Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mcdchg!ddsw1!karl
From: karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.microport
Subject: Re: Backups of Distibution Floppies
Summary: Late MSDOS versions can't dup all diskettes
Message-ID: <3545@ddsw1.MCS.COM>
Date: 30 May 89 21:33:33 GMT
References: <752@mccc.UUCP> <3501@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <764@mccc.UUCP>
Reply-To: karl@ddsw1.UUCP (Karl Denninger)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Macro Computer Solutions, Inc., Mundelein, IL
Lines: 26

In article <764@mccc.UUCP> pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) writes:
>In article <3501@ddsw1.MCS.COM> karl@ddsw1.UUCP (Karl Denninger) writes:
>In article <752@mccc.UUCP> pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) writes:
>>I have Microport V/386 and a friend has SCO Xenix/386, and we were both
>>wondering how to make backups of the distribution floppy disks?  Can you use
>>DISKCOPY or are they *NIX-formatted disks?  If the latter, are they mountable,
>=>or are the files tar/cpio archives?  Or ???

>=This comes up often enough to warrant a post....
>	[details of using *NIX to copy a floppy deleted]
	
>Thanks, Karl.  Do you have instructions for doing this from MSDOS?

With earlier versions of MSDOS, you use DISKCOPY.

Later versions (3.3 for certain, not sure with 3.2) don't work, as the
DISKCOPY program looks for a DOS signature, and failing to find it,
complains and refuses to copy the disk.

There's no physical reason for this; rather a logical problem within the
DISKCOPY program.  I don't know whether to call this a bug or a feature....

--
Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl)
Public Access Data Line: [+1 312 566-8911], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910]
Macro Computer Solutions, Inc.		"Quality Solutions at a Fair Price"