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Super-card ami v2.2.adf
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super-card_ami_docs
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1990-02-09
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Super-Card Ami V2.1 (Patent Pending)
Copyright (C) 1989 By Jim Drew
Distributed & Manufactured By Utilities Unlimited of Oregon, Inc.
Menu Choices: Default: Range:
F1 - Copy Diskette
F2 - Starting Track 00 0-83
F3 - Ending Track 79 0-83
F4 - Side to Copy BOTH HEAD 0, HEAD 1, BOTH
F5 - Mode AUTO AUTO, INDEX, DOS, SPLICE
F6 - Destination Drive DF1 DF1 or DF2 (Amiga 2000 only!)
F7 - Syncronize Drives NO NO, YES
F8 - Track Scanner
(F1) After selecting your STARTING TRACK, ENDING TRACK, and other
options. Pressing the F1 key will prompt you to insert your
SOURCE diskette (original to be copied) into DF0 and to insert
your DESTINATION diskette (to be copied on to) into DF1. You MUST
have the WRITE PROTECT tab in the OPEN position on your original.
The program will NOT continue unless the SOURCE diskette IS WRITE
PROTECTED. This is a safety feature for your sake, even though NO data
is EVER written to the SOURCE drive. Press the ESCape key to abort
the F1 option. Pressing the LEFT MOUSE button will abort the copying
procedure once it has started.
(F2) After pressing the F2 key, the STARTING TRACK number can be
increased by pressing the RIGHT CURSOR key. The number can be
decreased by pressing the LEFT CUSOR key. Once the desired number
has been achieved, press the RETURN (or ENTER) key.
(F3) After pressing the F3 key, the ENDING TRACK number can be increased
by pressing the RIGHT CURSOR key. The number can be decreased by
pressing the LEFT CURSOR key. Once the desired number has been
achieved, press the RETURN (or ENTER) key.
(F4) Each time you press the F4 key, the SIDE value will change. The
three possible choices are: HEAD 0 (bottom head), HEAD 1 (top
head), or BOTH (both heads 0 & 1).
(F5) Each time you press the F5 key, the MODE value will change. The
four possible choices are: AUTO, INDEX, DOS, or SPLICE. These are
the different copying modes available. The INDEX MODE will backup ALL
software that was created with a commercial disk duplication
machine that uses the INDEX mark to START and END the track data.
The DOS MODE will copy unprotected DOS disks only. It was designed
to be a high speed copier that needs certain circumstances found
only on AMIGA DOS formats that wont normally be found on copy
protected software. The SPLICE MODE attempts to locate the START
and END of the track through intelligent scanning routines. The
AUTO MODE is the MOST powerful of all and should be tried before
other options. This mode looks at a track and figures out how
it should be copied.
(F6) The DESTINATION DRIVE can ONLY be DF1:
(F7) A few (literally) programs require that the START of the track be
exactly where the INDEX mark is. So, this option will syncronize
the two drives so that the INDEX mark of both drives is
simotaneously achieved. Use this option ONLY while in INDDEX MODE!
(F8) The TRACK SCANNER is a handy utility to let you know what MODE to
try first when backing up software. Insert the diskette to be
scanned into DF0: (internal drive) and press RETURN (or ENTER to
start the scanning procedure. Pressing the LEFT MOUSE button will
abort the scanning procedure once it has already started. The
STARTING and ENDING tracks as well as the SIDE are also options used
by the TRACK SCANNER. The TRACK NUMBER, HEAD NUMBER, TRACK LENGTH
and WFS (Words before First Sync) are displayed as each track is
scanned. When the scan is complete, a report will be displayed.
The report will show you how many tracks were "LONG" tracks, and
how many tracks were "INDEXED". This comes in very handy when
determining which MODE to use whilce copying. If ALL (or the
majority) of the tracks show as being INDEXED, then you will need
to use the INDEX MODE. If ANY "LONG" tracks are shown, and NO
tracks were INDEXED, use the SPLICE MODE. Most others titles
only require the DOS MODE.
(DEL) Press this key to Return to DEFAULT settings.
(F10) Press this key to EXIT
COPY PROTECTION..HOW DOES IT WORK?
With all of the nasty things that protection companies are doing, Super-Card
Ami does very well. When copying a disk in the INDEX MODE, a perfect copy
can be obtained. You might wonder why this wont work for a disk that was
produced with NON-INDEXING. Let's explain how a disk is layed out:
When a disk is said to be "INDEXED", all of the tracks are aligned, or lined
up in a row. An example of a INDEXED disk would be:
Track #: 1 2 3 4 5 6
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
* * * * * *
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
The "*" represents the START and END of the track, known as the TRACK GAP
area. This is a section of the track that is not used by normal Amiga Dos.
Some protection schemes actually place their protection in this area.
As you can see, all of the "*" are aligned together, and start at the exact
same place on the disk. This is very easy to duplicate. The Amiga disk
drives have an INDEX HOLE SENSOR built into them. A simple check at the sensor
port tells the Super-Card Ami's INDEX MODE to turn on the WRITING for the
DESTINATION drive (DF1) and to start reading the data. Once the sensor
detects the hole again, the write is turn off and the the process is
repeated for all tracks until the backup is finished.
Now, if the data was NOT INDEXED, it might look like this:
Track #: 1 2 3 4 5 6
* ! ! ! ! *
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! * * ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! * !
! ! ! ! ! !
Notice that Track #2 isnt even visable. That is because it is 180 degrees
off of the INDEX mark. Notice also that Track #s 3 & 4 are INDEXED, but
not intentionally. Occasionally you might end up with a few tracks that
appear to be INDEXED. A VERY simple way to tell if a diskette is
TRUELY INDEXED or not is to use option F8 (Track Scanner) of the software.
Pay attention to the WFS display. If you see wild, inconsistent changes
in that value, then the diskette is probably NOT INDEXED. If you see a
consistent display with only a few bytes changing occasionally, then the
diskette was DEFINATELY INDEXED.
To get around the problem of NON-INDEXED diskettes, intelligent scanning
routines are used to try to determine where the TRACK GAP area is. Due to
the complexity of the routines and various methods, they will not be
discussed. Copying a disk in INDEX MODE merely makes the copying process
EXTREMELY fast, and is NOT necessary. The AUTO MODE should also copy a
disk that IS INDEXED.
While copying thousands of disks, I noticed something of interest. Nearly
all of the older style protection schemes (weird or long track on only one
track) can be copied using the DOS MODE. When the DOS MODE encounters an
abnormal format, the software then selects the AUTO MODE to take care of
it. So, MANY titles can be backed-up very quickly using the DOS MODE.