Lot of Old Floppy 5 1/4 Disks....Kryoflux....Options...

[Solomon_Man]

All,

Recently moved to a new home and have relocated all my Computers (TRS80/Atari/TI/Commodore/Apple/PCs etc) about 40 years worth into the new residency. Much of these machines were my own growing up but some of them are ones I have picked up at shows etc. Still unpacking....setting up....

 

Upon the move I realized that I have about 3 large Moving boxes of 5 1/4 floppies. Also a bunch of boxes of Commercial software in other moving boxes. There is a small amount of Cassettes but all of it is commercial.

 

Anyways most of the 5 1/4 disks are from, I believe, the late 1970's into early 1990's. Majority of them are 1980's era (8 bit) and early IBM PCs (8088, 80286-Pentium).

 

I have been holding on to these floppies for quite a while and honestly its time to just "preserve" them. Most of the "commercial" stuff I bet is easily available online ...as others have preserved them for emulation etc.

 

The Cassettes...Not a big worry... I have located all of the software Images online...except for one for the TRS80 which honestly I have not even looked for yet.

 

There is though... quite a bit remaining that would just be personal data. Papers written for school, old coding projects, family history, and maybe even some old shareware etc that I am sure is not available online.

 

I am looking for options to preserve these disks into more modern media...Hopefully to be able to use/explore and possibly restore these backups for anything worth while and finally eliminating the boxes from cluttering up the new space.

 

I have not explored DosBox or any of the earlier PC Emulators but I have explored emulators for many of the 8 and 16 bit Machines (Atari/Commodore/Apple etc).

 

I also have available for the Atari and Commodore the Serial/Parallel to PC hookups (SIO2PC, X1541, etc). Also an assortment of PCs with drives ranging from the 180/360K days to the "more" recent 1.2/1.44Meg days..... so please let me know if that additional hardware will help option-wise in any way to preserve these disks.

 

With that said I have come across Kryoflux and I have seen discussions/YouTube videos on that tool. Also I have seen people using drive image tools to backup/preserve their disks but they usually seem to be devoted to a single machine/floppy.

 

I am asking is Kryoflux the best option for all the different type of 5 1/4 floppies I have and are there other options (software base) I can do with a more modern PC and a 1.2 Meg Drive? Looking for the Options....

 

Thanks

Chris

Edited March 30, 2017 by Solomon_Man

[+H454]

I was looking into the kryoflux and usb floppy over the last couple years for the same reasons. But never had the time to start another project.

It looks like the hardest part is getting a working compatible floppy to modify. Plus Most of the mother boards made in last 10 years don't have floppy ports.

And I don't know if it works with add on floppy cards or window 8 /10.

The kryoflux looks really promising. From what I've read, you should be able to make an exact image of ANY kind of floppy, regardless of system.

Writing disks for certain systems may require a specific model of 1.2 drive to be modified.

 

Otherwise its serial cables and special software, but that stuff is SLOW.

 

If you get something going, please post it.

I would like to here someones personal experience with the kind of stuff.

 

And thank you and any one else who DOESN'T donate old floppys to goodwill and the like - there policy is to automatically trash them(because of "privacy").

Edited April 2, 2017 by H454

[Atari 2600 H.E.R.O]

@Solomon_Man

 

Remove 5 1/4 floppy disk drive from your old computer, or buy a stock 5.25" (low price/low cost).

Install it to modern desktop PC system (You need FDC/FDD Flat cable).

Set it up in System BIOS.

Install WinImage program.

Read/Load and save floppy disks to image-files.

Just, Create an archive of Image-files, Read Files Immediately From Physical Drive or From Image-Files, Extract files, RUN And Execute programs, etc .

 

Good Luck.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Atari 2600 H.E.R.O

[+H454]

With that said I have come across Kryoflux and I have seen discussions/YouTube videos on that tool. Also I have seen people using drive image tools to backup/preserve their disks but they usually seem to be devoted to a single machine/floppy.

 

I am asking is Kryoflux the best option for all the different type of 5 1/4 floppies I have and are there other options (software base) I can do with a more modern PC and a 1.2 Meg Drive? Looking for the Options....

 

Yes, since you want to use NON pc format disks, kryoflux is your best option.

http://webstore.kryoflux.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=30&osCsid=bccef79c84d2b511633676a2e9ccea50

You should be able to use almost any drive with unit listed in the link.

The "flippy mod" is to hack a 1.2 drives bottom head to read to extra sectors without flipping the disk. - I think the flippy mod is mostly for C64 disks?

Kryoflux creates RAW exact copys, most image software doesn't, they a give you a copy in a image file.

[Solomon_Man]

@Solomon_Man

 

Remove 5 1/4 floppy disk drive from your old computer, or buy a stock 5.25" (low price/low cost).

Install it to modern desktop PC system (You need FDC/FDD Flat cable).

Set it up in System BIOS.

Install WinImage program.

Read/Load and save floppy disks to image-files.

Just, Create an archive of Image-files, Read Files Immediately From Physical Drive or From Image-Files, Extract files, RUN And Execute programs, etc .

 

Good Luck.

 

Does this work with no IBM PC Formatted disks?

 

If no this would still be a possibility for my PC stuff. I have used this before but not with Non IBM PC Formatted disks.

 

Thanks

Chris

[Atari 2600 H.E.R.O]

 

Does this work with no IBM PC Formatted disks?

 

If no this would still be a possibility for my PC stuff. I have used this before but not with Non IBM PC Formatted disks.

 

Thanks

Chris

 

Sir,

 

Yes, It is possible.

IF Sector Size = 512 and Sectors per track < 80, you have not problem (Even With Incompatible OS!).

"Non-IBM Compatible Floppy Disks" Formatted With/Under Which Operating System and Computer ?

 

You Can Use Hex Editors (File And Drive Hex Editors), "010 Editor", WinHex, ... Also.

1- Launch Editor

2- File Menu -> Open Drive

3- Select Floppy Disk Drive As Physical Drive or As Logical Drive (For Floppy Disk Drives)

3-1 Important : Check "Open as READ-ONLY"

3- Select All (Entire and Content of Disk)

4- Edit Menu ->Copy

5- File Menu -> New

6- Edit Menu -> Paste (To New)

7- File Menu -> Save As ... .

Done.

 

It Is Your Backup Method and Program, Just Now !

 

Good Luck.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Atari 2600 H.E.R.O