POWERCOPY PROFESSIONAL VERSION 1.05 ฉ JULY 1990 ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Written in 1990-91 by Geoff Lohrere Copyright ฉ 1990 Advanced Technology Computers Piracy is a crime punishable by law!! This copier is for making archival backups of your originals only Keep programmers developing and spread the word, never the disk A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ This product is continually being updated to accomodate for new protections as they are released. If you have difficulty backing up a program, you may send the original disk with a Self STAMPED, return addressed Jiffy bag and if necessary I will update PowerCopy, supply a new parameter or give details on how to backup the program. You may also send your PowerCopy disk for updating and a blank disk if you would like me to backup your original for you. If you have a friend with a later version of PowerCopy Professional you can update this disk from the later version by copying tracks 1 to 79 only. DO NOT copy over track zero! For the authors current address or phone number contact place of purchase or call directory assistance Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. LOADING POWERCOPY ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ On the workbench prompt, insert the Powercopy disk and the program will self load. PowerCopy can also be loaded from workbench. Program control is by pull down menus, click on gadgets and keyboard control. To set the Sync Word, Set Read Length, Number of verifies and Read Errors to Retry, simply click on the existing numbers on the screen, delete or backspace the existing values and enter the new values. Many options can also be changed by mouse clicking status lines on the screen, eg: Clicking on 'Copy Mode -->' will cycle through the available copy modes. The Start and End Tracks are set by clicking the left mouse button on the desired co-ordinate in the track error grids. Use the top (Side zero) grid for setting the Start Track and the bottom (Side One) grid for setting the End Track. A double click in either grid will set the Start and End Tracks to the same value. Note: There is an invisible gadget in front of the 'Target Drive ->' message which will reverse the Source and Target drives if selected. On completion of loading PowerCopy, if the cold, cool or kicktag pointers are not clear, PowerCopy will report the possibility of a Virus in memory! When working with files in PowerCopy, if DOS needs to give a Retry/Cancel requester DOS will sometimes put the PowerCopy screen behind the WorkBench screen and display the requester on the WorkBench screen. DOS has a function of holding the left Amiga Key and pressing 'm' and 'n' keys to swap screens back and forth from front to rear. When running PowerCopy on a hard drive make sure the original PowerCopy disk is inserted in any floppy drive when loading. Use the install icon provided from Workbench to install PowerCopy onto a hard drive to ensure you get all the required files PowerCopy needs to run. See also Hard Drive Installation. PAL Amigas sometimes powerup in NTSC mode. As PowerCopy needs a PAL window it will cold reset the system if this happens. PowerCopy has a special boot block which will guarantee a PAL window so this should never happen unless the boot block on PowerCopy is Installed, destroyed by a Virus or PowerCopy is loaded from a hard drive. This boot block also allows you to force an NTSC window by holding the left mouse button during the reading of the boot block. IMPORTANT WARNING - PLEASE READ! ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Before loading, saving or deleting parameter files, remove all disks except PowerCopy, which should be in the drive it was booted in. If you wish to use a different drive, or use a seperate disk for parameters, reinsert PowerCopy or any other disks you wish to use, when validating is enabled or Kickstart may give you a requester saying 'Disk corrupt - task held'. If disks which were present in drives when PowerCopy was loaded or when validating was last enabled are changed with validating disabled, when validating is renabled for any reason such as file access, Kickstart will not have seen the disks changed and will think the disks are corrupt. Disks can be removed when validating is disabled, as long as you do not re-enable validating with different disks inserted. To change disks press the 'DEL' key, remove all disks and reinsert PowerCopy or other disks in the desired drives as prompted. Disks can also be changed after opening the file requester or with the function Resident Quit. NOTE: Severe Disk corruption may result if these rules are not followed! BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE INEXPERIENCED ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ If you are an inexperienced user, or these docs are beyond your comprehension, simply insert your source disk (the original disk you wish to backup) and your target disk (the disk to become your backup of the original) in the selected source and target drives. You can now commence the backup by pressing either of the 'Enter' keys or clicking the left mouse button when the mouse arrow is over the Start gadget (the rectangular box labelled 'START'). If the backup of the original fails then repeat the above procedure with 'Index Copy' on. If this also fails try again with copy modes 'Nibble', 'Sector' & 'Index Sync' with Hardware on and off. Also select 'Open File' and load the parameter if there is one supplied. Copy mode 'Parameter' will be selected automatically. A few programs require Track 0, Side 1 to be seperately Hardware Index Synced, eg: Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back, ฉ FTL Games/Software Heaven Inc. Note: If you have the Hardware Power Device remember that any drive before the Hardware Power Device can be a source drive, while any drive after the Hardware Power Device can be a target drive. For more info see Hardware Copy. UNDERSTANDING DATA STORAGE AND PROTECTION SCHEMES ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ When reading a standard DOS track and with most disk protections, the hardware has to know where the actual data starts on a disk. This is done by writing a special word (two bytes) called a Sync Word, to one of the Amiga's special custom chips called Paula. A Sync Word is a value which does not occur in normal disk data. When a disk read operation using sync words is started, Paula monitors the data coming from the disk surface and commences reading the data into memory when the given Sync Word is found. The Sync Word used with an Amiga DOS track, IBM disks and with most protected disks is $4489. When data is written to a disk, it does not cover the full circumference of the track. There is an empty gap between where the written data finishes and where the track data begins. This unused area is called the 'Gap' and has to be present to make sure that disk data does not overlap itself, and to allow for disk drive motor speed variations. When data is written to a disk, it is written at a fixed crystal controlled rate, so if the speed of the motor on the disk drive is running slower than it should be, more time elapses for one rotation of the disk, therefore as data is written to the disk at a fixed rate the disk data will be more dense, and the track will end up with more words of data on it. If a drive motor is running faster than it should be, each disk rotation is faster so the disk data will be more spread out and the track will contain less data. This is why a disk track must contain an empty gap, free of valid disk data, to allow for variations in motor disk drive speeds. One very common protection, called a Long Track, involves the deliberate slowing down of the drive motor speed when the disk data is written so that one or more tracks have extra data on them. When copying these disks it will not be possible to get all the data on those long tracks to the target disk unless your target drive is slowed down the same amount so it can hold the same amount of data. If you have a target drive with a drive speed control or have purchased the optional Hardware Power Device, this Program will duplicate these tracks. If the option 'Pause on Long' is off and the Power Device is present, the Power Device will automatically be switched in when a long track occurs. If 'Pause on Long' is on, when a long track is encountered, PowerCopy will stop on that track and prompt you to adjust your target drive speed to that of the 'read' length of the track, ie: match the current displayed 'drive speed' with that of the 'read length'. It is better if the drive speed, measured in words, is not much under the 'read length'. In most cases it is alright for the target drive to hold a few extra words, as long as the drive is slow enough to contain the source track word length. When you are satisfied with your adjustment, click 'Start' or press 'SPACE'. Most single long track protection schemes are normally on Track 0, Side 1 and often contain nothing of value. Other Long track schemes involve all of the data tracks being long tracks, and quite often holding more valid data than a track written with a drive motor speed running within normal specifications. Another protection involves a sync word other than the standard $4489 being used on one or more tracks. This is where many copiers fail, as they only allow for the standard $4489 sync word. PowerCopy however has a built in list of common sync words, through which it will automatically scan to find the sync word being used. Some protections have the same sync word occurring more than once on the same track, and in most cases it is necessary to start reading the track on the correct one. DOS tracks consist of eleven seperate blocks of data, also called sectors, which are seperated by two $4489 sync words. This speeds up disk I/O as only up to one eleventh of the track has to be searched to find a sync word. Each sector is marked with a sector number and they can be sorted into order after the read, so with a DOS track the read can start on any sync word. Floppy disks have an index mark on them, which can be looked for by the drive hardware. Some protection schemes use a variation of the DOS track, where there may be no sector numbers marked. When the software is loading it expects these sectors to be in order. To get these sectors or blocks of data in the right order the disk read is not started until the index mark on the disk is found. This is called an Index copy, eg: When the software is loading it first loops waiting for the Index mark, and when found tells the Amiga hardware to commence reading, synchronizing on the first sync word found, which is usually not be far past the Index mark. In most cases it is alright to do all copying with 'Index Copy' on, but it will take longer than necessary to backup a disk if Index Copy was not needed. A less common protection is where there is no used sync word on the track, and the data is read or written using the Index mark. This is called an 'Index Sync' Copy. Selecting 'Index Sync' Copy stops PowerCopy from looking for sync words, and instead synchronizes on the index mark of the disk. Note: Index Sync Copy will fail most of the time on unprotected DOS tracks, so make sure you do not use it on unprotected DOS tracks, especially not on the Boot Block track, ie: Track 0, Side 0. If this protection scheme was used and you use 'Index Sync' Copy to back it up, and allow it to backup the Boot block track, it may appear that the backup failed as the disk would not boot. The reason for the failure is that the copy would have started and or stopped in the middle of a sector instead of the gap, damaging the data in that sector. In such cases, after completing the backup, set the Start and End tracks to zero, the copy side to zero and copy the boot track with Quick copy. There will be rare exceptions to this rule eg; in one protection I encountered, the boot track was written after the index mark and needed to be Index Synced in order for the protection to pass. If an entire disk is written with Index Copy on, it will most likely be possible to backup the entire disk using 'IndexSync'. AVAILABLE COPY MODES ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Quick Copy: ----------- This Default copy mode is fast, very powerful and will back up most software with 'Index Copy' on or off as required, eg: It will backup ZOOM, something most copiers will not do even in their most powerful Nibble mode. QuickPlus Gap: -------------- Some protection schemes have information placed in the Gap on a DOS track. This mode will copy the DOS track and the Gap from the source disk to the target. Use this mode when a Backup fails and there are no errors, ie: it appears to be all DOS tracks, as there may be protection data in the gap. Index Write: ------------ Index Write mode, also used by Parameter and Nibble copy, writes to the target disk from the first occurence of the index mark to the next occurence of the index mark. This copy mode will backup some Psygnosis software that would normally need 'Index Copy' on, faster by leaving 'Index Copy' off. eg; (*) Obliterator, Barbarian, Terrorpods, Ballistix, Deep Space and (*) OutRun. Index Sync: ----------- Disables use of Sync Words and uses the disk index mark for Read and Write synchronization. Note: (*) IBM disks are formatted using the index mark, so using Index Sync will back nearly all protected (*) IBM software. Power Nibble: ------------- On some protected software a different sync word, or some other protection data is placed in front of the normal $4489 sync word, so the copier will find the $4489 sync word and copy the track missing the real sync word used, which was just before it. Also due to the way disk data is stored some sync words can be confused with others. Nibble mode looks for the first sync word it can read the track with, then starts backing up the source track from a few words before the sync word copying the entire track from that point. This mode will also take the gap on DOS tracks, ie: it will do the equivalent to Quick Plus mode. Nibble mode is very powerful, but also slow, so use only if necessary. Sector Nibble: -------------- This copy mode is similar to copy mode 'Power Nibble', except it attempts to find the largest gap on the disk and starts the backup a few words before the syncwords following the largest gap found. This copy mode will backup AMac software, DOS tracks and other programs with some form of sector format. Parameter Copy: --------------- When this program has completed a copy it automatically generates a parameter of the info used to perform the copy, ie: Sync word, length, whether it was read with sync or no sync, if it was an Amiga DOS track (ADOS) or a Non DOS track (NDOS), and whether Index copy was on or off. The remaining options which are Format, MFM or GCR, Bit timing, 2ms or 4ms, MSBSYNC on or off and Write precomp, will all be set for MFM, which is the format the (*) AMIGA and the (*) IBM uses, and should never need to be touched. The most important things here are Sync, Length, Index Copy and if Amiga DOS or Non DOS. An example of where you would use Parameter Mode is after copying (*) HYBRIS or SWORD OF SODAN, which have a variety of different sync words on all tracks. To copy (*) HYBRIS initially would take up to 5 minutes, due to the time taken in scanning for sync words. On completion of the copy you would select 'Save Parameter' from the project menu or click the SAVE gadget and enter the desired name in the file requester then click 'OK'. Next time you had the need to backup (*) HYBRIS you would select 'Open File' and load the parameter file under the name in which you saved it. Parameter copy is turned on automatically when a parameter is loaded. The backup should now take under two minutes. Your saved parameter may cause the message 'WARNING: Track Length Under Set Length' when used with another original of the same program, due to the fact that the length of the two originals may vary, as they may have been written in different disk drives, running at different speeds. The length given is the actual length of the source track, keeping in mind that the length of the track is not the length of Valid Data, as there is also the gap on the track. If the length which was generated in your parameter is longer than that of the length of another original, you would be copying the whole track, plus the start of the track again. This of course could cause the backup to fail, however PowerCopy will prevent this by stopping at the correct track length and giving the 'WARNING:...' message. Parameters can be editted by selecting 'Edit Parameters' from the Project Menu or selecting the 'EDIT' gadget and using the following keys. Up and Down arrows position the pointer to the desired Track and Side, the Right arrow moves the cursor to the desired field to edit and the Left arrow will duplicate the parameters for the last editted track. Space Bar duplicates the parameter for the last editted track, excluding sync word. Keys 0 to 7 move the display to the corresponding track number * 10. Use the 'ESC' key to exit an edit field, or the Edit window if the cursor is not on an edit field. Instead of editting lengths, the 'Set Length' gadget can be used, as described in following paragraphs. Note: There are two seperate parameter buffers, one for the loaded parameter, for doing a parameter backup, and the other a save parameter buffer which contains a manually created or generated parameter from doing a backup. Remember, the save buffer is destroyed by any new disk access except for file input or output. If you wish to edit a previously saved parameter, load it using 'Open Parameter' then select 'Parameter Move' from the project menu or the Swap Gadget line. This will transfer the parameter from the load buffer to the edit save buffer, where it can be editted and resaved. If you are a more experienced user you can shorten the generated track lengths to just above the valid data length, eg: An average track length would be $18ce words, whereas actual valid data length is normally between $1600 words and $1860 words (a DOS track has a valid data length of $1760). The 'Set Length' gadget can be clicked on with the left mouse button to set the valid data length in all copy modes, except 'Index Sync Copy'. This can be used to avoid transfering any rubbish in the gap from the source to the target disk. If you do not understand this, edit the 'Set Length' gadget to $0000 and this will copy the entire track. After testing that your parameter works, you can experiment with the 'Set Length' gadget to find the actual data length by decreasing the 'Set Length' until the copy does not work. The 'Set Length' would ideally be about four to eight words above the actual data length. If you use a value other than zero in the 'Set Length' gadget, that length will also be used in the length field for the generated parameter. If making your own parameter, and it is for a DOS track the sync and length fields have different meanings. The sync field becomes the value to place in the Gap of the track, and the length field is the number of words to place into the Gap. If you want to fill the whole gap just give $7fff as the length to fill. To fill the Target gap with $20 Hex words of $0001 you would place the value $0001 in the Sync field and $0020 in the length field. Use the Load and Move parameter functions to view the (*) ECO parameter as an example of a gap fill. The standard Gap value for DOS tracks is AAAA, which is actually zeros with clock bits inserted for the MFM format that the drive needs for reading raw disk data, and you would normally specify a length of $0001 as the gap on unprotected DOS tracks would be AAAAs anyway. Gap Fill is for DOS tracks only so ADOS must be entered in the type field. Fill values of greater than $7fff are reserved for special parameters and should not be used. NOTE: Many parameters are already supplied which can be viewed by selecting 'Open File' from the 'Project Menu' or Swap Gadget Line. If you are not comfortable saving your parameters to the original PowerCopy disk you can format a blank disk with the name Parameters or the name of your choice and use the file requester to select the drive and directory you wish to use to save, delete and load your parameters from. The default is 'SYS:Parameters'. SyncWord Scan: -------------- This Copy mode will scan the tracks selected for all possible sync words, and will use the last sync word found, instead of the first, to copy the track. (Refer to information on Nibble Copy). This will sometimes overcome the problem of a different sync word placed in front of the standard $4489 sync word. If the backup works you can then save time by using the created parameter, instead of nibble copy mode on these types of protected programs. If the backup failed, you can try editting in other possible sync words. These can be viewed by pressing the 's' key from the Edit Parameter window. Use 'ESC' to close this window as per closing the edit parameter window. COPY OPTIONS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Hardware Copy: -------------- PowerCopy has an optional Hardware Power Device available as an alternative means of backing up long tracks. It can also be used to backup another protection that cannot be duplicated with a drive speed controller or any normal means. This scheme involves precisely varying the motor speed up and down by specific amounts during the writing of a track. The Power Device allows you to backup this protection. The Power Device allows data to be transfered directly from the source drive to the target drive, bypassing the normal internal disk hardware completely. As the data is transfered direct, the density of the data on the source disk will be duplicated onto the target disk. The Power Device is therefore a good alternative to setting disk drive motor speeds. It is better not to copy the entire disk with hardware copy, as the data transfer becomes unreliable around track sixty and higher on some drives. This is because the inner tracks on the disk are smaller and the data is therefore more compact (dense). It is uncommon to have long data tracks over an entire disk, so a hardware copy of a full disk would not often be needed. If a long track is found when backing up a disk, and 'Hardware Copy' and 'Pause Long' are both off, PowerCopy will automatically use the Hardware Power Device, if it is detected. If 'Pause Long' is on, then you will be prompted to slow your drive motor speed. The closer the source and target drive speeds, the more accurate the backup. It is best if the target drive has the slower motor speed, ie: the drive that can hold the most data. For reliability and accuracy drive speed analysis is done at the start of a backup and again at track 40. The timed speed difference in bytes between source and target drives is shown next to 'Drive Speed' after each Speed Analysis. If 'Index Copy' or 'Index Sync' are on and Hardware copy is on, before the direct transfer can begin the indexes on each drive need to be matched. PowerCopy will pulse the drive motor of the source or target drive on and off to bring the indexes into alignment. Many tracks which do not have a sync word and are index synced may not need the indexes matched, so you can press the left mouse button to start an immediate data transfer, aborting the index alignment. Index Synced long tracks on Track 0, Side 1 may not need alignment. With some 5ผ" and 3ฝ" drives, the index alignment may be difficult if the motor latch circuitry has not been done to the Commodore standard. If PowerCopy has trouble aligning indexes, press the mouse button when the index distances are as close to 0 as possible. The byte distance between indexes is shown next to the 'Drive Speed' if PowerCopy has to pulse the drive motors to align indexes. Any drive after the Power Device can be a Target, but to use an internal drive as a target the Power Device should be disabled by putting 'Pause Long' on. See also Analyze Track, Index Align, Motor Pulse and Write OverLap. Verify Data: ------------ Verify data will verify the target disk after each track is written. If the track does not verify, it will rewrite and verify it the number of times in the Verify Count. If a track is non DOS there is no way of knowing if your read was in error, so PowerCopy will reread the source track and test for the same data. If the reread matches the original read we can assume the first read was good, if not it will reverify the read the number of times in Verify Count. The same procedure applies once again when writing the Destination data. If an error occurs when verifying a non DOS track a message will show the offset into the data in words (two bytes) and in bytes where the error occured. Quite often you will consistently get errors showing at one or two locations. If the word offset of these errors is above $1760 words, and it is at approximately the same location each time, it is probably due to an illegal MFM bit pattern in the gap on that track. The gap normally contains no valid data, so a constant error occuring as explained can be considered to be a good verify. If an error is occuring at the same point it is probably where the write finished on the track which quite often results in an illegal bit pattern which disk drives have trouble reading reliably. It could also be that the disk track was not fully written and has an erased area still on the track in the gap. Erased areas will read back differently each time. The Set Length Gadget, previously discussed in Parameter copy, can be set to the word offset in error which will cut off any other disk data from that point, isolating any erased or illegal bit patterns that follow that word offset. This will result in a nice clean gap on the target disk, but be warned the erased area or illegal bit pattern may sometimes be intentional, so if the backup fails then leave the set length gadget at zero. If you want you can use the Analyze Buffer function to look at the data using the byte offset to see if the offset in error is due to illegal bit patterns or erased areas. Legal MFM hex numbers are 1,2,4,5,8,9 and A. Illegal hex MFM numbers are 0,3,6,7,B,C,D,E and F. Index Copy: ----------- Enables waiting for the disk index mark before writing, and looking for the first sync word before reading, as explained previously. Fix Errors: ----------- Performing a backup with Fix Errors on will copy the source to the target disk, attempting as best possible to repair any errors found on the source disk. Remembering that this can correct the checksums and sector headers, but cannot correct errors within the data itself. If the errors are in graphics or sound you will end up with corruption in the graphics or sound, but the program should still work. However, if the sector in error is processor code the program will load but it will probably crash. If no DOS sectors on the source track can be recovered, PowerCopy will format the target track, making it readable. Fix Errors should only be used to correct genuine DOS track errors, as many errors could be disk protection. Using the option 'Fix Errors' will also slow down the backup procedure, so use only when necessary. The following error numbers are relative to the standard Amiga DOS track, so an error given on a non DOS protected track should be treated only as a reference to what the error would have been if it was a DOS track. The following table is also available from the 'Special' menu. Note: Fixed errors will be shown as white numbers, instead of green, in the error grids. Possible errors and track status codes which appear in the error grids; 0................................Amiga DOS Track with no Error 1.......................Sector Header will not be Found by DOS 2.......................................Non Standard Sync Word ฒ................As Above: Blank Track, Bad Read or Protection 3..............................Bad Sector ID, Probably Non DOS ณ................As Above: Blank Track, Bad Read or Protection 4.............................Incorrect Sector Header CheckSum 5...............................Incorrect Sector Data CheckSum 6.................................Not Enough Sectors Available 7......................Incorrect Track Number in Sector Header 8..................Incorrect Sector Numbering in Sector Header 9.........................Incorrect Sector and Header Checksum S........................No Syncword Found, Track Index Synced L..................Long Track, Shown Only if Pause Long is Off F.....................Source Unfixable, Target Track Formatted X.........................Error Verifying Read or Written Data Verify Count: ------------- Verify count is the number of tries allowed to verify data, count of read retries allowed and count of compare reads allowed with 'Disk Compare'. The number of read/write verifies can be set from 0 to 999 but 255 is the maximum usable value. If a previously known good disk develops an error, you may set a large number of retries, to attempt to achieve a good read and thus produce a good backup of your faulty original. Retry Errors: ------------- The standard read errors to retry should be 1,4,5,9 as these would normally be genuine DOS errors. There is a very small percentage chance that other errors could develop on a DOS track. The number 0 could be used on Checkdisk to look for a suspected intermittent error on a standard DOS track. Using other retry error numbers on protected disks will slow down the backup unnecessarily. Say Message: ------------ Turns speaking of status and selection messages on and off. The Narrator Device and Translator library must remain on the PowerCopy disk for speech to work. If the Translator library or Narrator device are not present a corresponding error message will be given. If PowerCopy issues a new message to be spoken and speech is already in progress the current speech will be aborted and the new spoken message will be given. The Translator library and Narrator device on PowerCopy are from WorkBench 2.0. If prefered the Translator library and Narrator device from WorkBench 1.2 or 1.3 can be used as they have a different sound which may be prefered and the Narrator device is smaller in size which would result in a small increase in loading speed. Pause on Long: -------------- If 'Pause Long' is on, during a backup PowerCopy will stop if a long track is found and you will be prompted to adjust your drive speed to suit whether going to or from long tracks. PowerCopy will also reprompt with variations in long track lengths. If Pause Long is off and you have the optional Hardware Power Device attached, PowerCopy will automatically use the Power Device to copy long tracks and some other protections requiring the Hardware Power Device, if they are encountered. For Pause Long off only, the status code 'L' will be displayed in the error grids to show the presence of long tracks. If Pause Long is on it will disable automatic use of hardware. See also paragraph three of Understanding Data Storage and Protection Schemes. PROJECT OPTIONS: ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Start DiskCopy: *START* --------------- ------- Start DiskCopy will copy data from the source disk to the target disk. If 'Pause Long' is on, the 'START' gadget or the 'Spacebar' will resume the copy after being prompted to adjust drive speeds. Enter or the Return key will also start the backup. Options marked *?????* are also available on gadgets. Check Source: *CHECK* ------------- ------- Checkdisk will Check the Source disk for any errors, displaying them in the error grids, remembering that errors shown could be intentional as part of the protection scheme, or unintentional errors due to bad disk media or an error in the Write. The F5 key can also be used to start a Check disk function. Format Target: *FORMAT* -------------- -------- Format will format the Target disk giving it the name in the 'Disk Name' Box. If the format started from track 0 a boot block will be installed making the disk bootable. 'Verify Data' can be used if you wish to verify the format. Compare Disks: *COMPARE* -------------- --------- Compares the source and target disks data. Refer to 'Verify Data' as all information is applicable to this function, except there is no reread check on non DOS tracks. Use 'Verify Data' on if you wish to verify non DOS reads. Erase Target: ------------- Totally clears the disk in the target drive of all data. Use this to destroy your backups if you have sold your originals! Erasing the disk with this option will restore it to the state of an unwritten disk. Rename DOS Disk: *RENAME* ---------------- -------- Renames the disk in the target drive to the name in the 'Disk Name' box. This option can be used to rename your PowerCopy backup as described earlier. Show Disk Info: *INFO* --------------- ------ Shows the name of the disk in the source drive and the number (in hex) of free blocks on each track. The total number of free blocks on the disk is also shown. One block = 512 bytes. NOTE: A hex = 10 decimal, B hex = 11 decimal. Make KickStart: --------------- Make KickStart disk will write the current version of KickStart from the computer PowerCopy is running on to the target drive in the format required for an Amiga 1000. Use only for restoring an original Amiga KickStart disk that has become corrupt, as KickStart is Copyright to Commodore Amiga Inc. Analyze Buffers: *BUFFERS* ---------------- --------- Analyze Buffers lets you view the different buffers used by PowerCopy in ASCII or Hex. The keys available for the various functions are displayed across the top of the window. These include an Analyze Disk Buffer function which will give you a description of the read track, a suggestion of how to backup the track and what is required in the way of special hardware, if any to backup the track. To use this function select the track to analyze, use Read Track from the Special Menu and press 'a' from the analyze window to get a report on the result of the read. The track length is given in both words & bytes so you can see where the track data finishes. If you have been doing disk I/O (input/output) with 'Verify Data' on and an error has occured, a message will be given in the Analyze Buffer window, showing the word and byte offset in error. Note this is for the last track in error and does not necessarily apply to the current disk operation. The contents of the read and write buffers are displayed as raw MFM data, and will not make a lot of sense to the inexperienced user. The Load and Save parameter buffers are at the end of the disk read and write buffers. The Sync Word Buffer contains the sync words which are stored from the results of a Sync Scan Copy. The Fix Buffer holds the contents of raw MFM data converted back to normal data when fix errors is used on DOS tracks. If you want to view the contents of a standard DOS or damaged DOS track as normal data, that is with the clock bits removed, then read the track with 'Fix Errors' on and then view the data in the Fix Buffer. The 'h' key swaps between ASCII and Hex, Up and Down arrows scroll the display a full page, Left arrow backs up Half a page and the Right arrow scrolls by one line. The (1/End) key moves the display to the end of the read track data and the plus and minus keys will shift the data in the Write Buffer left or right one bit at a time up to 64 bits left or right. This bit shift function can be used on a track read with 'IndexSync' copy to help identify the syncword used on that track. All key functions are also available from the gadget line at the window base. See also 'Analyze Track' and 'Verify Data'. Parameter Move: *MOVE* --------------- ------ Transfers the Load parameter buffer to the Save, edit parameter buffer. This can be used to make further alterations to a previously saved parameter. Edit Parameter: *EDIT* --------------- ------ Opens a window and displays the contents of the save parameter buffer to allow editting of or let you manually create a new parameter. Use Up and Down arrows to position the pointer to the desired Track and Side, the Right arrow moves the cursor to the desired field to edit and the Left arrow will duplicate the parameters for the last editted track. Space Bar duplicates the parameter for the last editted track, excluding the sync word. Keys 0 to 7 move the display to the corresponding track number * 10. Use the 'ESC' key to exit an edit field, or the Edit window if the cursor is not on an edit field. Delete P-File: *DELETE* -------------- -------- Deletes the Parameter file you select from the file requester. The default directory is 'SYS:Parameters' but the file requester can be used to delete files from other drives and directories. Open Parameter: *LOAD* --------------- ------ Loads the parameter file you select from the file requester into the Load parameter buffer ready to do a parameter copy or transfer to the Save buffer for edit. No check is done for a valid file so please use common sense. The Hide and Show gadget boxes in the lower right hand side of the file requester can be used to selectively hide or show file names using wild card characters, eg: 'g#?' entered in the Show box will display files starting with 'G' only, while 'sp#?' in the Hide box will not display any files starting with 'Sp'. Save Parameter: *SAVE* --------------- ------ Saves the generated or manually created parameter in the Save parameter buffer to the Parameters or selected directory with the file name selected from the file requester. 'SYS:Parameters' is the default parameter directory. About PowerCopy: ---------------- Gives the current version number, authors and distributors names, etc. Abort Operation: *ABORT* ---------------- ------- Click and release the mouse over this gadget to abort disk operations. The 'ESC' key will also abort operations. Exit PowerCopy: --------------- Exits PowerCopy ! Clicking the PowerCopy Professional title line also exits. DISK SIDE MENU ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Side Zero: ---------- This will make all disk operations work with Side zero only, Upper grid. Side One: --------- This will make all disk operations work with Side one only, Lower grid. Both Sides: ----------- This will make all disk operations work with Both Sides of the disk. Start Side: ----------- Allows you to select the Start side for all disk operations, except of course for file input or output. SPECIAL OPTIONS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Assign Enter: *ASSIGN* ------------- -------- After selecting this function the next menu item chosen will be assigned to the ENTER key on the numeric keypad. The main return key stays as Start Copy. Resident Quit: *SLEEP* -------------- ------- Exits PowerCopy leaving it resident in memory. F10 can also be used for this function. Press both mouse buttons simultaneously to return to PowerCopy. If you have loaded other programs during a sleep and try to return to PowerCopy, if there is not enough memory to open the PowerCopy screen and window, any opened screens will be flashed. Remove something from memory if this happens. Hex Dec Values: --------------- Will switch the displayed track read length and drive speed values from Hex to Decimal. These values are in Words (two Bytes). Stepping Mode: -------------- Setting Forty tracks provides a double step pulse to the drive heads for copying forty track disks eg; 360k (*) IBM disks, in an eighty track drive. Eighty tracks is for standard eighty track disks in an eighty track drive. Status Errors: *ERRORS* -------------- -------- Status errors will display a list of all track and status code errors. Analyze Track: *ANALYZE* -------------- --------- This function reads the current selected track and displays a graph of the track density and length, which are directly proportional ie: A track with very dense data is longer than a track whose data is less dense. From here you also have the option of selecting 'Buffer Analysis', which is also selectable from the 'Analyze Buffers' window or reading another track by pressing the right mouse button which will display the track grids allowing you to select the next track you wish to analyze. Clicking on the top grid will read the corresponding track on side zero and clicking on the lower grid reads a track on side one. Pressing the right mouse button again when the grids are displayed will also select the 'Analyze Buffers' function. The graph is mainly used for detecting protections which involve varying the motor speed during write (see Hardware Copy). The graph line for a normal track will usually not deviate much more than + or - .5 on the density scale. One common protection will show what looks like a full square wave in the middle of the graph deviating up to + and - 2 on the density scale, another looking like a very narrow, sharp full sawtooth wave of up to + and - 2 also. One of these protections is detected automatically and copied with the HardWare Power Device if present, others you will have to use 'Hardware Copy' to back up the tracks you suspect as protection. Anything deviating outside the normal could be protection, if there are no erased areas on the track. A completely blank track will show a very jagged line varying by as much as + and - 4 on the density scale. As blank tracks have no valid data and have totally illegal MFM bit patterns (see verify data), the disk drive will pick up random data each read giving varying track lengths and density on every read. To see an example of a blank track, erase a track with unwanted data using 'Erase Target' from the project menu and analyze it. A track with a partially erased area will most likely give a sharp deviation in the erased area and could be present with another protection. The Buffer Analysis will tell you if the track is partially blank. Take note, many of these protections will require HardWare Index Sync on to correctly back them up. So far I have only seen the square wave protection on Track 0, Side 1 and it shows as an error 3 in the error grids. It could in the future be found on other tracks. I have seen the sharp sawtooth wave protection used up to twice on one disk. Luckily it is normally amongst DOS tracks and shows as a little 3 'ณ'. This error is common as it is normally just a blank track found mainly on non DOS disks. All varying density protection schemes require the Hardware Power Device. Read a Track: *READ* ------------- ------ Reads the start track into the Disk Read Buffer which will also be transfered to the disk write buffer. Analyze buffers can be used for viewing this data. Write a Track: -------------- Write track will write the Disk Write Buffer back to the specified start track. This can be a different track to the track read. Write Memory: ------------- Writes memory to disk starting from the memory address entered in the 'Input Box' to the current start and end tracks and disk side/s selected. The address must be Hex and have no '$' prefix eg: start of Kickstart 'fc0000'. Copy Selected: *SELECT* -------------- -------- After completing a backup there may be one or more tracks you wish to recopy, eg: 'ณ's, which are blank tracks or bad reads. This can be done by clicking on the tracks you wish to recopy and then starting the backup. Clicking on an already selected track will unmark the track and redisplay the original error. Aborting selections with 'Abort' or 'Esc' restores the previous error codes. Install Boot: *INSTALL* ------------- --------- Installs a standard DOS boot block onto the disk in the target drive. This can be used to kill boot block viruses, but be careful with non DOS disks as they sometimes have special boot blocks. WARNING: Do NOT install PowerCopy! Scrolling Off: -------------- Disables the scrolled message which appears after a few minutes of inactivity. Blue Stripes: ------------- Changes the background color to different shades of Blue Stripes. WBench Colors: -------------- Selects normal WorkBench colors as set by the system-configuration file. DEFAULTS MENU ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Save Defaults: -------------- Saves to disk the following settings; Colors, Hex/Decimal Track values, Copy Mode, excluding Sync Scan, Index Copy, Fix Errors, Verify Data, Speech, Pause on Long, Source and Target drives, Read /Write Verify count, Read Retry Errors, Speech Speed, Long Length, Step Delay, Track Delay, Click Delay, Gadget Type, Index Align, Motor Pulse, Write OverLap and the Swap Gadget Line. The default name of 'Power.Config' given by the file requester, must be used. Set Defaults: *DEFAULT* & BackSpace ------------- --------- --------- Sets PowerCopy's recommended defaults to; Track Range 00-79, Start Side 0, Disk Sides both, Copy Mode Quick, Hard Device off, Index Copy off, Fix Errors off, Verify Data off, Speech on, Pause Long off, Retry Errors 1459, Verify Count 4, Sync word $4489, Set Length $0000, Double head Step off, Length Values Hexadecimal, Source Drive 0, Target Drive 1, Colors Blue Stripes, Speech Speed 208, Long track length to pause on 6400, Step Delay 3000, Track head settle Delay 6000, Double Click Delay 25, Gadget Type 1, Index Align 10, Motor Pulse 20480, Write OverLap 20, Swap gadget line to 'Analyze, Read, Buffers, Assign and Default' and the numeric ENTER key to Start Copy. Speech Speed: ------------- If 'Say Message' is on the value here determines the speed of spoken messages. The default shown in brackets is 208 decimal. Usable values are 40 to 400. Long Length: ------------ The default value of 6400 decimal ($1900) is the minimum track length that PowerCopy will consider to be a long track and will pause on for you to adjust your drive speed if the 'Pause Long' option is on. The value entered here is in words (two bytes). A motor speed control is needed to use this option. Step Delay: ----------- This option allows you to control the speed at which your drive head seeks from track to track. The default value of 3000 decimal ($bb8) which Kickstart also uses is shown in brackets. If this value is too small it will cause read errors or total seek failure. Good quality drives may handle a delay around 1500 to 1800, but values under 2000 decimal are not recommended. The maximum value you can input here is 99999, but 65536 is the maximum usable value. Track Delay: ------------ When the drive head is seeked to a track which is going to be read or written to a further delay should be given when the track is reached to allow the drive head time to settle. Kickstart uses a delay of 15000 decimal ($3a98) which is more than what is needed. The default value of 6000 ($1770) is shown in brackets. The maximum values that can be used here are as per Step Delay. Click Delay: ------------ As explained previously the start and end tracks can be set to the same value by double clicking the same grid. The default value of 25, shown in brackets allows for up to half a second delay between clicks. The maximum value accepted is 99 decimal which allows for up to two seconds between clicks. Gadget Type: ------------ Allows you to select the appearance of PowerCopy's gadgets when selected eg: 'Copy Mode -->', 'START', 'ABORT'. A value of Zero will cause the gadgets to be inverted when clicked on. A value of One, which is the default value shown in brackets, will cause the gadgets to be framed when selected and a value of Two or higher will show no change in the gadgets appearance when clicked on. Index Align: ------------ This option applies to tracks copied with the Hardware Power Device which were index synced, index copied or have one of the protections PowerCopy automatically detects and uses the Power Device for, if present. If PowerCopy has to read or write with the Hardware Power Device, the index marks have to be matched on the source and target drives. As explained in 'Hardware Copy' PowerCopy will pulse the drive motors to try and align the index marks. The default value of 10 decimal, shown in brackets, is the maximum number of bytes allowed between the source index and the target drive index that has to be achieved before the data transfer will begin. The larger the number entered here the worse the accuracy but the faster the requested index alignment will be acheived, the smaller the value the slower, but more accurate the index alignment will be. Some of the special single track protections may require the accuracy of 10 to 50 bytes while some disks which need to be index copied with hardware may backup correctly with values as large as 100 to 500. Motor Pulse: ------------ With Index Alignment, PowerCopy automatically tries to give the right pulse width to the drive motor to align indexes. The value next to 'Drive Speed' is the timed byte count between target and source drive indexes. When this value has reached its maximum count the indexes will be aligned and the value will roll over to zero. The maximum distance between indexes is normally around $3200. The second last highest byte count between target and source indexes would be $2 if timed from source to target, instead of target to source. If you specified that you wanted an index alignment accuracy of $5 bytes and the maximum byte distance between indexes is $3207 then a match would be between $3202 and $5 (-5 to +5), ie: PowerCopy will consider the indexes to be aligned with any of the following numbers $3202, $3203, $3204, $3205, $3206, $3207, $0000, $0001, $0002, $0003, $0004 or $0005. The motor pulse width required may vary between different brands of drives resulting in the possible problem of the distance between indexes hovering around the one value and not nearing the zero region. Also the pulses may be too strong jumping the value displayed next to Drive Speed back and forth over the zero region and never matching the indexes close enough. If necessary the default of 20480 decimal, shown in brackets, can be changed to suit different drives. If the value shown next to drive speed is jumping very large amounts back and forth over the zero region, reduce the motor pulse value by 500 at a time and if the value hovers around the one value then increase the motor pulse value by 500 at time. If you still have trouble aligning the indexes you could set the motor pulse value to zero for no pulse and let the differences between your source and target drive speeds drift the indexes into alignment. Note: PowerCopy will still pulse the drive motors until the indexes are between $2d00 and $0500 with zero motor pulse value. The index alignment value could also be made larger for easier alignment if necessary. See Index Align above. Write OverLap: -------------- This is applicable to tracks copied with the Hardware Power Device. When transfering data direct from one drive to the other, the data transfer starts approximately 100 bytes plus the value entered here, before the sync words at the start of track data. The track data is also overlapped by approx. 100 bytes, so the default of 20 bytes, shown in brackets, is the distance between the sync words at the start of the track data and where the data transfer stopped. It is possible that some programs may require this overlap to be closer to the sync words or even further away. Specifying too large a value may cause damage to data at the end of the track, while too small a value may cause some tracks to be overlapped so hard that they destroy 1 or more of the sync words at the start of the track, destroying the backup. Values between 8 and 350 may be acceptable depending on drives and the program being backed. You can try using values under eight but with a big risk of overwriting one or more of the sync words at the start of the track on some or all of the tracks. DRIVE SELECTION MENU ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ From here you can select your Source and Target drives. PowerCopy will start up with the first available Target drive, or the Target will be set to drive zero if you have only one drive on your system. The Source drive can also be set using F1-F4, and the target drive using F6-F9. The message 'Drive not Available' will be given if the drive selected is not attached or switched on. The Source and Target drives can be reversed by clicking on the invisible gadget positioned just in front of the message 'Target Drive ->'. Note: Seperate Source and Target drives are required for copying. HARDDRIVE INSTALLATION ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ To install PowerCopy on a hard drive load Workbench, open the HardDriveInstall drawer and select the required icon to suit your situation. Icons are present fr first time installation and for PowerCopy Professional updates. If you would prefer to copy PowerCopy manually you will require the following files; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ROOT Directory: PowerCopy, Power.Config, PowerCopy.docs C Directory: Run, PPmore DEVS Directory: Narrator.device, Printer.device, Parallel.device DEVS/PRINTERS Directory: desired printer driver for printing docs FONTS Directory: Ruby.font, Diamond.font, Topaz.font FONTS/RUBY Directory: 15 FONTS/DIAMOND Directory: 12 FONTS/TOPAZ Directory: 11 LIBS Directory: Translator.library, Req.library, Diskfont.library PARAMETERS Directory: all files if wanted ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: For further information or tutoring on PowerCopy Professional, please contact the Author, Advanced Technology Computers or P.M. Developments. Constructive criticisms on these instructions or PowerCopy are very welcome. *Obliterator, Barbarian, Terrorpods, Ballistix & Deep Space Copyright Psygnosis LTD *OutRun Copyright Sega Enterprises LTD *Eco Copyright Ocean Software Limited *AMIGA is a trademark of Commodore Amiga Inc *Hybris, Zoom and Sword of Sodan Copyright Discovery Software *IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Remember Piracy is a crime. Please keep developers developing and spread the word and not the disk. Thanks! Special Thanks to my wife Debby for all her help and inspiration. Thanks also to Peter Hamstra for Icons and Batch files.