Interest in a DiscFerret?

[Guy Dunphy]

At 03:39 PM 9/01/2019 -0500, you wrote:
>
>I had the bug to do something similar.. then I found SuperCard Pro.  
>It's closed hardware but the USB protocol is fully documented.  Because 
>if that, it's almost a perfect commodity turn-key hardware bridge to raw 
>flux-level transitions - in or out.  It's $100 and in-stock.  One could 
>always build custom hardware, but you'd wind up with something very 
>similar in hardware and protocol design.  What's your time worth?
>
>The heavy lift is always in software.  There is an open-source Amiga 
>disk image utility package that has turned into something more 
>flux-level generic called Keirf Utilities.  And the built-in software is 
>also descent.  But since the USB protocol is documented, the hardware 
>capabilities can be extended by anyone.
>
>-Alan
>
>
>On 2019-01-09 15:12, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
>> On 1/9/19 12:05 PM, Torfinn Ingolfsen via cctalk wrote:
>>> Less finished (ok, unfinished) project
>> 
>> Just what the world needs, more half-baked floppy reading hardware
>> and no software, just like the stupid thing on hackaday.
>> 
>> https://hackaday.com/2019/01/08/preserving-floppy-disks-via-logic-analyser/
>> 
>> Universal joy through the reinvention of the wheel (badly)


Has anyone used a DiscFerret, to actually extract files from say, Apple II disks
and HP LIF disks?

The website- https://discferret.com/wiki/DiscFerret
It seemms like the project is dead since 2013, was only ever for Linux, and never included software
that understands various old floppy formats. Is that right?

My neads (using DOS, WinXP or Win7) are:

* At the moment I'm attempting to restore my old, heavily modified  Apple II to working condition,
  and then archive all my old Apple II files on floppies to PC. Part of a project to document a
  bunch of projects I did in my 20s, 1970s t0 1980s.
  The intro article is here: http://everist.org/NobLog/20181001_missing_wave.htm
  Another article is in progress, about the restoration and doco of all the mods I did on my Apple II.
  After it's working and old files extracted, then an article about my hacking Apple DOS 3.2 to
  get higher data density. The old thermal printer listings are faded to illegibility, so I'm
  really hoping the floppies are still readable.

* Also I have some old HP equipment that uses HP-format floppies. LIF? They're not DOS compatible.
  A HP 1630G logic analyzer with 9121 GPIB dual floppy drive, and a HP 80000 data generator.
  For both machines I have old floppies containing critical  utilities (including a bunch of 
  disassembly utilities for early processors) that I really want to back up on PC and put online.

There's sentimental and historical interest with both, and practical need with the HP gear.

But, I have little experience with data recovery from old floppies. Long ago I did have a PC ISA
bus card for extracting bit transition images from floppies, but I can't find it.
Just now starting to look for what's available. Hoping for something that just works, as I have
way too many projects already.

I do have boxes of old drives, 8" 5.25" and 3.5", most densities.

What other all-formats floppy R/W and data recovery tools do people here know of? 
Comments of their functionality?

Guy