Software 2000

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software 2000 / Software 2000 Volume 1 (Disc 1 of 2).iso / utilities / u098.dms / in.adf / Nib.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1989-01-06 | 14.6 KB | 431 lines

STELLAR SYSTEMS, INCORPORATED presents NIB V1.0 © Copyright 1989 Shawn Liptak All Rights Reserved This initial release of NIB (V1.0) may be freely distributed as long as: A. No charge is made for the program. B. No more than $5.00 U.S. is charged for the disk. C. No file is deleted or edited in any way. NIB is intended for archival purposes and to ease the burden of such copy protection schemes as "Master Disk", "Key Word", and "Code Wheel". Software authors have the right and a necessity to make a profit on their products. So, if you use it, then BUY it! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SPECIAL OFFER NIB (V2.0) will be released as a commercial product in May or June of 1989. It will retail for $38.00 U.S. and feature new parameters, a disk editor, and an error checker. If you become a "Registered Owner" you will be entitled to A. NIB V2.0, which will be shipped to you free of charge B. The first upgrade to V2.0 will cost $6.00 versus $9.00 To become a "Registered Owner" make out a check or money order to Shawn Liptak for $16.00 U.S.. Print or type the information in the file Form.txt and... Send to: STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc. Attn. Shawn Liptak P.O. BOX 9047 Hampton, VA 23670-0047 Note: A. All registrations must be postmarked by May 15, 1989. B. Virginia residents add 4.5% (72 cents) state sales tax. C. To become a "Registered Owner" you must provide a valid shipping address in the continental United States. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc. is dedicated to providing quality software for the AMIGA series of computers. If you have software that is under development or finished and you are looking for a method of marketing it, please contact us at the address below. We can also provide code for specific applications such as custom disk access or title screens. STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc. Attn. Software Development P.O. BOX 9047 Hampton, VA 23670-0047 If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about STELLAR SYSTEMS or NIB, please write us at... STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc. Attn. PR P.O. BOX 9047 Hampton, VA 23670-0047 Amiga and AmigaDOS are trademarks of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NIB Nib was written to be an economical disk backup system. It uses a precision disk nibbler combined with flexible parameters and a unique track selection system. This allows it to make working copies of a variety of protected software. The parameter system allows the copier to deprotect many titles and also to backup some especially tough ones. Nib's speed should be as fast as, if not faster, than the competition's and it should operate on all Amigas with a variety hardware configurations. Nib requires V1.2 or later of the Amiga's operating system. Limitations: Due to time constraints in development, Nib V1.0 does not support single drive copying and it does not check to see if the destination disk is write enabled. This will be added in V2.0. When copying some copy protected programs Nib may indicate an error on certain tracks. You can use the ERR gadget to copy these bad tracks. If an error is still indicated then you should test the copy to see if it is ok. Multitasking: Nib will multitask with most programs without problems although there are a few things to keep in mind. 1. If your source and destination drives are the same then Nib will attempt to read as much of the source disk as it can fit into available memory. So, it is best to have as much memory free as possible since a whole disk in nibble mode will require 2 Megs. * Note: This does not apply for V1.0, see Limitations:. 2. When Nib is running it takes control of all floppy drives which makes it kinda difficult for the system or other programs to access the drives. 3. When Nib is copying disks it tends to be a processor hog and will turn off multitasking for long periods of time. This will cause other programs to run slowly or not at all. 4. When copying in either nibble mode, Nib will turn off the copper while it is reading or writing disk data. This causes the display to jump about and get very garbled looking (you'll see). In light of the above I would suggest that you make a boot disk named SS.Nib that contains only Nib and it's associated files. Then to use Nib you would boot off of the SS.Nib disk which will start nib running with full memory use. The script file named "Execute.Me" will assist you in this operation. You can also put Nib on a floppy or hard disk in a directory named for instance "NibMegaGreatCopier". This directory would contain the file "NIB" and a subdirectory named "NibData". The subdirectory would contain all of the other Nib files. Then to start Nib from a floppy in DF1: type Assign SS.Nib: DF1:NibMegaGreatCopier SS.Nib:NIB or to start Nib from a hard disk partition named HD2: type Assign SS.Nib: HD2:NibMegaGreatCopier SS.Nib:NIB Your questions and comments are welcome. If there are features or parameters you would like to see added to Nib or problems copying a disk please use the address given in the special offer section or leave me email on GEnie or "The Board". GEnie S.Liptak1 The Board (804) 865-8773 300/1200 F8N1 On an Amiga 1000, 65 Meg online. Enjoy, Shawn Liptak March 1989 Main Controls These are used to select the source and destination disks, verification, parameter and to start the copier. These gadgets are located in the left section of the screen and run from the top to the bottom of the screen. To use, select the appropriate gadget by positioning the mouse pointer over the gadget and depressing the left mouse button. Here are the steps to copy a disk: 1. Select source drive. 2. Select destination drive(s). 3. Turn verify on or off. 4. Select a parameter. 5. Click "START COPY". 6. Insert appropriate disks. 7. Click on "OK!". 8. Sit back and watch it go (wheee). The rest of this section will deal with the various gadgets and what all this junk means. SOURCE: Selects the disk drive that contains the disk you wish to copy. Only one source disk may be selected. DESTINATION: Selects the disk drive(s) that contain the disk(s) you will be copying to. You may select from 1 to 4 destination disks provided that you have the drive connected to the Amiga. Nib will not allow you to select a drive that you do not have. VERIFICATION: This toggles verification on or off. If turned on it will cause the copier to read the information written to the destination. This results in a slower copy, but it helps Nib catch copy errors. I would suggest that you leave this on unless you have a need to copy disks rapidly. PARAMETER: This brings up the parameter select requester. ***************************************** * Select A Parameter * * * * Parameter1 * * Parameter2 UP * * Parameter3 TOP/BOT * * Parameter4 DN * * Parameter5 * * * * Finished Forget It! * ***************************************** UP: Scrolls the list of parameters towards the top of the list. DN: Scrolls the list of parameters towards the bottom of the list. TOP/BOT: Moves you to the top or bottom of the list. If you are near the top you will go to the bottom. If you are near the bottom you will go to the top. Finished: Accepts the center parameter (Number 3) as the new parameter and updates the current settings of the track control. Forget It!: Exits the menu with making any parameter changes. The top five parameters are used to select Nib's standard copy modes. They are... NORMAL DOS COPY: AmigaDos mode. Use for unprotected disks. NORMAL NIBBLE COPY: Nibble mode. NORMAL NIBBLE+INDEX COPY: Nibble with index. (Best) QUICK NIBBLE COPY: Nibble except source track is read only once. QUICK NIBBLE+INDEX COPY: Same as "QUICK NIBBLE COPY" with index. "NORMAL NIBBLE+INDEX COPY" is the best mode for copying nonstandard format tracks. The "QUICK" modes are faster but will only produce accurate copies if the originals are indexed or have only one sync mark per track. START COPY: This brings up the start copy requester. ***************************************** * * * Insert SOURCE disk in drive * * DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3: * * * * Insert DESTINATION disk in drive * * DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3: * * * * OK! CANCEL! * ***************************************** DF0: thru DF3: These will be indicated based upon the "SOURCE" and "DESTINATION" selections. OK!: Starts the copy process. CANCEL!: Aborts the copy command. Before selecting "OK!" you should ensure that the write protected source disk is in the correct drive and that the write enabled destination disk(s) are in the indicated drives. Nib does not check to see if the destination disks are write enabled. It will still attempt the copy, which will result in no data getting to the destination; if verify is on then you will get LOTS of verify errors (0F/1F/2F). Once the copy starts you will get a window that looks something like this... ************************************************* * Track: 00 * * Destination: Max Words * * FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF * * Source: Index Time Delay * * FFFF * * Source: Track Total Time * * FFFF * * Source: Words Per Track * * FFFF * * ERROR LOG: Track / Error # * * 00 0F 01 0F 05 2F 06 2F * * 1C 11 1E 22 * * * * * * * * Press LEFT mouse button to abort * ************************************************* Track: 00 Is the hex value of the current track (00 to A5). The next four items are used in the nibble modes and will probably be useful only to the more advanced user. Destination: Max Words DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3: The capacity of a track on the appropriate destination drive. Typically 186A (Hex). Source: Index Time Delay FFFF The timer count from the index hole to the first sync mark. Should be from 0 to less than track total time. If many tracks have similar index times then it may have an index type copy protection. Source: Track Total Time FFFF The time count for the disk to do one revolution. Should be 6FDC for 300 RPM and an NTSC clock. Each count equals 6.984 usecs. 8,590,908/count(decimal)=RPM. Source: Words Per Track FFFF The number of words of data on the current track. 186A is a normal value. If the value is substantially larger (greater than 19E0) then it may have long track type copy protection. ERROR LOG: Track / Error # This section contains a log of the first 16 errors. The first digit is the track number and the second is the error code. The table below contains the error codes and their meanings. Many errors can be cleared by using the ERR gadget to copy the bad tracks again. x1=Could not locate a sync mark. If in any nibble mode, the read routines will enter sync search mode. This can take up to 12 seconds and the screen will flash yellow during this time. x2=Can't find gap or too many sectors. Should not happen. x3=No sync after gap. Will occur if source only has single sync marks and mode is AmigaDOS. 04=Can't find sector (decode). You may have a bad source disk. 05=Can't find sector (encode). Same as above. x8=Write error. Rare indeed. xF=Verify failed. This is probably the most common error. If verify is on then Nib will read the destination and compare with the source. If different it will copy the track again and do a second comparison. If the second comparison fails then you will get this error. This may mean the destination track is bad or is write protected. Verify will also fail if the source track contains illegal MFM values or has fluctuating bit type copy protection. 41=No sync on destination speed test. Should only occur if the destination has a bad track or it's write protected. x equals the copy mode 0=AmigaDOS, 1=Nibble, 2=Index Nibble Track Control This unit determines which tracks will be copied and in what mode it will occur. It also contains gadgets to access other functions when they are implemented (Error Checker, Disk Editor). The main unit is the track select and status indicator which appears like this... BOT TOP +------+ --- -- ----- -0 - ----- -- --- | MODE | --- -- ----- ----- -- --- +--+------+--+ --- -- ----- ----- -- --- G.> | AmigaDOS | --- -- ----- ----- -- --- +------------+ --- -- ----- ----- -- --- H.> | Nibble | --- -- ----- -5 - ----- -- --- +------------+ --- -- ----- ----- -- --- I.> |Index Nibble| +> [+] --- -- ----- ----- -- --- [+] +------------+ | --- -- ----- ----- -- --- + | [-] --- -- ----- ----- -- --- [-] +-------+ | | --- -- ----- -10- ----- -- --- J.> |SET ALL| | | | | | | [ERR] +-------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --- -- ----- -80- ----- -- --- | | | --- -- ----- | ----- -- --- | | | --- -- ----- | ----- -- --- F. | | | | | | | | | | | The cylinder number A. B. C. D. E. A. Plus: The plus gadget on the left selects all bottom tracks The plus gadget on the right selects all top tracks. B. Minus: The minus gadget on the left deselects all bottom tracks The minus gadget on the right deselects all top tracks. C. Track Status: Green indicates that the track was copied successfully. Red means that there was a problem with the track and you should see an error code in the error log. D. Track Selection: This determines if the track is selected. To change the state of selection you can either use the plus, minus, or ERR gadgets, or you can use the mouse pointer to toggle the indicator on or off. Yellow = Selected for copy. Black = Not selected. E. Track Mode: The current copy mode of the track. This can be set by selecting the appropriate mode (Items G, H, I.) and clicking the mouse pointer on the track you wish to change. White = AmigaDOS. Green = Nibble. Blue = Index Nibble. F. Error Select: This gadget will deselect all good tracks (green). This is handy when you make a copy and a few tracks show error conditions (red). You can then select this gadget and then "START COPY". This will cause only the bad tracks to be recopied. G. AmigaDOS select: H. Nibble select: I. Index Nibble select: Items G, H, and I set the current copy mode selection of the mouse pointer for item E. J. SET ALL: This takes the currently selected gadget G, H, or I and sets all of the tracks (item E.) to that mode.