Myarc Disk Manager and DSK1 emulation

[jenorton]

Hi:

 

I copied a floppy to my HD image with Myarc's Disk Manager (v1.50) as an emulate image since the program requires to be run as DSK1.  So, I set the emulation flag and it is working properly.

 

Now, it occurs to me, if you were using a real hard-drive and you set up a floppy image for DSK1 emulation, how do you go back to Disk Manager, since it also requires DSK1 to load?  After all, using real hardware, you would need to deactivate the emulate flag on the image to go back to using DSK1.  I put the Myarc Disk Manager in the first floppy and tried to do CALL MDM from TI Basic, but, it has that file on the HD set for DSK1 emulation.  So, how does one get back to Disk Manager to unset the emulation flag?  In my case, I'm using MAME, so all I have to do is to load the HD image in TI Image Tool and I can toggle the emulate flag in there and it'll take care of it.  But, this wouldn't have been an option with real hardware--even now.

 

So, how does one get around this?

 

Thanks!

[+InsaneMultitasker]

2 hours ago, jenorton said:

Hi:

 

I copied a floppy to my HD image with Myarc's Disk Manager (v1.50) as an emulate image since the program requires to be run as DSK1.  So, I set the emulation flag and it is working properly.

 

Now, it occurs to me, if you were using a real hard-drive and you set up a floppy image for DSK1 emulation, how do you go back to Disk Manager, since it also requires DSK1 to load?  After all, using real hardware, you would need to deactivate the emulate flag on the image to go back to using DSK1.  I put the Myarc Disk Manager in the first floppy and tried to do CALL MDM from TI Basic, but, it has that file on the HD set for DSK1 emulation.  So, how does one get back to Disk Manager to unset the emulation flag?  In my case, I'm using MAME, so all I have to do is to load the HD image in TI Image Tool and I can toggle the emulate flag in there and it'll take care of it.  But, this wouldn't have been an option with real hardware--even now.

 

So, how does one get around this?

 

Thanks!

Assuming the HFDC is at CRU >1100 and is acting as both the hard drive and floppy controller...

 

The typical configuration would be to place the MDM5 files into a subdirectory on the hard drive and configure the path (from within MDM5) to point to that location.  You can also copy the MDM5 files to the DSK1. subdirectory, which should take 'emulation' precedence over the physical DSK1 or the emulated DSK1.  The benefit here is that CALL MDM looks for the files in DSK1.

 

Another way to get around this is to have a copy of MDM5 on disk that is set to run from DSK2.  This is handy if the hard drive or files are corrupted or the drive is unavailable. I often used this approach when I was performing repair and/or hard drive recovery work for HFDC owners. 

 

The MDM5 program load path can be set from within MDM5.  One caveat that I seem to recall that that hard drive format program was hardcoded to load from DSK1. in V1.29; this problem may have been fixed in v1.50 or higher.   

 

The Myarc HFDC manual goes into some detail about DSK1 emulation, but IMHO it could have been better at tying things together between the card, the devices, emulation, and the disk manager for the typical user when used as a sole controller and when used with a separate floppy controller. 

[Gary from OPA]

my atariage searching is failing, anyone have the link to the thread with all the various MDM5 disk managers in it, I am trying to find the one that works nicely on the /4A system with my HFDC card.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Version 1.29 is stable and is the version I use to this day.  1.40, 1.50 and higher should also be OK.  Do not use 1.30.