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Amiga MA Magazine 1998 #6
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1996-08-25
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Disk Imaging Program (DIP) V1.0 by Shamus Husheer
**********************************************************************
LEGAL STATUS:
This program is PUBLIC DOMAIN. I have released the program and it's source
free of any legal obligations to the Amiga Community as a whole. However,
as a result I take NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER for any defects in this
program, documentation etc., nor any responsibility for the use of this
program, the source code or whatever.
Basically, if you use this and then contract mad cow disease, don't come
running to me.
**********************************************************************
INTRODUCTION:
DIP is a very simple "Disk Imaging" program. What it does is read a disk
(like DF0: or whatever) into a file, or write one of those so produced
files to disk.
For more uses see below.
**********************************************************************
REQUIREMENTS:
DIP should run fine on any Amiga with DOS 1.2 and above. It was programmed
on an Amiga A1200 with 10MB Ram, using DevPac 3.14. I have not tested it
on any other configuration. DIP is a CLI-only program, and is so simple to
use that a GUI would add nothing to it except program size. It will should
crash if launched from WB however.
**********************************************************************
USE:
Use is very simple. Use the following commands:
DIP <source> <dest>
If you are wanting to read say DF0: to a file called "Ram:Disk1" you would
type:
DIP DF0: Ram:Disk1
To unDIP this file, simply type
DIP Ram:Disk1 DF0:
**********************************************************************
MORE USES:
Originally this program was written for use with FMS (Which allows you to
mount a file as a fake drive on your system) - instead of diskcopying to
FF0: I use DIP to read DF0: to FMS:Unit0 which has the same effect, but
allows me to read NDOS disks etc. into it.
Since writing DIP I have found a number of other uses to which it can be
put, including:
Disk Archiving:
This program could be used as a replacement for the popular DMS or Zoom
programs which are used to "Image" a disk and then transmit it (via BBS's
or the internet or whatever). However in this respect DIP has a major
advantage - it actually reads the whole disk. Many disk packers read only
those sections of the disk which the system has flagged as used in the
bitmap, and not others - however some games and demos don't bother flagging
"non system" sectors, and so they are missed - even if they have important
data. Another advantage is that DIP does not compress the image - you can
use whatever compression software you like to get the maximum compression.
The only other disk-imager I have seen which allows you to save a whole,
uncompressed image is PackDev, which unfortunately puts a whole bunch of
garbage like checksums etc. in with the data, and so cannot be used by
FMS. PackDev is also not as bullet-proof as DIP in reading a disk -
certain non-system disks cannot be read by PackDev by are fine with DIP,
however these are mostly games.
Disk Backup:
This is kinda similar to the above. I have a friend with a CD writer, so I
have found that an excellent method of getting rid of 99% of my disks was
to DIP them, and save those files onto CDROM, then when I want that
particular disk, I unDIP it to DF0:, and use it for the 10 minutes I
needed. This saves lots of space, as 90% of my mess around the computer
used to be disks unsorted everywhere. Now I have 1 new box of disks which
suffices. Also, once on CD your data is much safer, as floppy disks are
notorious for picking up errors.
**********************************************************************
PROBLEMS:
If you disk is not readable (even in part) by the normal trackdisk.device
like functions, DIP will not be able to read it. Mind you, neither will
most other disk imager's, or copy programs for that matter. This is
usually due to copy protection, and DIP was never designed to aid piracy.
**********************************************************************
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR:
I am contactable by various means:
E-Mail: thorium@xtra.co.nz
Other methods of contact may be changing at the beginning of 1997 due to me
finishing Industry Experience and going back to University (I am doing s
BSc (Technology) through Waikato University), however the snail-mail should
be redirected.
SNAIL MAIL:
Shamus Husheer
BOX 3030
Onekawa
Napier
NEW ZEALAND
I would love to hear from anyone about DIP, for just about any reason.
E-Mail is preferable, but snail is OK (however might not get to me).
**********************************************************************
FUNNY END OF DOCUMENT THING:
"Surf the internet today - On a borrowed surfboard!"