Jim Drew opens website + info on SuperCard Pro

[RobertB]

Jim Drew, veteran programmer and hardware developer, has opened up his new website,

http://www.cbmstuff.com

Still a work in progress, his website right now offers the SX-64 Ultra Reset and the much-awaited SuperCard Professional, touted to be better than a Kryoflux board at reading/copying and writing floppy disks from virtually any computer platform. Here are the final specifications of SuperCard Pro --

CPU: 40 MIPS (PIC24HJ256GP210A)
RAM: 512K STATIC, 55ns
USB: FTDI 240X FIFO, Full Speed
SERIAL: Dual RS232 ports, one full or half duplex, one half duplex
FLOPPY: 34 pin standard PC floppy interface, fully bi-directional
SD-CARD: Micro SD card slot (1GB or larger cards)
RESOLUTION: 25ns
POWER: USB can power 3.5" drive directly, external power supply required for 5.25" drives
MISC.: Future expansion port for IEC interface, future cycle exact 1541 drive emulator, possible SD2IEC.
SOFTWARE: disk copier/imager and analyzer software compatible with Win95-Win8.1

On the waiting list for a SC Pro,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

[desiv]

Looks great..

Wish him the best...

 

I doubt it will be "better" than reading/writing disks than a Kryoflux (which I have), because I'm guessing that they both are awesome at that...

 

However, it does look MUCH more flexible than the Kryoflux..

Powering the floppy from the USB is very nice... I have a powered external case for my Kryoflux, but not needing that would be nice..

 

And when I see that is has an SD card slot, I'm wondering if it can be PC less in some way??

The future IEC port is really intriguing!!!

 

Not sure about the dual serial ports.. I understand needing either full or half duplex, but that's usually a setting on the same port.

And I'm not sure what it would be used for..

 

But, still looks great!!!

 

desiv

[carlsson]

Perhaps it can be connected both to a terminal to display what is going on, and to a computer/server in case you don't want to store content on memory cards?

 

I'll keep an eye out as well, but remember that software support is just as important as great hardware is. Jim might be fully capable of writing his own software or having connections to help out, but without good software - preferably open source - it will be yet another item on the shelf.

Edited October 2, 2013 by carlsson

[JimDrew]

Looks great..Wish him the best...I doubt it will be "better" than reading/writing disks than a Kryoflux (which I have), because I'm guessing that they both are awesome at that...

Well, technically the flux capturing capability of SCP (SuperCard Pro) is better, using a 25ns capture period. KryoFlux uses a 41.66ns capture period. So, SCP has nearly twice the resolution.

 

I also have software that requires you just know the disk type (C64, Atari 8bit, Atari ST, Amiga, PC, etc.) and nothing more. It's GUI based, not requiring you to learn a bunch of command line interface options.

 

 

However, it does look MUCH more flexible than the Kryoflux..Powering the floppy from the USB is very nice... I have a powered external case for my Kryoflux, but not needing that would be nice.. ;-)And when I see that is has an SD card slot, I'm wondering if it can be PC less in some way??The future IEC port is really intriguing!!!Not sure about the dual serial ports.. I understand needing either full or half duplex, but that's usually a setting on the same port.And I'm not sure what it would be used for..But, still looks great!!!desiv

The SCP has a USB interface and two serial interfaces. It is possible to write control software to duplicate a disk using just a low speed serial interface... So you could write a simple program for an Atari 400/800 that copies an Atari disk or create a disk image. So, yes, the SCP can be PC-less.

 

The software included is pretty thorough for analyzing/editing flux, MFM, and GCR level disks and images, as we as duplicating and making disk images.

 

There will be a simple SDK available shortly with open source software examples. The board just needs simple packets to control it. The image file format is public info. The FPGA Aracade board will have an Atari ST core and a Atari 400/800 core, and will use SCP created flux level disk image files.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. I am compiling a FAQ, so the more questions, the better. Thanks!

Edited October 3, 2013 by JimDrew

[desiv]

Sounds like an awesome board...

 

Especially with the IEC future options, I'll be keeping an eye on this one..

 

desiv

[JimDrew]

The IEC port was added last minute because I want to complete a cycle-exact 1541 drive emulation. There are pictures of the IEC plug-in connector on Lemon64. I will add them to my website shortly.

 

Must be rainy in Salem. I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights there on Market St.

[JimDrew]

So, what were the most difficult disks to duplicate for Atari 400/800, and Atari ST?

Edited October 8, 2013 by JimDrew

[wileyc]

Oh, for crying out loud.

 

Please, Jim, just retire in peace. Please?

 

There's still some of us out here that remember the Megasoft debacle, where no orders were fulfilled before their time (and that time was two to three years after order).

 

Then the blame-passing when it became Utilities Unlimited. You said it was all the fault of the owners, but us poor stiffed customers in southwestern Washington remembered.

 

Then the claim that SheepShaver stole code from Emplant.

 

And so on, and so forth.

 

Just go away, quietly, okay?

 

(still waiting for my TrackTrap manual to be delivered)

[desiv]

But - and I am only saying that because I care - there's a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.

 

desiv

[wileyc]

But - and I am only saying that because I care - there's a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.

 

desiv

 

I'm not kidding, Knight.

[JimDrew]

There's still some of us out here that remember the Megasoft debacle, where no orders were fulfilled before their time (and that time was two to three years after order).

 

Then the blame-passing when it became Utilities Unlimited. You said it was all the fault of the owners, but us poor stiffed customers in southwestern Washington remembered.

 

Then the claim that SheepShaver stole code from Emplant.

 

And so on, and so forth.

 

Just go away, quietly, okay?

 

(still waiting for my TrackTrap manual to be delivered)

 

I am not sure what debacle you are referring to with Megasoft, not that it matters as I never owned any part of that company or ever worked for them. They did distribute many of my programs and hardware devices.

 

"It" (Megasoft) did not become Utilities Unlimited. They were two separate companies. Reggie Warren (owner of Megasoft) did start Utilities Unlimited and was bought out completely by John and Linda Droden not long after it formed. I was an employee of Utilities Unlimited. I am not aware of anyone who was "stiffed" for anything by Utilities Unlimited.

 

I never claimed "SheepShaver stole code from Emplant". However, Christian Bauer did steal code from EMPLANT and Amax IV and put it ShapeShifter. Plenty of respected Amiga programmers looked at the disassembled code and agreed it was stolen. There are reports of similar findings with other software Christian has "made", so it's wasn't some secret one time event.

 

I have no idea what a "TrackTrap" is.

 

I am not retiring, and I am not going anywhere - in fact, I am ramping up.

[wileyc]

 

I am not sure what debacle you are referring to with Megasoft, not that it matters as I never owned any part of that company or ever worked for them. They did distribute many of my programs and hardware devices.

 

"It" (Megasoft) did not become Utilities Unlimited. They were two separate companies. Reggie Warren (owner of Megasoft) did start Utilities Unlimited and was bought out completely by John and Linda Droden not long after it formed. I was an employee of Utilities Unlimited. I am not aware of anyone who was "stiffed" for anything by Utilities Unlimited.

 

I never claimed "SheepShaver stole code from Emplant". However, Christian Bauer did steal code from EMPLANT and Amax IV and put it ShapeShifter. Plenty of respected Amiga programmers looked at the disassembled code and agreed it was stolen. There are reports of similar findings with other software Christian has "made", so it's wasn't some secret one time event.

 

I have no idea what a "TrackTrap" is.

 

I am not retiring, and I am not going anywhere - in fact, I am ramping up.

 

Sorry, I don't check this subboard frequently, and I just saw this post.

 

I misspoke when I said "SheepShaver" -- I meant "ShapeShifter". If you wouldn't mind, could you please provide a reference or two to specific code that was stolen from Emplant? Independent references, not allegations sourced from interviews that you gave in the mid-nineties.

 

TrackTrap was an addendum to the Software (de)Protection Manual that added RAM to the 1541. It worked the same as SSI's RAMboard, and was essentially what you say you turned the "Jack Cornelius" Shadow board into.

 

Personally, I always found it odd that advertisements in Compute's Gazette from MegaSoft would feature program "X", "Y", and "Z" ... and these programs, when MegaSoft actually got around to shipping them, had "© Jim Drew" somewhere in there. It was also interesting that when Utilities Unlimited surfaced, similar programs that appeared to have evolved from the MegaSoft offerings, with the same copyright.

 

Did anyone else code for MegaSoft, or was it just you? Who was "Jack Cornelius", really, and do you have a cite for him doing prison time? What was the deal between MegaSoft and Utilities Unlimited?

 

You slagged off quite a bit on other folks and bragged a LOT in the copy-protection scene (SSI, Mike J. Henry in the former case, "I'm the best reverse-engineer on the planet" in an interview for the latter case) ... was that just youthful bravado, or do you really have the chops to back it up? If so, why didn't Apple hire you for the '060 project? Did you really originate every single innovation in Commodore copy-protection, with hangers-on like SSI stealing your work?

 

(obligatory disclaimer: MegaSoft owes me money, although we're long past the statute of limitations. I've read about Mister Drew quite a bit on (as it is now) Google Groups, and I don't think I'd trust him with my rent money)

 

(edit: if it's not clear by now, I strongly believe that Mister Drew was "Jack Cornelius", had a stake in MegaSoft, falsely claimed that others stole his work, and never had a meeting with John Sculley. The first three are suspicious, the last one is firm certainty -- his meeting as described would have been with Apple Legal and at least five hardware engineers, not Sculley. I say this because I have some small familiarity with that particular company)

Edited November 20, 2013 by wileyc

[JimDrew]

 

Sorry, I don't check this subboard frequently, and I just saw this post.

 

I misspoke when I said "SheepShaver" -- I meant "ShapeShifter". If you wouldn't mind, could you please provide a reference or two to specific code that was stolen from Emplant? Independent references, not allegations sourced from interviews that you gave in the mid-nineties.

 

TrackTrap was an addendum to the Software (de)Protection Manual that added RAM to the 1541. It worked the same as SSI's RAMboard, and was essentially what you say you turned the "Jack Cornelius" Shadow board into.

 

Personally, I always found it odd that advertisements in Compute's Gazette from MegaSoft would feature program "X", "Y", and "Z" ... and these programs, when MegaSoft actually got around to shipping them, had "© Jim Drew" somewhere in there. It was also interesting that when Utilities Unlimited surfaced, similar programs that appeared to have evolved from the MegaSoft offerings, with the same copyright.

 

Did anyone else code for MegaSoft, or was it just you? Who was "Jack Cornelius", really, and do you have a cite for him doing prison time? What was the deal between MegaSoft and Utilities Unlimited?

 

You slagged off quite a bit on other folks and bragged a LOT in the copy-protection scene (SSI, Mike J. Henry in the former case, "I'm the best reverse-engineer on the planet" in an interview for the latter case) ... was that just youthful bravado, or do you really have the chops to back it up? If so, why didn't Apple hire you for the '060 project? Did you really originate every single innovation in Commodore copy-protection, with hangers-on like SSI stealing your work?

 

(obligatory disclaimer: MegaSoft owes me money, although we're long past the statute of limitations. I've read about Mister Drew quite a bit on (as it is now) Google Groups, and I don't think I'd trust him with my rent money)

 

(edit: if it's not clear by now, I strongly believe that Mister Drew was "Jack Cornelius", had a stake in MegaSoft, falsely claimed that others stole his work, and never had a meeting with John Sculley. The first three are suspicious, the last one is firm certainty -- his meeting as described would have been with Apple Legal and at least five hardware engineers, not Sculley. I say this because I have some small familiarity with that particular company)

 

The last time I saw this info, it was on aminet. Bill Coldwell and a few others had posted their opinions on the disassembly. I still have the Resource disassembly files showing where Shapeshifter stole code from EMPLANT and Amax IV, as well as Commodore themselves (we had a license to use the multitasking code from Commodore, whereas Christian just stole it and used it). If you know 68K assembly, I can give you the resource files or you can disassemble both programs yourself and compare. It's not hard to do.

 

I don't recall any project called Track Trap. My original 8K RAM add-on board was called ECHO, which became SuperCard and SuperCard+. My fix for the Shadow board did convert the on-board memory to just 8K of usable RAM and then I used the ECHO software for it. At that point the Shadow board was actually useful. I actually have no idea how the Shadow was suppose to work originally. I was told it clocked the flux transitions, but there is not enough RAM for that. You need about 100K to count the transitions for a 1541 disk (SuperCard Pro has 512K of RAM on it).

 

Reggie Warren (the owner of Megasoft) had a LOT of people that he used for programming, all contract work, no employees. Most of the disk duplication and protection stuff was mine, typically sold under Final Source Software. Jack did go to jail for fraud for the Shadow project. I am not sure if you would find any court documents, but it would be filed in the State of Washington. I had to testify to a jury in that case. Megasoft and Utilities Unlimited were two separate companies. Reggie started Utilities Unlimited to try to start over after the Shadow fiasco, but selling the same products with the same names under a different company name didn't fool anyone. Not long after, Utilities Unlimited was sold to a couple who had just retired from selling their fork lift sales company. Megasoft continued for probably another year before fizzling out. I worked as an employee of UUI.

 

Apple had no intention of introducing an 060 for the Mac. The OS needed a complete re-write to handle all of the 060's advanced modes and with Motorola/IBM producing the PPC chips that were leaps in MIPs over what a full speed 060 could deliver, it was an easy decision for Apple not to spend the time re-writing the OS for just one CPU. Remember, I wrote EMPLANT which did make the Mac 060 compatible but with quite a few stipulations, like no super-scalar mode. Some apps needed branch caching disabled, etc. A crippled 060 really wasn't that much faster than the normal 040. Apple admitted this in my meeting with them and was very interested in knowing if I had found a solution around this, which was not really possible.

 

Mike Henry, SSI, Megasoft, and a few other smaller companies were all located within a 30 mile radius. Mike use to come to my office where I worked (CompuTron Business Systems in down town Portland). Mike knew a lot. Les Lawrence, owner of SSI was a user group member who use to bug me about how to crack various games. I got so tired of him bugging me that I spent a few entire user group meetings teaching him how to walk through boot loaders and such to figure out protection bypasses. The next thing I know, he made a company in Vancouver, WA called SSI and started selling parameters. He recruited a few people to write disk copiers while he worked on parameters. I was a bit stunned that I provided myself with my own competition. Everyone was chasing me, and with SuperCard+ we really could duplicate everything made so people didn't need anything else. Utilities and books were a big deal after that, and there was a sudden rush by the competition to start writing books and making disk utilities. So, either I was really ahead of everyone, or nobody knew what to produce and just followed by lead.

 

As for your accusations - Wow! Thinking that I was Jack Cornelius is an interesting stretch for sure! I had not ever heard that one before, but then again Jack did attend several of the Portland user group meetings "showing off" the Shadow board before its failed release, so people knew who he was and what he looked like. Clearly an overweight person in their 50's bares no ressemblence to a scrawny kid in his 20's. Definitely no confusion there. Everyone knows that Reggie owned Megasoft and that he NO partners or employees. His wife Susie was not even considered a partner in the business if you asked him. So, nope... no part of Megasoft. It's easy to prove that Shapeshifter has code stolen from both EMPLANT and Amax IV Mac emulations because it still does! You can disassemble these today yourself, the results will be the same as they were in the 90's. Nothing has changed. I definitely had a meeting with Sculley, but it was not a one-on-one meeting. You're absolutely right. That conference room was packed full of people, including engineers, and advisors.

Edited November 20, 2013 by JimDrew

[wileyc]

 

The last time I saw this info, it was on aminet. Bill Coldwell and a few others had posted their opinions on the disassembly. I still have the Resource disassembly files showing where Shapeshifter stole code from EMPLANT and Amax IV, as well as Commodore themselves (we had a license to use the multitasking code from Commodore, whereas Christian just stole it and used it). If you know 68K assembly, I can give you the resource files or you can disassemble both programs yourself and compare. It's not hard to do.

 

I don't recall any project called Track Trap. My original 8K RAM add-on board was called ECHO, which became SuperCard and SuperCard+. My fix for the Shadow board did convert the on-board memory to just 8K of usable RAM and then I used the ECHO software for it. At that point the Shadow board was actually useful. I actually have no idea how the Shadow was suppose to work originally. I was told it clocked the flux transitions, but there is not enough RAM for that. You need about 100K to count the transitions for a 1541 disk (SuperCard Pro has 512K of RAM on it).

 

Reggie Warren (the owner of Megasoft) had a LOT of people that he used for programming, all contract work, no employees. Most of the disk duplication and protection stuff was mine, typically sold under Final Source Software. Jack did go to jail for fraud for the Shadow project. I am not sure if you would find any court documents, but it would be filed in the State of Washington. I had to testify to a jury in that case. Megasoft and Utilities Unlimited were two separate companies. Reggie started Utilities Unlimited to try to start over after the Shadow fiasco, but selling the same products with the same names under a different company name didn't fool anyone. Not long after, Utilities Unlimited was sold to a couple who had just retired from selling their fork lift sales company. Megasoft continued for probably another year before fizzling out. I worked as an employee of UUI.

 

Apple had no intention of introducing an 060 for the Mac. The OS needed a complete re-write to handle all of the 060's advanced modes and with Motorola/IBM producing the PPC chips that were leaps in MIPs over what a full speed 060 could deliver, it was an easy decision for Apple not to spend the time re-writing the OS for just one CPU. Remember, I wrote EMPLANT which did make the Mac 060 compatible but with quite a few stipulations, like no super-scalar mode. Some apps needed branch caching disabled, etc. A crippled 060 really wasn't that much faster than the normal 040. Apple admitted this in my meeting with them and was very interested in knowing if I had found a solution around this, which was not really possible.

 

Mike Henry, SSI, Megasoft, and a few other smaller companies were all located within a 30 mile radius. Mike use to come to my office where I worked (CompuTron Business Systems in down town Portland). Mike knew a lot. Les Lawrence, owner of SSI was a user group member who use to bug me about how to crack various games. I got so tired of him bugging me that I spent a few entire user group meetings teaching him how to walk through boot loaders and such to figure out protection bypasses. The next thing I know, he made a company in Vancouver, WA called SSI and started selling parameters. He recruited a few people to write disk copiers while he worked on parameters. I was a bit stunned that I provided myself with my own competition. Everyone was chasing me, and with SuperCard+ we really could duplicate everything made so people didn't need anything else. Utilities and books were a big deal after that, and there was a sudden rush by the competition to start writing books and making disk utilities. So, either I was really ahead of everyone, or nobody knew what to produce and just followed by lead.

 

As for your accusations - Wow! Thinking that I was Jack Cornelius is an interesting stretch for sure! I had not ever heard that one before, but then again Jack did attend several of the Portland user group meetings "showing off" the Shadow board before its failed release, so people knew who he was and what he looked like. Clearly an overweight person in their 50's bares no ressemblence to a scrawny kid in his 20's. Definitely no confusion there. Everyone knows that Reggie owned Megasoft and that he NO partners or employees. His wife Susie was not even considered a partner in the business if you asked him. So, nope... no part of Megasoft. It's easy to prove that Shapeshifter has code stolen from both EMPLANT and Amax IV Mac emulations because it still does! You can disassemble these today yourself, the results will be the same as they were in the 90's. Nothing has changed. I definitely had a meeting with Sculley, but it was not a one-on-one meeting. You're absolutely right. That conference room was packed full of people, including engineers, and advisors.

 

(quoting piecemeal)

 

I know 68k assembler code, I can do the disassembly comparisons ... but I'm not making the accusation that Christian copied code from three separate sources. You are. Please document this.

 

Regarding the TrackTrap, nothing more needs to be said. It was a device that performed the function of the RAMboard and the SuperCard long before either of the latter hit the market ... I remember seeing code that you'd written that checked for RAMboard versus SuperCard existence, and thought that was hilarious.

 

Regarding MegaSoft versus UUI ... it appears that you and I are on the same page regarding Reggie's attempt to achieve a sea change and continue operations as usual. I'm willing to give you a pass on the MegaSoft era as a mere employee, but after that you're on the hook.

 

Regarding the '060 project: I am now, or have been in the past, an employee of Apple Inc. I have signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevents me from discussing any putatuve past, present, or future project until at least ten years after I have died. I know this is a cop-out, but I really can't get into this subject beyond asking why they said you weren't hired.

 

Regarding MJH and SSI: it's interesting that Maverick/Renegade/SuperSnapshot were so popular, effective, and successful ... when they were riding your coattails and asking you for advice. How were they able to release so quickly (i.e., cracking disks available in-store within a week of official release) without access to talent?

 

Further, what was your opinion of the folks at Centralia Computer Center?

 

Lastly, regarding the Jack Cornelius alias supposition ... he would have done time at Shelton, yes, for a felony bounce? State, not federal?

[JimDrew]

I already documented the ShapeShifter stuff. You will find it on Aminet. If you know 68K, disassemble both. If you see the same code, it's pretty obvious then because my emulation was made LONG before ShapeShifter was out. Amax IV was out a year after EMPLANT.

 

So why did you ask about TrackTrap then? Yes, I deliberately check for a RAMBoard vs. SuperCard, and then I added a ROM to SuperCard+ so that most of the function calls could be ROM based (allowing for more code space for copying routines) and also to prevent people from using my software on other 8K RAM solutions.

 

I was NEVER an employee of Megasoft. Megasoft only contracted programmers, or in my case, purchased products for resale. I had Final Source Software, which sold products to Megasoft.

 

I went to Apple asking to license the ROMs for the Mac II. That was MY sole reason for going. Apple wanted to see the emulation, especially the 060 support to see how fast and compatible it was. Apple was a bit floored to see the Speedometer results of my emulation vs. a real Mac. We sold a LOT of EMPLANT boards to Hollywood production studios so that they could run Avid systems way faster than a real Mac could. I got a few movie credits too. Apple was concerned that the increased speed of the emulation and possible incompatibilities could somehow tarnish Apple's good name, so they refused a licensing agreement.

 

We didn't need crack anything anymore, we could duplicate everything as it was released (and since Final Source Software owned part of Software Pipeline, a chain of software rental stores, I had access to programs before they were actually available for resale for testing). SSI became a software rental store as a direct result to try to keep up. If you have to make cracks for everything vs. making an exact copy, you have to do everything you can to stay current. SuperCard+ gave us the luxury of just needing to check to make sure it still could copy everything. I got away from parameters after making thousands of them. It's a lot easier to just duplicate a disk exactly, and with the software copyright laws being questioned with parameters, I thought it was a good move - and it was. My job became a lot easier!

 

I don't know who/what Centralia Computer Center is.

 

I don't know where Jack ended up. Reggie showed me a newspaper clipping (that he kept on his wall) of Jack being sentenced and having a judgement of something like $300,000 against him. Reggie was more mad about the jail time because Jack couldn't make any money in jail to repay Reggie.

[wileyc]

I already documented the ShapeShifter stuff. You will find it on Aminet. If you know 68K, disassemble both. If you see the same code, it's pretty obvious then because my emulation was made LONG before ShapeShifter was out. Amax IV was out a year after EMPLANT.

 

So why did you ask about TrackTrap then? Yes, I deliberately check for a RAMBoard vs. SuperCard, and then I added a ROM to SuperCard+ so that most of the function calls could be ROM based (allowing for more code space for copying routines) and also to prevent people from using my software on other 8K RAM solutions.

 

I was NEVER an employee of Megasoft. Megasoft only contracted programmers, or in my case, purchased products for resale. I had Final Source Software, which sold products to Megasoft.

 

I went to Apple asking to license the ROMs for the Mac II. That was MY sole reason for going. Apple wanted to see the emulation, especially the 060 support to see how fast and compatible it was. Apple was a bit floored to see the Speedometer results of my emulation vs. a real Mac. We sold a LOT of EMPLANT boards to Hollywood production studios so that they could run Avid systems way faster than a real Mac could. I got a few movie credits too. Apple was concerned that the increased speed of the emulation and possible incompatibilities could somehow tarnish Apple's good name, so they refused a licensing agreement.

 

We didn't need crack anything anymore, we could duplicate everything as it was released (and since Final Source Software owned part of Software Pipeline, a chain of software rental stores, I had access to programs before they were actually available for resale for testing). SSI became a software rental store as a direct result to try to keep up. If you have to make cracks for everything vs. making an exact copy, you have to do everything you can to stay current. SuperCard+ gave us the luxury of just needing to check to make sure it still could copy everything. I got away from parameters after making thousands of them. It's a lot easier to just duplicate a disk exactly, and with the software copyright laws being questioned with parameters, I thought it was a good move - and it was. My job became a lot easier!

 

I don't know who/what Centralia Computer Center is.

 

I don't know where Jack ended up. Reggie showed me a newspaper clipping (that he kept on his wall) of Jack being sentenced and having a judgement of something like $300,000 against him. Reggie was more mad about the jail time because Jack couldn't make any money in jail to repay Reggie.

 

You know ... I've looked around a bit, and the only references I can find to the ShapeShifter issue originate from you. If you have a link to a statement from Bill Coldwell about this, please provide it.

 

What I have found are these (not an exhaustive list, but everything I found is a variation on these two themes with you as the primary source):

 

http://c64preservation.com/dp.php?pg=jimdrew1

 

(where I took the "I (am) probably the best 68k reverse engineerers in the world" quote from, as well as my suspicion that you'd take a Calley plea for Megasoft / UU shenanigans)

 

http://gowdy.web.cern.ch/gowdy/Amiga/AmigaReport/ar313/FEATURE2.html

 

(wherein Emplant gets removed from Aminet, Mueller says he has a signed statement from Christian swearing it's his own code, etc. This one's the most interesting, as it's the only third-party contemporary account, and it doesn't show you in a good light)

 

I'm not going to disassemble either Emplant or ShapeShifter to prove or disprove your allegations that ShapeShifter is essentially Emplant plus AMAX. You're the one who made the allegations, so the burden of proof is on you. In fact, to make those allegations, you would have already have done the work. Care to share?

 

How about links to independent assessments of code sharing? I've asked three times now for non-Drew-sourced information, and you've deflected each request. You've basically libeled Christian; verifiable truth is a valid defense against libel, but all we've seen are allegations.

 

Regarding the Apple meeting, if it happened during Sculley's watch, there was no chance whatsoever that they would have licensed ROMs to anyone -- and the entire industry knew it. If that's why you went, you were extremely naive. Sculley was dead-set against anything that might dilute hardware sales, and authorized clones didn't happen until the dark times under Amelio. (this is all public record, by the way, so I'm not skirting NDA issues here)

 

Speculating from the Apple perspective, they were either a) interested in buying/licensing your technology (as they did with the ZipChip in the Apple IIc+), b) interested in buying the people behind the technology, or c) assessing the threat with an eye towards nuking you from orbit. As they did none of the three, it would appear likely that neither the technology nor the people impressed them in either a positive or a negative way. (speculation because I wasn't there)

 

Regarding TrackTrap, I didn't ask you what it was. I brought it up in a postscript to my original post, saying that I was still waiting for delivery.

 

Anyway ... pretty much all this conversation has accomplished, from my side, is cementing my belief that I shouldn't buy a used car from Jim Drew. If anyone asks me about products to read/duplicate old disks, I'll point them at the Catweasel.

 

If you provide any evidence that supports your claim that Christian plagiarized your work, I will happily and publicly (i.e., here on AtariAge) admit that my belief was wrong and apologize. Repeating "disassemble the code yourself" doesn't count as evidence.

 

This is my last post on this subject in this thread (barring, of course, evidence actually being presented)

Edited November 21, 2013 by wileyc

[wileyc]

I apologize for posting again after I said that I wouldn't, but I just realized that the editor ate the most interesting discussion concerning Jim's ShapeShifter allegations.

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!search/shapeshifter$20stole$20code$20from$20emplant$20and$20amax/comp.sys.amiga.emulations/ZQu0dPK_06g/XBGDlo9pMdkJ

 

Out, for real this time, unless I need to apologize for being wrong per my previous post.

[JimDrew]

Well, it's pretty clear you have an agenda here. If it was such a big concern for you and you had the skills, then you would have already disassembled both programs. Christian Bauer is a thief, plain and simple. He stole from me, he stole from Simon Douglas (Readysoft), and he stole from Commodore (did he license Commodore's multitasking kernal code that is included?? Nope, but I did). I would LOVE it if he were to come after me for libel. It would open the door to an easy copyright infringement lawsuit. Since Christian stole code from other people after stealing my code, it even adds more credence to the fact he is a thief. Just because *you* can't find statements from others doesn't mean that they do not exist, and it also does not mean that I have to hold your hand to and show you the way. I am not obligated to do so, and I won't. Hopefully, Christian will do something incredibly stupid and try to come after me - but that will never happen because he knows what he did... and ANYONE can verify it, there is absolutely no hiding it. Are you listening Christan Bauer? You are a thief, PLEASE come after me so I can sue you. I most certainly still have Resource disassemblies of every version of Shapeshifter. As I made more and more noise about this over the next 2 years, Christian replaced more and more code with his own. However, versions up to v2x were nearly 100% EMPLANT/Amax IV. So, I have my evidence ready for a court of law and that is all that matters.

 

You can speculate all you want about Apple's intentions and my intentions. It was an opportunity to visit the campus, meet and greet, and determine where Apple stood on real ROMs vs. ROM images copyrights and such to make sure we were not doing anything that would send Apple's legal team after us. It was a trip that cleared the air for us, and allowed me to move forward with other Mac emulations.

[+Gemintronic]

It looks like Mr Drew is in an uncomfortable position of not being able to prove to the public that he's right for fear of tipping his hand in case someone wants to sue. I wish he was in a position to give a clear case.

[desiv]

To me, it looks like Jim Drew said the evidence is in the files and someone else said he has the technical ability to check, but can't be bothered because it's Jim Drew's responsibility to prove it to him..

 

Except, it's not..

 

Wileyc isn't a judge or a participant in anything...

If he REALLY wants to know and has the ability, he can find out...

 

Mr Drew has been very consistent with his statements for years and Christian has NEVER said "nope, I didn't steal, and here's the proof."

 

Of course, Christian doesn't have to do that, and neither does Mr Drew have to walk random internet people through it...

 

We all can believe him or not.. It's not a big deal...

 

And I really doubt that Mr Drew is uncomfortable because some unnamed guy on the internet who claims he has the skillz but can't be bothered to put them to use is questioning him...

 

If he has the skillz (which he might, not saying he doesn't) but can't be bothered, then he's not THAT interested in it either...

Unless of course, it's just for the trolling. Not saying that is it, but it's possible.. He did start this off-topic rant..

 

Who knows..

 

desiv

[+Gemintronic]

It'd be interesting if this SuperCard Pro thing could do data recovery. Many people have old, weak floppy disks that they never bothered to back up.

[MarkO]

If it works on Apple ][ disks, too, I would be very interested...

[JimDrew]

Data recovery is one of the reasons why I created SuperCard Pro. I have had pretty good luck recovering the handful (out of thousands) of Commodore 64 disks that have had read errors. I have not found a single Amiga disk yet that has a read error, so I can't really test those. I am watching eBay to get a 1040ST so I can have one for testing ST disks. I just bought two Atari 800's (one old, one XL) and a 1050 for testing those disks. I just received two TRS-80 Model III machines. I have many Amigas. I have a Laser 128 (I actually helped develop the ROMs for this machine back in the 80s when I worked at Central Point Software) and a bunch of Apple II disks. So, I think I am set for computers. My plan is to support all of the various image formats used by emulators. Flux level image files are typically about 2.5MB and compress to less than 1/2 the size. You can download the software for the board from our website (forum area). You don't need the SuperCard Pro board to do conversions and look at flux, GCR, and MFM image data. You just need the board to read/write real disks. So, once you start seeing the flux image files flying around you could just download them and create a disk image used by whatever emulation you might be using. I have focused most of my time on the C64/128, getting flux to g64 conversions working extremely well including things like weakbits, track skew, half tracks, etc.

 

As far as copying disks goes, it's a flux level copier so it can copy anything that is written on a circular track. I say that because there are some protection schemes that are written angularly (yes, really). This is where the head is told to step and then the data is read. This means the original data was written while the head was moving from one track to another, in an arc. Its' actually pretty reliable for reading, but can only be duplicated on drives that it can be read with... which means an OEM drive (1541, 1050, etc.)

 

If you have any disk formats you want to see supported, please let me know. I played with the Atari ST quite a bit (I had a 520 for awhile), but the Atari 800 is all new to me, as is the TRS-80. I know Apple II/Mac and Commodore 64/128/Amiga very well. But I certainly would like some direction on what people would like to see supported.

 

Thanks!

Edited November 23, 2013 by JimDrew

[+Ksarul]

I'd like to see it work with the TI-99/4A disks too. They have a pretty big community dedicated to software preservation.

 

My real edge case would be with a Powertran Cortex though--but there are probably less than 100 of those left in the world. . .

[JimDrew]

I didn't realize that TI-99/4A systems had disk drives. I will look into picking one up to add the support.

 

What disk format is your Cortex? It could be that one of the other formats will work. MFM is MFM, FM is FM, etc.