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DDFPAT.DOC
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1979-12-31
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DDFPAT (MULTIPLE FORMAT SUPPORT FOR DDFORMAT) DOCUMENTATION
by Julian Loke, 1986 July 06
No distribution for profit without author's express permission.
INTRODUCTION
With the capability of using powerful utilities such as
SETDRIVE, SETDISK, SDR, DRIVESET, etc., etc., on my MicroBee 56k,
it seemed sad that it was not possible to format disks compatible
with other machines, such as the ubiquitous and widely supported
KAYPRO II. This situation does not exist for a some other
machines in the market.
The DDFORMAT.COM utility provided with my system produces
disk formats with 10 sectors per track, 40 tracks per side, 2
sides per disk. It is a relatively simple matter to patch it to
produced formats compatible with machines using 10 sector per
track formats. Fortunately the KAYPRO II (SSDD) and the AMPRO
(DSDD) are systems fitting this description.
So, to produce disks compatible with a Kaypro II system, I
can now type:
A>ddformat kaypro2
USAGE AND NOTES
The syntax for the patch appears below:
DDFORMAT [ M | K | A ]
1) No parameters: A menu showing the options available is
displayed. Pushing the appropriate key (M for
Microbee, K for KayproII, and A for Ampro) will set up
the program for the required system. Typing Ctrl-C
aborts the program.
2) Parameter M, K, A: The patch program will select the
correct data for the corresponding system, and DDFORMAT
will run in a manner akin to the unpatched version.
3) Parameters other than M, K, A: The program behaves as if no
parameter had been entered, and the menu is displayed.
FURTHER NOTES AND DISCLAIMER
Disk formats produced using this method ARE NOT THE SAME as
those produced on the proper target machines. However, the
formats are COMPATIBLE with the appropriate target machine, which
can read and write data/text on the disk. Of course they are not
"system" disks, and so cannot be used for booting. Despite this,
there is no problem with using them as TRANSFER disks.
There is only one new error message produced by the patch
program. A "Bad Version" error results if your version of
DDFORMAT.COM is not one of the two supported. If this is the
case, then a new patch program will have to be written.
INSTALLING THE PATCH
The two versions of DDFORMAT.COM supported use the same
installation sequence. Before you start, make sure that you are
NOT altering your system disk. Work with backup copies. You'll
need the following files:
DDFORMAT.COM Your original copy, of course!
DDFPAT.HEX The patch program itself
DDT.COM A standard CP/M utility
Use the following sequence of commands to produce the file
NDDF.COM, which you will rename later. Note that the letters in
lower case are to be typed by the user:
A>ddt ddformat.com
DDT VERS 2.2
NEXT PC
0500 0100
-iddfpat.hex
-r
NEXT PC
0688 0000
-g0
A>save 6 nddf.com
A>_
Now, test the formatting program using a blank disk (NOT
the disk with your precious public domain software on it!), and
the NDDF command. Once you are satisfied with the new program,
rename it to DDFORMAT.COM using the following commands:
A>era ddformat.com
A>ren ddformat.com=nddf.com
A>_
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND ENQUIRIES
Thanks to Mirko Fluher for his help and advice in the
development and testing of this software.
If you have any enquiries, requests for source, etc, please
feel free to get in touch with for me either via the magazine, or
via the MBUG bulletin board (7*24h (03)-882-1571).
END OF DOCUMENTATION