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From: bryce@COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Bryce Nesbitt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Disk format interchangeability.
Message-ID: <8705230853.AA08549@cogsci.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sat, 23-May-87 04:53:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: cogsci.8705230853.AA08549
Posted: Sat May 23 04:53:18 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 23-May-87 19:21:20 EDT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
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Xref: mnetor comp.sys.amiga:5113 comp.sys.atari.st:3693 comp.sys.mac:3415

There has been a lot of net-noise about converting one disk format to
another.  I did some research and compiled a list of accomplishments
and possibilities for the Mac, Amiga and ST.

                      Foreign format      Any of the many  ----------
	------------------------------------------------            |
Host\/  |IBM 5.25 IBM 90mm Mac    ST      Amiga   1571   Apple ][  CP/M
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST      | YES   | YES   | NO    | YES   | NO    |  NO   |  NO    |  NO $  |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mac     | NO  ? | NO  ? | YES   | NO  ? | NO  ? |  NO ? |  NO $  |  NO ?  |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBM     | YES   | YES   | NO    | YES   | NO    |  NO   |  NO    |  YES   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AMIGA   | YES   | YES   | SOON  | YES   | YES   |  YES  |  NO $  | PLANNED|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


This assumes a stock machine with a size compatible drive attached to the
stock floppy hardware.  The IBM 90mm format is the 720k flavor.

?  means that it MAY be possible to do it
$  means it is easily possible, someone just has to do it

(For you non-metric types, 90mm is about 3.5")


The IBM and the ST use nearly the same controller, thus the similar results.
 Swapping between IBM and ST is a trial-and-error thing.  The disks want
 to be formated by the IBM to work well at all.
 XENOSOFT of Berkeley makes XENOCOPY for the IBM which does any of the 10
 billion CPM and other pre-MSDOS formats like kaypro, osbourne, as well
 as newer formats.  If it is flat, doughnut shaped, rusty mylar and not
 Apple ][, Commodore-64 (1541/1571), Amiga or Mac there is a good chance
 it will know about it.  This includes 8 inch.
The Mac uses a variable speed drive formatted in GCR, rather tricky to read.
 The drives can be primarily software controlled, so there is hope that it
 could be fooled, coaxed into reading just about anything. (5 speed manual)
 As far as I know, this has not been done.
 A company makes a IBM 90mm drive with a SERIAL port to talk to it.
 This would be a cinch to hook up, but you would still need driver software
 to read/write it.
The Amiga's DMA hardware and Paula chip are flexible enough to handle about
 anything within the proper data rate.  The utility to read/write PC disks comes
 with the V1.2 upgrade, Central Coast Software makes one called dos-to-dos.
 The same company sells disk-2-disk to read/write 1541/1571 disks.  They have
 demonstrated the ability to reliably read all tracks of a Mac disk and
 are putting together a product due out in 3-4 months. (drive-2-drive? :-)
 There is a special bit in the controler for switching to read/write Apple ][
 formats.  So far nobody seems to have released a utility that uses this.
 XENOSOFT is rumored to be developing XENOCOPY for the Amiga, if and when
 it is released it will do all the billions of 5.25" and 8" formats and 
 Apple ][.

-------------
         Ack!  (NAK,EOT,SOH)
 |\ /|  .
 {o O} .  bryce@cogsci.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!cogsci!bryce
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