Creating new Digital Data Packs (without donor cassettes!)

[tschak909]

My paper detailing how to create new Coleco Adam Digital Data Packs using MAME's 'castool' is now complete.

 

Abstract:

This document shows the process of applying formatting to suitable media without needing a donor tape to copy the formatting information. This process can be applied to either first-party media or to third-party media after the appropriate mechanical modifications are made to the cassette tape casing. This method requires only software to generate the required signal, and a suitable recording device to transfer the resulting signal to tape. Once transferred, the resulting tape can be used as any other digital data pack, for any required application. Applications for this method include lowest-common-denominator software distribution and reconstruction of degraded data packs so that they can be used again.

 

This paper is split into two sections, the first providing an overview of the format of Coleco Adam Digital Data packs, while the second provides the procedure for formatting a data pack using the MAME castool. The first section may be skipped if the procedure is all that is needed.

 

This represents the long tail of collaborative work across multiple projects to solve a long term problem in the Adam community, and this paper would not have been possible without the efforts of many.

 

Article can be read directly here on the Internet Archive.

https://archive.org/details/formatting-digital-data-packs
 

---

 

I have also attached a zip file, with the PDF, the source material (document is in LyX format), and the two audio files generated by this exercise.

 

formatting-digital-data-packs.zip

[OurVision]

This is a neat idea.

[tschak909]

I'm hoping someone will attempt to replicate this.

 

-Thom