20 Jan
2023
20 Jan
'23
8:31 p.m.
On Jan 20, 2023, at 11:19 AM, Jim Brain via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
On 1/20/2023 1:05 PM, Mike Katz via cctalk wrote:
My thanks to all that answered. I’ll probably pick up a GreaseWeazel at some point.
Right now I’m trying to judge my need. I’ve only found a fraction of the 5.25” floppies I
should have. For that matter, I’ve only found about 60% of the 3.5” floppies I should
have. I’m mystified as to where three big boxes are, and those include the bulk of my
5.25” floppies.
Realistically that’s good enough Jim, though I find the way the 3.5” floppies are working
to be quite useful. I can take a look at what’s on them, and in many cases, I just pull
the files off. As there is no reason to image them.
Zane
Using the Greaseweazel is a two stage process.
The GW itself connects to the actual drive and just records the flux transitions as a
series of zeros and ones. This is transferred to a computer (PC, MAC, Linux) where the
captured flux image is analyzed by a second program which understands floppy formats. You
tell the analyzer what you are looking at.
The analyzer can then provide a binary dump of the actual data (track by track) or for
operating systems that it understands it can extract directories and files.
On 1/20/2023 12:52 PM, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote:
Not to discount Mike's response, but to Zane's original question:
At this time, No, the GW only allows imaging.
*BUT*, there is nothing preventing the firmware Keir wrote from being extended to support
accessing the actual floppy disk directly via the USB interface (by emulating a regular
USB floppy drive set of commands).
In reality, most people just do with Mike is suggesting. Grab the image and then mount
it as a virtual floppy and read the files/dirs as needed.
Jim
--
Jim Brain
brain(a)jbrain.com
www.jbrain.com I’m now aware of the GreaseWeazle, but what I’ve
not seen is if it allows standard access to the data on a floppy, or only provides a way
to image the disk. With an USB attached 3.5” floppy the disk mounts on my Mac, and I can
easily pull files off the disk. Does this work with the GreaseWeazle and a 5.25” floppy
drive?
Zane