LSD Docs/LSD Docs.iso/FILEZ/lsd17.dms/lsd17.adf/55/55

Text File | 1990-09-06 | 17KB | 370 lines

                     _______________

                   A L L C O P Y

                    S Y S T E M

                    2


                    USER MANUAL


             COPYRIGHT 1991 HI-TEC INVENTIONS
             ________________________________


        Typed by RED SCORPION - NIGHTMARE BOYZ U.K.




                    FOR THE USER


Allcopy system 2 is a highly capable copysystem for copy-protected Amiga disks.
With ACS 2 you will be able to make backup copies of those programs which have
not this option built in.

Allcopy System (ACS)- package includes an adapter (See hardware docs to make
one), a program disk and this user manual.

ADAPTER: An adapter is only used with the heavier copy modes (Block Copy, Deep
Copy, Blind Copy and Visual Copy). The adapter is plugged into the outer disk-
drive port and the target drive is then df1: (A500/A1000) or df2: (A2000). In
A500/A1000 machines the adapter can also be plugged between the first and
second extra drive and the target drive would be df2: With this configuration
it would be possible to use Dos/Ver/RawCopy modes between df0: and df1: without
disconnecting the adapter.

For clarity the following examples use df0: as source and df1: as the target
drive.


IMPORTANT: WHEN CONNECTING/DISCONNECTING ACS ADAPTER POWER ON YOUR AMIGA SHOULD
BE SWITCHED OFF, ANY CONNECTIONS/DISCONNECTIONS MADE DURING POWER IS ON WILL
CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE TO YOUR AMIGA AND/OR PERIHERALS. HI-TEC INVENTIONS TAKES
ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH DAMAGE.

ACS PROGRAM DISK: Contains several programs. In addition to the above mentioned
heavy copy modes the ACS includes Dos Copy, Ver Copy, Raw Copy and Parallel
Copy modes for copying without an adapter. As on extra we have included Format-
option for formatting your disks, Name-option for getting the disk name and
Checkdisk-option for searching for disk errors.



                VIEWING THE SCREEN

Load the programs as follows: place the disk in diskdrive df0: and switch power
on. The program will automatically load itself and is instantly ready for use.
The screen before you is divided into top screen, control keys in the middle
and coordinates below.

The top screen gives advice and shows error messages. Yellow colour in the text
notifies and red warns.

With the control keys you choose the copy process and direct it when necessary.
The following functions are included:

MODE; You can choose the copymode

- Dos Copy (no adapter) for normal copy with one (df0:) or more diskdrives.

- Ver Copy (no adapter) as above but also verifies the copy.

- Raw Copy (no adapter) is slower than Ver Copy but more thorough copymode for
protected programs. Functions as Dos Copy.

- Par Copy (no adapter) is for making multiple copies with several diskdrives
from unprotected programs.

- Block Copy (adapter required) for some special copy-protected programs.

- Deep Copy (adapter required) for certain protections. Does not syncronize as
Blind Copy does.

- Blind Copy (adapter required) for most of the protections. The most often
used mode for protected sectors.

- Visual Copy (adapter required) is ment as a last resort for those existing or
future protected disks which the other copy modes have not been able to copy.
With Visual copy you can set the end of a track to be copied. Use this mode as
follows: First copy the whole disk with Dos copy and then the red blocks with
Visual copy. With SCAN-arrow key you can locate the sync-word whose code shows
as red while scanning the register. There are several sync-words on a track and
you must find the correct one with the help of the program.


FORMAT: for formatting disks.

NAME: for finding the disk name.

SIDE-KEY: with this you can choose whether both or only upper or lower disk
sides are copied. The default value is both sides.

SOURCE DRIVES: shows in which diskdrive the original write protected disk is.

TARGET DRIVES: shows the diskdrives in which the unprotected empty disks are
placed. Should you not have extra diskdrives choose df0: for both source and
target drive and follow the instructions on upper screen. If you have 1-3 extra
drives you can use one or all of them. The copy modes which require an adapter
usually use df0: as a source and df1: as a target drive (see Adapter). The
screen will flash if you make false drive choices.

START TRACK: shows the starting track of the copy. Default value is 0. by
changing the starting tracks on screen you can recopy failed tracks.

END TRACK: shows the last copied track. Default value is 79 (max 81). Example:
if you want to copy track 7 again choose Start Track to be 07 and End Track 07
also.

INDEX NUMBERS: The four usually unnecessary keys in the middle of the screen
are only for the experienced copier when using Raw/Deep/Visual copy.



            THE LOWER SCREEN (coordinates)

ACS differs from other copy programs in that you can simultaneously see how the
copying is proceeding on all diskdrives. Each diskdrive has its own coordinates
and copy pillar. Green colour in the pillars mean that the copy has succeeded
in both sides of the disk. Yellow colour means usually succesful copy of a
difficult track and red colour means a failed copy.


                MAKING A COPY

Copy without an Adapter
With the help of ACS 2's clear window screen and several copy modes the copying
of unprotected disks is so easy that even a beginner can do it easily. However,
ACS is actually not ment for copying unprotected disks. There are several
commercial programs which can do that more quickly. NEVER TRY TO MAKE COPIES OF
STANDARD DISKS WITH THA ADAPTER.


Dos Copy (no adapter)
Always start the copy with Dos Copy because of its reliability and its qualities
which increase the probability of success. For example, when meeting an
unformatted track Dos Copy leaves it unformatted because unformatting could be
part of disk protections.

Make a copy in the following manner: choose the Source Drive (df0:) and the
Target Drive (df1:). Set the Starting Track (00) and End Track (79) unless
copying a protected program (81). Press start button and wait until the program
is finished. If the program is protected there is usually a red mark on track 0.

There are often red marks on other trackes too. This means either there is a
protection or unformatted track (empty track) on disk. Usually the tracks (80-
81) are unformatted (the Check Disk option shows hidden protection as yellow
marks). If your copy does not work, it is a good idea to copy the red tracks
with Blind - or Visual Copy mode.

With the Visual Copy mode you can see whether there is any relevant data on the
track (see Visual Copy).

In some cases the copy pillar is all green, and still the disk does not work.
This may mean that the disk has so called false GAP hidden in the dos structure
(see Visual Copy).


Ver Copy (no adapter)
This mode is otherwise similar to Dos Copy, but since it verifies the target
disk it is somewhat slower. It is a good idea to use this mode when you have
low quality disks.


Raw Copy (no adapter)
This mode copies as Dos Copy, but it is best used with protected disks because
of its slowness.

Raw Copy copies all formats, but it can not copy long tracks for which are the
Block-, Deep-, Blind-, and Visual modes.


Par Copy (no adapter)
This mode is for the mass copying of unprotected disks. Should you want to make
a great number of e.g. PD-disks very quickly. Par Copy is your best choice. You
gain the full benefit of this program only when using three extra drives.


               COPYING WITH THE ADAPTER

With ACS 2 you will be able to copy most of the protections based on extra disk
tracks fairly easily. If the protection is very hard, the copying will be very
time consuming, and will get faster only with experience.

Especially our top mode Visual Copy offers the means to handle such present and
future protections which other automatic mode "easy" and "fast" copy programs
have failed to copy one after another. THE ADAPTER IS MENT ONLY FOR COPYING
PROTECTED DISK TRACKS.


Block Copy (adapter required)
This mode copies most protected tracks in Dos format. It is used as Blind Copy
(See Blind Copy), but it does not synchronize the track reading and it only
regognizes certain protections. Copy only certain parts of the disk with disk
copy, not the whole disk. This mode is useable in some exceptional cases.


Deep Copy (adapter required)
This mode is much more efficient than the the above ones in copying single
tracks. Deep Copy regognizes certain protections, and making a copy is easy
(see Blind Copy). It's greatest difference with blind copy is the lack of
synchronization and therefore you should not use it to copy a whole disk.


Blind Copy (adapter required)
This mode, which is the most efficient copy mode after Visual Copy, is fully
renewed version of ACS 1.0 Blind Copy. It regognizes several protections and
can synchronize the disk. This way you not only copy what the disk contains,
you also copy it in the same place as it was in the original.
The synchronization may take a while but the result is often succesful. The
better the disk drives you have, the longer the syncronization takes. The
differences in speed are minimal and the quality of the copy improves.


Making the Copy (Blind Copy)
You must have a disk made with Dos Copy and you must know in which track and
on which side the protection is located (in other words, you copy only those
tracks which are shown in the coordinates. If there are several of them, it
would be a good idea to note them on paper.)

Example: the protection is on track 0 upper side. Place the original disk in
disk drive (df0:) and the target in disk drive (df1:)

Make the settings: Make the disk side Upper side and Start Track (00) and End
Track (00). Press the mode key till it is set on Blind Copy. Press Start button
and wait.

Repeat the procedure on other protected tracks, that is those tracks which were
red (if any).
If the disk is almost full of red marks, copy these as one group. This may take
several hours, however. Therefore it is a good idea to chech with Visual Copy,
whether there is anything crucial on these tracks (see Visual Copy). If this is
not the case, you do not have to copy them. There are protections which are
based on unformatted tracks.
Therefore always use unformatted disks if possible.


Visual Copy (adapter required)
This mode is so effective that even future protections can be copied. The
development of this mode has taken many man hours but the result is something
totally unique and revolutionary. It is the Visual Copy which makes the ACS 2
user able to copy all or nearly all known Amiga programs today. There are
situations in which the computer can be tricked. This is why the program needs
your help.
Visual Copy copies accurately every single track, but the location where to
stop to copy a track must be given to it.

Since a disk track is circular, you could say it ends and begins in the same
spot. However, the circling speed of different disk drives varies. Because of
this there is an area empty of data betwwen the end and beginning of a track,
GAP.
A normal disk track is usually shown on the special screen of Visual Copy in
the following order:
(end of track)(GAP)(the actual track)(GAP)(start of track).
To get a faultless copy of a track it must end at the GAP which follows the
track. The start of a track often looks like this: AAAAAAAAA4489.... 4489 is
a sync-word from which the computer starts to read. The long AAAA- or 5555-
area preceding the start is a GAP.

Many protections are made to include a track which contains a so called false
GAP which the copy program takes for real. The GAP can be on several places on
a track but the goal is to find the correct one, namely that GAP which is at
the end of writing of the original disk and to use the same end point in your
copy. This is the phase where Visual Copy needs your help. The program can be
baffled even by a smallest "trash code" placed among the GAP's AAAA/5555, but
human being can learn and use his imagination which the computer totally lacks.
An experienced user can guess a GAP by a glance.
No doubt they will invent the most unbelievable protections in the future, but
even then you will be able to guess the location of the GAP (there can only be
a limited number of them on one track). If you have to use the Visual mode in
order to make a copy you should reserve some time for it.
We emphasize the fact that the adapter copy is ment for making backups and
therefore the copy time is irrelevant.


Making the Copy (Visual Copy)

We will use the same example as in Blind Copy (the protection is on track 00
and on the upper side).
Set the Start Track (00) and the End Track (00). Place the original disk in
disk drive (df0:) and the target disk in disk drive (df1:). Set disk side to
Upper Side and press Start. Now you get the special Visual Copy Screen.
Carefully follow the number over ALIGN and simultaneously keep pressing the
left SCAN-button ( <- ) until the number changes into something different from
the original. You presumably have passed the GAP.
See the serial above the SCAN and add a constant 1082 to it. This constant is
the distance to the end of the sector when the pointer is at AAAAAAAAA4489
(pointer) 4489...
Let us presume that the result is 23700. There are two arrow keys and a rough
adjustment on lower part of the screenwhich you should use to get the serial
above SCAN to show 23700.
Now you are at the beginning of a GAP and there should be a beginning of a
long AAAAAAAAA or 555555555 code on the screen. Set the point you want somewhere
among the AAAAAA's or 555555's (theree could be a marginal of tens or even
hundreds of marks) and press DONE. If you have altogether wrong point the
program will notify you.
Wait for a minute or so (in some cases even several minutes) and the copy of
the example is ready.
Sometimes it may happen that the ALIGN-number does not change. Then you must
follow the changes in the SCAN-serial. Press the right SCAN key ( -> ). If the
number changes considerably more than 1088 whis is the normal length of a
sector, you probably passed a GAP.
Return one press left and continue as above. Note that this example deals with
a conventional Dos or similar track. The length of a protected track can vary.
To ease experiments it should be said that the length of a GAP varies but is
usually about 680. The nominal length of the data area of a track is 11968, so
it fits into the screen of Visual Copy about 2 ¹/4 times.

There are other protections which do not show as red marks on Dos Copy
coordinate pillar. If the Check Disk has showed yellow marks on a track you
should check it out with Visual Copy.
The funniest protection we have met was a number play which reached all the way
to track (80) as some Medussa's tentacle.
There was a serial running down from 1000 to 1 written on the tracks. The idea
of this was that if the serial was not continous then the disk was a copy and
did not function.
The copy was made by setting the end point on upper side just after the code
2AAAAAAAA9 behind the sync-word, on the lower side in the middle of AAAAAAAAA-
or 555555555- area.
Even more clever is a protection which is placed in an unusual Dos track. When
copied the Dos Copy coordinate show all green but still does not work. In such
cases there can be code hidden inside a GAP for example the symbol "0" is not
usually on a disk.
In one famous football game (KICK OFF 2 at a guess - RED SCORP) there was not
only a large part of tracks unformatted (tracks 55-81) but also a "0" in a GAP.
The following example shows how it shows on a disk and Visual Copy screen.
You have copied with Dos/Ver Copy to unformatted disk tracks 00-54 from the
original. Choose Upper side ant Start Track (02) and End Track (02). Press MODE
button until it is set on Visual Copy. Press START button. Press SCAN-button
until the number over ALIGN changes. Add to this number 1082 and change the
serial to correspond the result. Now there should be ....0AAAA92AA4.... on the
code (the 0 is in the beginning of the GAP.) Move the serial so that the 0A is
on the left side of the pointer and AAA92AA4 on the right. Press DONE and wait
for some minutes. You must pepeat this again on track Upper side (03).
You can see if your work is succesful by placing the copy into Source Drive and
repeating the above procedure. If the 0's are in the same areas the copy is
good. If not, try again. Due to functional differences between disk drives the
copy does not necessarily succeed everytime, even if the settings were right.
Note that in this example the GAP uncluded also the trash code
AAA92AA4AAA92AA4....


Format (no adapter)
I will not bother to write this as time is short and it is easy anyway.

Check Disk (no adapter)
This will be cut short - RED SCORP.

A yellow mark shows a protected track copy these with Block-,Deep-,Blind-, or
Visual Copy. Only copy the track with the yellow mark.
ACS 2 also includes examples (Lattice C) and text data for those interested
in programming.



THE END