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I think the ultimate problem with emulation is the disk image: how do you image a disk with these subtle timing errors? The default behavior of the software ope
by delinka 11y ago
I think the ultimate problem with emulation is the disk image: how do you image a disk with these subtle timing errors? The default behavior of the software operating the drive isn't aware of half tracks; every vendor uses different tricks so you don't know which 'timing errors' to activate; etc.
- david-given 11y agoGo look into Kryoflux: http://www.kryoflux.com/?page=kf_features http://www.kryoflux.com/?page=kf_features It's a USB floppy controller which allows you to image the raw magnetic state of the disk (subject to head step and width). It allows you to record the disk and then try to figure out what the format is. It's good enough to allow you to read CLV disks, such as Mac floppies, from an image taken from a CAV drive, such as a PC one. I don't know whether it supports half tracks --- probably --- but it will certainly support all the weird timing error tricks. It's not what I would call user friendly but once you've figured it out the results are magical. I was able to image an ancient BBC Micro floppy disk once and then spend ages figuring out how to parse the sector layout and encoding density working with just the image. Not only does this avoid having to keep working with the fragile disk, but it's way faster!