• Making a .d71 out of two .d64 images

    From Tristan Miller@3:770/3 to All on Fri Jan 31 12:41:00 2020
    Dear all,

    I'd like to play Ultima V in VICE. This game came on four double-sided
    disks, which entailed a lot of disk-swapping. But if memory serves, the
    C128 version of the game supported up to two drives, and if the drives
    were 1571s, the game would automatically read the correct side of the
    disk for you. So with two 1571s, instead of one 1541, you could cut the
    number of disk swaps by factor of 4.

    The problem is that the only disk images of the game I have are .d64
    images of the eight individual sides. Is there any way of combining two
    .d64 images into a single .d71 image? Or is my only option to buy a
    floppy drive capable of reading double-sided disks and the requisite
    imaging software, and then manually re-image all the physical disks?

    Regards,
    Tristan

    --
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Tristan Miller
    Free Software developer, ferret herder, logologist
    https://logological.org/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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  • From Andreas Kohlbach@3:770/3 to Tristan Miller on Fri Jan 31 14:06:48 2020
    On Fri, 31 Jan 2020 12:41:00 +0100, Tristan Miller wrote:

    I'd like to play Ultima V in VICE. This game came on four double-sided disks, which entailed a lot of disk-swapping. But if memory serves, the
    C128 version of the game supported up to two drives, and if the drives
    were 1571s, the game would automatically read the correct side of the
    disk for you. So with two 1571s, instead of one 1541, you could cut the number of disk swaps by factor of 4.

    The problem is that the only disk images of the game I have are .d64
    images of the eight individual sides. Is there any way of combining two
    .d64 images into a single .d71 image? Or is my only option to buy a
    floppy drive capable of reading double-sided disks and the requisite
    imaging software, and then manually re-image all the physical disks?

    The 8bitguy on YouTube just released a video about Commodore disk
    drives. The 1571 head two heads, thus could read both sides of a floppy
    without turning it around, if made for the C128.

    It also could read C64 (.d64) disks. But in the 1541 you would turn
    around a disk to read the other side. That means that a 1571 could not
    read the second side as the rotation of the disk would be the wrong way
    (you would not turn the disk around as on a 1541). Thus I don't think
    it's possible to run a double-sided 1541 disk on the C128 using a 1571
    drive.
    --
    Andreas

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  • From Tristan Miller@3:770/3 to Andreas Kohlbach on Fri Jan 31 21:49:06 2020
    Greetings.

    On 31/01/2020 20.06, Andreas Kohlbach wrote:
    On Fri, 31 Jan 2020 12:41:00 +0100, Tristan Miller wrote:
    I'd like to play Ultima V in VICE. This game came on four double-sided
    disks, which entailed a lot of disk-swapping. But if memory serves, the
    C128 version of the game supported up to two drives, and if the drives
    were 1571s, the game would automatically read the correct side of the
    disk for you. So with two 1571s, instead of one 1541, you could cut the
    number of disk swaps by factor of 4.

    The problem is that the only disk images of the game I have are .d64
    images of the eight individual sides. Is there any way of combining two
    .d64 images into a single .d71 image? Or is my only option to buy a
    floppy drive capable of reading double-sided disks and the requisite
    imaging software, and then manually re-image all the physical disks?

    The 8bitguy on YouTube just released a video about Commodore disk
    drives. The 1571 head two heads, thus could read both sides of a floppy without turning it around, if made for the C128.

    It also could read C64 (.d64) disks. But in the 1541 you would turn
    around a disk to read the other side. That means that a 1571 could not
    read the second side as the rotation of the disk would be the wrong way
    (you would not turn the disk around as on a 1541). Thus I don't think
    it's possible to run a double-sided 1541 disk on the C128 using a 1571
    drive.

    Ah, so maybe I was misremembering about not having to flip the disks. I
    think VICE allows you to create a list of disk images and then swap
    between these with a shortcut key, so that's probably another avenue for
    me to try.

    Regards,
    Tristan

    --
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Tristan Miller
    Free Software developer, ferret herder, logologist
    https://logological.org/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Gary McCulloch@1:154/50 to Tristan Miller on Fri Jan 31 17:49:12 2020
    On Fri 31-Jan-2020 12:41p, Tristan Miller@3:770/3.0 wrote:
    Dear all,

    I'd like to play Ultima V in VICE. This game came on four double-sided disks, which entailed a lot of disk-swapping. But if memory serves, the C128 version of the game supported up to two drives, and if the drives
    were 1571s, the game would automatically read the correct side of the
    disk for you. So with two 1571s, instead of one 1541, you could cut the number of disk swaps by factor of 4.

    The problem is that the only disk images of the game I have are .d64
    images of the eight individual sides. Is there any way of combining two .d64 images into a single .d71 image? Or is my only option to buy a
    floppy drive capable of reading double-sided disks and the requisite imaging software, and then manually re-image all the physical disks?

    Can you put them all on a .d4m image? Use DirMaster and give it a try.

    -Spitfire Inc presents 2 Unique Systems...

    Reign of Fire II BBS
    C-Net DS-2 BETA System - rof.cnet64.com:6400
    Reign of Fire BBS
    C-Net Amiga Pro BETA System - rofbbs.cnetbbs.net:2300 - 931-494-9100
    * C-Net/5
    * Origin: Reign of Fire C-Net Amiga Pro BBS v5.21c (1:154/50)
  • From Harry Potter@3:770/3 to All on Sat Feb 1 04:21:57 2020
    Try copying each pair of .d64 images to single .d71 images. :)

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  • From Andreas Kohlbach@3:770/3 to Tristan Miller on Sat Feb 1 13:11:47 2020
    On Fri, 31 Jan 2020 21:49:06 +0100, Tristan Miller wrote:

    Greetings.

    On 31/01/2020 20.06, Andreas Kohlbach wrote:
    On Fri, 31 Jan 2020 12:41:00 +0100, Tristan Miller wrote:
    I'd like to play Ultima V in VICE. This game came on four double-sided
    disks, which entailed a lot of disk-swapping. But if memory serves, the >>> C128 version of the game supported up to two drives, and if the drives
    were 1571s, the game would automatically read the correct side of the
    disk for you. So with two 1571s, instead of one 1541, you could cut the >>> number of disk swaps by factor of 4.

    The problem is that the only disk images of the game I have are .d64
    images of the eight individual sides. Is there any way of combining two >>> .d64 images into a single .d71 image? Or is my only option to buy a
    floppy drive capable of reading double-sided disks and the requisite
    imaging software, and then manually re-image all the physical disks?

    The 8bitguy on YouTube just released a video about Commodore disk
    drives. The 1571 head two heads, thus could read both sides of a floppy
    without turning it around, if made for the C128.

    It also could read C64 (.d64) disks. But in the 1541 you would turn
    around a disk to read the other side. That means that a 1571 could not
    read the second side as the rotation of the disk would be the wrong way
    (you would not turn the disk around as on a 1541). Thus I don't think
    it's possible to run a double-sided 1541 disk on the C128 using a 1571
    drive.

    Ah, so maybe I was misremembering about not having to flip the disks.
    I think VICE allows you to create a list of disk images and then swap
    between these with a shortcut key, so that's probably another avenue
    for me to try.

    If you have your game available split into to images you can tell VICE to
    load one into unit 8 and the other into unit 9. I don't know this
    game. But if it's smart enough it will source other drives to load
    additional content.
    --
    Andreas

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  • From Anssi Saari@3:770/3 to Andreas Kohlbach on Mon Feb 10 10:21:34 2020
    Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:

    It also could read C64 (.d64) disks. But in the 1541 you would turn
    around a disk to read the other side. That means that a 1571 could not
    read the second side as the rotation of the disk would be the wrong way
    (you would not turn the disk around as on a 1541). Thus I don't think
    it's possible to run a double-sided 1541 disk on the C128 using a 1571
    drive.

    It's an interesting question. Apparently the Ultima V C64 release had
    the C128 stuff built in. No idea how this issue was actually handled? As
    I understand it, floppies in 1571 format would've confused a 1541.

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  • From Andreas Kohlbach@3:770/3 to Anssi Saari on Mon Feb 10 08:58:00 2020
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2020 10:21:34 +0200, Anssi Saari wrote:

    Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> writes:

    It also could read C64 (.d64) disks. But in the 1541 you would turn
    around a disk to read the other side. That means that a 1571 could not
    read the second side as the rotation of the disk would be the wrong way
    (you would not turn the disk around as on a 1541). Thus I don't think
    it's possible to run a double-sided 1541 disk on the C128 using a 1571
    drive.

    It's an interesting question. Apparently the Ultima V C64 release had
    the C128 stuff built in. No idea how this issue was actually handled? As
    I understand it, floppies in 1571 format would've confused a 1541.

    As far as I understand you can only read one side of a 1571 formatted disk
    on a 1541. You cannot flip it.

    The 8BitGuy explains it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QBXY8dx8ZA .
    --
    Andreas

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