How to get files from TI Floppy Disks

[Mitkraft]

So I have a handful of TI disks that I'd like to get the data off of.  What is the best way to accomplish this?

 

Here is what I currently have on hand:

 

99/4A with PEB/Floppy drive

Flashrom99 cart and most of the usual original carts (EA, XB, Disk manager, etc)

NanoPEB (which I've only recently started to tinker with)

A PC with a 5 1/4 floppy drive that can currently boot to Ubuntu, XP, Win 7, and Win 10 (all 64bit). 

I also have access to a few Macs and other PC's but none currently have a floppy drive.

Plenty of hardware around so I could build an older machine (Dox, earlier versions of Windows, 32 bit...etc) and can probably scare up another floppy drive.

 

So what's my best path?  There isn't a way to run the PEB and NanoPEB simultaneously is there?  I also didn't think there was a way to copy a file from the real floppy to Flashroom99 using the TI.  I made a quick attempt to use two of the PC based tools for reading TI disks but TI99-PC seemed to need a much older system and OmniFlop64 didn't seem to work even after I installed the drivers for both the controller and the drive.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[GDMike]

Put them in your nanopeb and pull the SD card and use TDIR to put them on your PC/laptop.

[+arcadeshopper]

Did you read the FAQ?

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[WhataKowinkydink]

Reading situations like this makes me feel what shame it is the nanoPEB's serial implementation is a bit flaky.  I haven't put a huge amount of effort in it yet, but still haven't had any success using serial on the nanoPEB.  I know some people have patched terminal programs to work with the nano, so perhaps that and MAME with a serial bridge from @mizapf 's image tool might work.  I'd really like to get such transfers going myself using either MAME or some other PC communications program (such as telnet or PuTTY).

[+arcadeshopper]

For instance the section of the FAQ on transferring files over the serial port of the nano

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[Mitkraft]

50 minutes ago, GDMike said:

Put them in your nanopeb and pull the SD card and use TDIR to put them on your PC/laptop.

How do I get the files from the floppy to the NanoPEB?  I’m not aware of how I’d do that since I can’t connect my PEB and NanoPEB at the same time.
 

46 minutes ago, arcadeshopper said:

Did you read the FAQ?

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No, and I usually try to figure most thing out myself (if you’ll notice you’ll see how long I’ve been here with very few requests to be spooned fed) but was hoping I could maybe get some advice on which direction to pursue.

 

@WhataKowinkydink I do have a proper RS232 in my actual PEB if that helps.  Not sure having one on the NanoPEB does me any good since I still can’t (as I understand) get the data off the disk and onto the NanoPEB.

 

The issue isn’t getting the data onto the TI.  The problem I’m trying to solve is how to get the data off of the disks.  Once I have it off the disk I can put it on the Nano, use it in Classic99 or whatever, but I’m looking for how to best retrieve the data from the disk and save it elsewhere using either the TI or a modern computer with a 5 1/4 drive.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Mitkraft

[+arcadeshopper]

Hdx .. Simple solution for both in the FAQ

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[Ed in SoDak]

Using what you have in the PEB, load a good term program (I use Telco, but pick your favorite if you have several) and send files one at a time by Xmodem protocol to the PC running it's flavor of term program. Set both to same baud rate, handshaking etc. Connect them with a serial cable. I think TI's RS232 standard already swaps the RX and TX lines, but be prepared to test for that and swap wires as needed to make a "TI-compatible" null-modem cable. I don't have the pinouts off the top of the head, but the typical compatible cable and pinout for making your own is on the forum or elsewhere. You should be able to get 9600 baud for a relatively speedy transfer. If not, bump down to 4800 and try again.

 

If you do some advance work you'd create an archiver 3.0 file of each disk you want to move so you port entire disks as one file instead of every file on the disk one at a time. Once you get typing going back and forth without errors between the TI and the PC, you can move to doing the Xmodem transfers. Then unarchive them on the PC side for your emulator to use by running Archiver in your emulator. Maybe TIdir or TIImagetool can work with then directly. They'll come in as TIfiles rather than V9T9 format. Classic99 works with either type. For V9T9 emulator I formerly used, the files or archives had to be converted to use in that emulator.

 

If you're not against buying some gear, there's the Gotek SD floppy and the older Lotharek, these replace one (or two for the Lotharek) of your PEB floppy drives with a digital card equivalent. Load your disk manager and copy the actual floppy to the SD floppy, extract the SD and bring it to your PC. This way totally skips the term program method and the archiving step. Also the Hdx option Arcadeshopper mentioned, which I'm not familiar with enough to quote operation from memory. Read up on 'em before you make the plunge in case I'm not entirely correct on stuff I don't actually have or use.

 

I've used the stock TI+PEB with term programs yadayada method I describe, but only do a dozen or so in a session. Kinda tedious if you have a few hundred floppies but it works. I'm paused, can't get the ambition to prepare the next batch, meanwhile considering the Gotek as much easier.

-Ed

Edited September 22, 2020 by Ed in SoDak

[+mizapf]

@Mitkraft I have some Linux-native tools for reading TI floppy disks in a PC floppy drive. 

floppyti.zip

Edited September 22, 2020 by mizapf

[Mitkraft]

Thank you everyone for the assist!  This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for to keep me from wasting time chasing loose ends!

 

@mizapf Your Linux tool worked great!  Not being super linux savvy I had to do a search or two in order to figure out what to do with the .c files but that didn't take but a handful of minutes plus a few more to get the right syntax and I was golden!  Was able to convert a disk of Scott Adams adventure game saves from floppy to .dsk and read them in Classic99.

 

 

[+mizapf]

In fact, I used this tool in its first version pretty early (around 2008), and then I wrote my Java-based TIImageTool with a file system check to verify if the image was correctly copied. By this way, I copied my entire TI floppy collection.

Edited September 22, 2020 by mizapf
It was already in 2008

[+arcadeshopper]

 

 

[Mitkraft]

Well, as soon as I had it licked I had issues.  I think it might be my drives or the disks themselves fouling them up.  I was getting bad disk messages on most of the disks (I only had 15 or 20) but wasn't surprised considering their condition and age (that came from my uncle who worked at TI and is the reason I had one in the first place).  I finally checked a few on the real TI and found that even that a few that floppyti errored out on seemed to read there.  So I went down the rabbit hole again and worked out how to transfer using the method @arcadeshopper posted above.  I first tried a USB to Serial adapter I had laying around with multiple cables but that didn't work.  It just so happens that I also have my uncles old Packard Bell Win98 machine setup with my other vintage computers and since I discovered earlier in the week it still works I was able to use it's native serial ports.  This seemed to work for a disk or two and then they all started giving me read errors again.  I'm going to have to do some investigation and see if the disks are truly bad, are fouling my drives, or if the drives are only good for a few reads before getting flaky.

 

But both floppyti and HDX are working so thanks again again everyone!

[+arcadeshopper]

Clean your disk heads.. old disks are notorious for leaving gunk

Also if your drives are original they may need more cleaning and lubricant

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[Mitkraft]

2 hours ago, arcadeshopper said:

Clean your disk heads.. old disks are notorious for leaving gunk

Also if your drives are original they may need more cleaning and lubricant

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That's the direction I was headed.  I've never had to clean a disk drive before so that's another skill I'll need to read up on.

[globeron]

 

see the PDF

 

1. More generic File Transfer options from PC to TI:

www.globeron.com/freedownload/services/TI99/TI-99-4A-PC-transfer-v1.12.pdf

(but I need to include the other options, like a bare console TI without 32K and cassette player

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by globeron

[globeron]

But I just built a whole RS232 network and connect to a PC

 

use the Tools of. Ti99-geek.nl.  
 

HDX server on PC. And CFHDXS1 for file transfer

 

and DSk2PC tool for DSK transfer

 

 and DM2K. Version 3.   For transfers where you have multiple DSK1. Etc. multiple file transfer based on CRU address and with directories

 

[Mitkraft]

Since this was bumped I’ll follow up with I was able to get all my disks transferred after a thorough cleaning of my TI floppy drive.  It was very dirty inside and the head was visibly gunked up.  I read up on a few tutorials and in the end it wasn’t to difficult.  I even lubed the rails and got everything perfectly adjusted.  It’s good to know my TI drive is now refurbished and ready when/if needed.