Spectrum +3 disk images via Kryoflux

[damieng]

Does anyone else here have a Kryoflux and a bunch of 3" disks?

I'd love to get a repository of these going somewhere being that it's the only sure-fire way to preserve copy protection. Right now a bunch of 3" disk images will fail to boot if written back to real media because the copy protection is broken and then subsequently ignored in emulators.

I've got a bunch so far: Amstrad Bundle, Artist +3, Corruption, CP/M+, Dark Side, DICE, Flexipage, Giants 1, 2B and 3, Jinxter, Lightgun games, MasterfilePlus3 v1.3, Rainbow Islands, Return of the Jedi, Robocop II, Roybot assembler, Shadow of the Beast, Tasword+3, The Bards Tale, The Pawn, Ultimate Collected works 1A and 2A, Wanderer 3D, Double Dragon II, Fish, Game Set & Match, Golden Axe, HiSoft Basic +3, HiSoft Devpac +3, Live Ammo, Outlet 40, Supreme Challenge, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Thundercats, Tintin on the Moon, Top 10 Collection and Total Eclipse.

I've also got a bunch of damaged disks that we might be able to splice together with other damaged images (Kryoflux raw files store a file per track): Game Set & Match disk 2, Giants 2A and 3B, Hit Pack side A etc.

[PeterJ]

Just in case anyone else didn't know what this was:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KryoFlux

Sounds like a good project, especially if new titles are found or previously MIA titles recovered.

[TomD]

What software are you using to write back to 3” disks?

[TomD]

Reimaging of all the +3 disks with Kyroflux would be great and I would be happy to lend my collection to anybody that wants to do it. Failing that you can still get a good amount of the disks to work already by using Samdisk.

I've just tried Tintin on the Moon as a test from the image on WoS and I can get it to write back to a 3" disk ok. I used Samdisk v3.8.11 by Simon Owen to write the disk on my PC with an Amstrad FD1 connected. I guess it won't work on all as you say, for those you can always use a Gotek which loads all disks I've tried on original hardware

Another one I've tested is Robocop which uses weak sector copy protection. Using Samdisk --fix you can add the weak sector data to the stock image and then you can write that to a 3" disk to get it to work on real hardware.

Would still prefer good Kyroflux images though.

[Bizzley]

So what's the policy with this scheme\method concerning "Distribution Denied" titles, some of which are mentioned in the OP?

I assume it's OK to copy off such titles for your own use as long as you don't distribute or make them available to others as with their casette versions?

[gorski]

I have 239 +3 titles and all of them is ripped to kryoflux and scp files

Greets,
Gorski

[TomD]

Fancy sharing

[gorski]

[mention]damieng[/mention] when develop will do something from to do list like "Extend support for SamDisk DSK extensions" ?:)

Greets,
Gorski

[damieng]

Do you mean add support for SamDisk to Disk Image Manager?

If so the real problem is that it needs a rewrite. Delphi and Lazarus are a pain to work with these days. I guess a web app with TypeScript would be the best option.

[fenderjaguar]

Is Kryoflux better than using samdisk with a real +3 disk drive, plugged into the FDD header of a PC?

[TomD]

I'm no expert but if you are just backing up your collection for use on Emulators or a Gotek then SamDisk is most likely all you need as it does a very good job, including preserving/recording most if not all of the copy protection schemes. I think Kryoflux or SuperCard Pro (SCP) are really for hardcore preservation as they produce very fine resolution images of the disks running into the many megabytes. Probably best if you want to write back to real floppies though.

Personally I find SamDisk fine even for writing most things back to real floppies (doesn't work on all), although I wouldn't mind a Kryoflux

[damieng]

A Kryoflux is much better at preserving the image than SamDisk. SamDisk at the end of the day has to go through a floppy disk controller chip. While it does a fantastic job with that limitation it still can only read the disk as the FDC sees it.

Additionally it is limited by what information it can put into the DSK file (although it has extended it slightly to deal with some copy-protection such as faking weak-bits by storing multiple copies of the same track). Emulators often have hacks in them to spot and skip over copy protection so these images can work. You can also see the limitations if you try to write a DSK file back to a physical 3" disk and attempt to boot it on real hardware. It will often fail as the tricks it does like the multiple-copies-of-a-track can't be physically written back.

The Kryoflux is a direct USB to physical drive interface with no floppy controller. It records magnetic flux variations on the disk which let it image (or write back) any format for any machines with any copy protection in great detail (a 200KB Speccy disk images at about 8MB).

In summary: SamDisk is a great tool and it's fine for emulator users. For actual software preservation however the Kryoflux is the way to go.

Note: SamDisk also has a mode where it can produce DSK files from Kryoflux raw stream files

[sircompo]

I bought a Kryoflux a few years back but haven't gotten around to hooking it up yet (have hundreds of Amiga disks to archive).

The +3 was my first computer, and having regretted selling it since I was 14 I finally answered the nagging call of nostalgia and purchased a replacement. Unfortunately I don't have any original disks for it, but have adorned it with a Multiface 3 and DivMMC Future and an external Gotek.

If you do set up an archive/repo, I'd very much like to get involved. Don't know if archive.org can help? I noticed they host some kryoflux images.

[Luzie]

Which Filename-extension is used by Kyroflux-Images?

Is it .IPF-Format that Spectaculator 7.5 support as we can read here: https://forum.kryoflux.com/viewtopic.php?t=129

Can we found some sample-+3-.IPF-Files to download on the net?

[^m00h^]

2 years have been passed since Gorki shared Pacmania +3 on wos forum, and has disappeared. He visited the forum last time on Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:47 pm.

[szerman]

Are they in DSK format? I was wondering as I have a GOtek and have files in other formats.

[Luzie]

Are they in DSK format? I was wondering as I have a GOtek and have files in other formats.

No. Those disks where in .IPF-Format.

[TomD]

I wonder if adding support for SCP makes sense as well as IPF? Similar to IPF this format stores the flux timings and would be useful as it is the format recorded via Greasweazle which I guess most will now use to backup real disks due to the low cost of ownership vs. Kyroflux. Filesize is very large though so unsure if it would add any value to emulators over normal DSK and extendedDSK.

Another great option would be to be able to read real disks in an Emulator via Greaseweazle coupled with a 3" drive. I know there is something similar for Amiga.

TomD