I cannot backup my original (and working) MULE disk with my Happy 1050 (neither with the 7.10 PDB file nor by enabling skew aligning manually). Any idea what might be the reason? thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fröhn Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Typically copy protected disks contain stuff which the 1050 can read but cannot write. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Jefferson Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 1. No 2. Possibly, if you could build your own atx file from the atr file somehow. I don't know if the full ATX format spec has been released, has it? You'd also need to know the exact location of the bad sectors, and probably some other stuff (maybe what error or behavior the drive is supposed to show at that sector.) 3. You need the software to create an ATX file. I don't think this software has been officially released however. Check at www.atarimania.com under VAPI, maybe. 4. Beats me. I think that my copy of MULE was copied with a Happy drive from way back when. I don't think it was a cracked version, but several cracked versions exist out there, so you could write one of those to a physical disk with APE/ProSystem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathtrappomegranate Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 (edited) The VAPI disk imaging software has not been released as yet. A patched version of the Atari800WinPlus emulator exists, which allows the use of existing .atx files. Links to these files are available at atarimania.com. I understand that the author of VAPI is busy with other matters at present, but we hope that Atarimania will have further news of this project in due course. Edited March 13, 2008 by deathtrappomegranate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 The VAPI disk imaging software has not been released as yet. A patched version of the Atari800WinPlus emulator exists, which allows the use of existing .atx files. Links to these files are available at atarimania.com. Have the sources to the emulator been released? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DjayBee Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Since it is not possible to write real disks from atx and pro it would be great if Atarimania would also provide working (cracked) ATRs for software where a VAPI image exists. *hint*hint* On the creation of VAPI images: I want to give dumps of Atarischreiber (German Atari writer - one bad sector), Datasoft Zaxxon (5 bad sectors) and both Synapse file managers to Atarimania. If someone tells me how to copy SynFile I can send real floppies of all four to someone who can make VAPIs from them. I read somehwere that you need a Happy 1050 to use the VAPI dumping software. If this is the case I can make the images myself - if I can obtain the dumping software - since I own one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 While dumping my floppies some questions popped up which I would like to know: [*]Can .atx or .pro files be written back to real disks and how? Atarimania (unfortunately) has only atx-Files for several games and I would like to copy them to real disks. With the current version of APE and you can write some .PRO images back to a real disk using the Happy Backup software, just put the PRO image in drive #1 and the real Happy 1050 in drive #2. PRO images are generally made with unmodified drives and do not really contain the whole state of the original disk, so YMMV on how well images written back to disk will work. Simple missing sectors, CRC/DDM and duplicate sector protections will probably work fine written back out. More advanced protections with timing attacks like Electronic Arts and Broderbund titles have less of a chance of working when written back, though using the appropriate PDB file may help. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I understand that the author of VAPI is busy with other matters at present, but we hope that Atarimania will have further news of this project in due course. That's good to know, I haven't heard from Ijor in quite a while and was wondering if things were OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Since it is not possible to write real disks from atx and pro it would be great if Atarimania would also provide working (cracked) ATRs for software where a VAPI image exists. Sorry, no time for that. Moreover, one of the very reasons our site exists is to avoid having multiple "versions" of the same program. Atarimania is probably far from perfect but at least give us credit for trying to organize things properly Anyway, Fandal deprotected some of the rare VAPI images from our site so you can grab these files from his page. Of course, nothing prevents other people from cracking the rest (though most of the programs are already "out there"). On the creation of VAPI images: I want to give dumps of Atarischreiber (German Atari writer - one bad sector), Datasoft Zaxxon (5 bad sectors) and both Synapse file managers to Atarimania. If someone tells me how to copy SynFile I can send real floppies of all four to someone who can make VAPIs from them. There are a number of floppies we still need to upload and I'm sure there are some from the Syn series. I need to check... Just a word on the VAPI disks on our page... Practically all of them have been verified from multiple sources. For the moment, our policy is to at least double-check the images to make sure they are 100% authentic. This may change in the future if the project continues to grow and we get more one-of-a-kind items but this is to tell you that sending VAPI disks to us means that we have to check them against other copies before uploading anything (incidentally, this is one of the reasons only few people have the VAPI tool: we don't want to be flooded with images of unknown origin). I read somehwere that you need a Happy 1050 to use the VAPI dumping software. If this is the case I can make the images myself - if I can obtain the dumping software - since I own one. Yes, we can certainly send you the software but only if you are really interested in the project and general preservation issues regarding Atari 8-bit software. A number of members have e-mailed us ATX disks over the past months and have been of great support. On the other hand, some people who were given the tool in the past weeks barely replied since so why bother in the first place? In other words: if you are serious, feel free to PM either of the Atarimania members here or through our site -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfdbg Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 As a related question, is there any documentation available on the ATX format? I might want to support it in atari++, but all I see are binaries. Thanks, Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 (edited) I'd like to be able to plug it into atarixlbox as well. Hopefully something will pop up in the near future... Good to see Atari++ is still being worked on. For some reason I thought development on it stoped. Edited March 17, 2008 by Shannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfdbg Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I'd like to be able to plug it into atarixlbox as well. Hopefully something will pop up in the near future... Good to see Atari++ is still being worked on. For some reason I thought development on it stoped. Nope. I just haven't received many requests lately, and it does well what it does. (-: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Ahhh ok. I have glanced over the source during my recent ventures and I really like the way it is organized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.