Re: Extracting files off “unknown” 8 inch disks. Any thoughts…

[Fred Cisin]

>> Not really, in the event they would like them read and we know they
>> are RX02 there are a number of people here who likely could read them
>> (myself being one of them!)

On Fri, 5 May 2017, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
> Just image them sector-by-sector and let folks fool with the images.
> The filesystem details can come later--and are largely irrelevant to the
> immediate task at hand.

This is a rare occasion that I will disagree with Chuck.

Yes, there are situations, where the file system is unknown or not 
understood, where the best approach is to copy all of the sectors and then 
let the client determine the rearrangement of those into the files that 
they want.   I've done that - both with having my junior staff wade 
through them looking for probable sequences, and even handing the client a 
giant stack of printouts and letting them decide (and then I concatenated 
the goups of sectors that they wanted)

But HERE, one option consists of doing that using flux-transition 
systems, and probably a significant amount of manual labor.  Does software 
currently exist yet for any of the flux-transition systems to easily 
handle sector reads from this format?
OR
the only hardware (other than "flux-transition") that can read such disks 
also probably runs the operating sytstem(s) that understand that file system!

If suitable compensation could be negotiated and arranged, Allison or Bill 
Gunshannon, for example, could put the disk(s) into machines that have not 
only the hardware capabilities, but are running the exact software that is 
called for for getting at the files, and copy the files.  That certainly 
seems more practical than manual regeneration.


However, since the situation is one of "we don't know what is on these, 
and are just CURIOUS", it is likely that there may not be a desire to 
provide sufficient compensation to whoever might undertake the task.
This one is definitely substantially more WORK than "copy the files from 
this Compupro disk".   Terry is doing it for fun; we can't expect the 
others to.

--
Grumpy Ol' Fred     		cisin at xenosoft.com