[Coco] SuperIDE and CF Cards

[Gustavo Ranaur Schoenaker]

Hi again,

Just let me explain a little of my ideas/motivations, when I bought a Tandy
3 with Super IDE. I have a Tandy 2, and I used it only with RS-DOS, tapes
and disk. I have the drivers, the controller, and the RS-232 pak. The
drives aren't in the best working condition, maybe is the cable, maybe it
is not. I bought the drive cable with Mark and I still have to unpack it.

My idea is to play old games and programs from my childhood. I just tried
to use SuperIDE first. Everybody says it is cool (and it is). I saved some
DSKs on drives 100 and on and I'm having a great time with it.

So, on this first moment I need only RS-DOS disks. I would probably want to
play more advanced games that needs 360K disks, but leave that for a second
moment.

Well ... The only thing I'm trying to do on this first moment is to create
a backup copy of the card. So I can leave the original card, and mess with
the copy with peace of mind. :-) Meanwhile I'm playing the some games on
the original one just for the fun. (Anyone knows how to finish SYZYGY? :-))

So, on this first moment for me OS-9 is not a big deal for me. I would
install it only if it is really needed. Actually, when I boot it, I can
barely read the text. It's too small on my TV. Other video modes works
fine. I'll try to make a RGB cable someday, my TV has an RGB input. But
wait! One step at a time. HDB-DOS works fine, let use it until I get bored
:) A Tandy at home is fun for decades! :-)

To make the backup, I think I have three strategies: (if there is another
one, feel free to tell me)

1) I'll try Sidewalk imaging. For me is the best option. If it works,
problem solved.

2) My second option is booting from Drivewire and copying files to HDB-DOS
disks one by one. Is it possible? I'll try the ROM version that comes on
SuperIDE. If it doesn't works I can save drivewire drivers on a tape and
CLOADM them.

3) My third option would be inserting a (real) HD on superIDE and copying
the files to it one by one, changing the card, and copyng it back. It' will
be tough, but theorically it will work.

Oh ... so much to do and so little time to do it :-).

Any help, FAQ, pages are appreciated,

On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 2:41 AM, Aaron Wolfe <aawolfe at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 9:15 AM, Mark Marlette <mmarlette at frontiernet.net>
> wrote:
>
> > 1. SideWalk DOES NOT create an exact image. Had almost 6million compare
> errors on a 256MB image. So not sure what it is doing...??? Do not use it
> otherwise you will have corruption. Aaron will need to address this issue.
> Sure it has something to do with HDB-DOS and NitrOS-9 partitions on same
> device.
> >
>
> SideWalk *does not* create raw images of a CF card.  It creates a file
> containing only the data, i.e. with the "wasted" portions of the
> HDBDOS area removed.  These images can then be used in DriveWire, or
> written to another CF card.  They cannot be mixed with raw images
> created by dd or other tools that do not deal with the half sector use
> of the HDBDOS area.  SideWalk *can* read images created by dd and
> understand them, but it does not create images that dd will properly
> write to a card and they will not be identical (or even close) to the
> contents of a raw image.
>
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