SuperCard Pro Device

[+SoulBuster]

I recently bought a SuperCard Pro to image my software library before the disks are no good.  I started archiving the ST line as that was the first compatible disk drive I received from eBay.  You can find that thread and all the software here.

 

Today, I received the last Item I needed to complete my SuperCard Pro Device, a Panasonic disk drive for archiving the 8-bit line.  The idea is to have a device that can house the SuperCard Pro, a 3/12 inch disk drive for the ST and a 5 1/4 inch disk drive for the 8-bit software.

 

It is now complete and operational.

 

All the pieces to build the device.  The only thing I am missing is a 3 1/2 in face plate.

The Samsung model drive I am using for the ST.

The Panasonic for the 8-bit.

I mounted the SuperCard Pro in the top portion of the case and used Hot glue to keep it from moving.

Here it is all cased up, but still need the 3 1/2 inch faceplate.

Here you can see both drives available.

[+SoulBuster]

Now if I could figure out how to download images from the preservation site to make disks.  I have a login, but it is not apparent to me on how to download the disk images.

[erichenneke]

2 minutes ago, SoulBuster said:

I recently bought a SuperCard Pro to image my software library before the disks are no good.  I started archiving the ST line as that was the first compatible disk drive I received from eBay.  You can find that thread and all the software here.

 

Today, I received the last Item I needed to complete my SuperCard Pro Device, a Panasonic disk drive for archiving the 8-bit line.  The idea is to have a device that can house the SuperCard Pro, a 3/12 inch disk drive for the ST and a 5 1/4 inch disk drive for the 8-bit software.

 

It is now complete and operational.

 

All the pieces to build the device.  The only thing I am missing is a 3 1/2 in face plate.

 

The Samsung model drive I am using for the ST.

 

The Panasonic for the 8-bit.

 

SWEET SET UP!!!  I am trying to do something similar. 

 

Where did you get that enclosure box to put the power board and the drive mechanisms inside of ?   That's exactly what I am looking for!

 

-Eric

 

[+SoulBuster]

6 minutes ago, erichenneke said:

SWEET SET UP!!!  I am trying to do something similar. 

 

Where did you get that enclosure box to put the power board and the drive mechanisms inside of ?   That's exactly what I am looking for!

 

-Eric

 

It is an old SCSI CASE that was used for a MAC.  The SCSI cable is still attached, I just moved it out of the way.

 

try this search on eBay https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=external+scsi+enclosure&_sop=10. something should show up sooner or later.

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Nice!

[+DjayBee]

7 hours ago, SoulBuster said:

Now if I could figure out how to download images from the preservation site to make disks.  I have a login, but it is not apparent to me on how to download the disk images.

There are no downloads on the site. 

Go to the a8preservation thread here in this forum and search backwards. You will find either a link to the archive or a torrent link. 

The archive is roughly 1GB in size. 

[+Larry]

Hey!  I've been hoping that someone would post about their SCP.  I bought one about a year ago, but I have not been able to get my setup writing properly.  I have tried backing up only Atari 8-bit, 5-1/4" disks from my originals.  I use an XF551 (360K) mech with a USB interface to my Win10 computer.  Reading goes perfectly, but when I write out an image, SCP double steps, so the result is an unusable disk. 

 

If I instead use Phaeron's software for writing images, all goes well.  But I would prefer to use the nice SCP Windows GUI software rather than Command Line software. So if/when you use the SCP software, please let me know how writing 8-bit disks goes.  Thanks.

[+SoulBuster]

1 hour ago, Larry said:

Hey!  I've been hoping that someone would post about their SCP.  I bought one about a year ago, but I have not been able to get my setup writing properly.  I have tried backing up only Atari 8-bit, 5-1/4" disks from my originals.  I use an XF551 (360K) mech with a USB interface to my Win10 computer.  Reading goes perfectly, but when I write out an image, SCP double steps, so the result is an unusable disk. 

 

If I instead use Phaeron's software for writing images, all goes well.  But I would prefer to use the nice SCP Windows GUI software rather than Command Line software. So if/when you use the SCP software, please let me know how writing 8-bit disks goes.  Thanks.

From what I understand, the SCP software does not deal with the copy protection well and Phaeron's software does when converting the image to an ATX.  If you want to get it back on a real disk, keep the .SCP rip and use it to re-create a disk.

[+Larry]

Have you tried his software?  Most of my originals are from 1982-1984, U.S. releases.  Pretty simple copy protection.

[+DjayBee]

5 hours ago, Larry said:

Hey!  I've been hoping that someone would post about their SCP.  I bought one about a year ago, but I have not been able to get my setup writing properly.  I have tried backing up only Atari 8-bit, 5-1/4" disks from my originals.  I use an XF551 (360K) mech with a USB interface to my Win10 computer.  Reading goes perfectly, but when I write out an image, SCP double steps, so the result is an unusable disk. 

 

If I instead use Phaeron's software for writing images, all goes well.  But I would prefer to use the nice SCP Windows GUI software rather than Command Line software. So if/when you use the SCP software, please let me know how writing 8-bit disks goes.  Thanks.

Writing back to real floppies with the original SCP software is unreliable to impossible.

 

In the second half of Farb's disk dumping guide he gives tipps on writing images back to floppies.

[Zarxx]

Looks great. Nice to have them all in one unit. I like to keep my drives loose for easy head cleaning. Ultimately depends on how dirty the disks are, quantity and cleaning required. Head cleaning disks can help versus getting out a cotton bud and IPA though.

 

3 hours ago, Larry said:

Hey!  I've been hoping that someone would post about their SCP.  I bought one about a year ago, but I have not been able to get my setup writing properly.  I have tried backing up only Atari 8-bit, 5-1/4" disks from my originals.  I use an XF551 (360K) mech with a USB interface to my Win10 computer.  Reading goes perfectly, but when I write out an image, SCP double steps, so the result is an unusable disk. 

 

If I instead use Phaeron's software for writing images, all goes well.  But I would prefer to use the nice SCP Windows GUI software rather than Command Line software. So if/when you use the SCP software, please let me know how writing 8-bit disks goes.  Thanks.

 

I have both 40 & 80 track 5 1/4 PC drives and reading/writing via the SCP GUI is generally fine, I do see the occasional bad sector creep in with writing due to write splice/timing. a8rawconv does not suffer from this.

I use a8rawconv as it is optimised and quicker using the command line as you can just hit up for the previous command, also easy to convert to atx, etc and manipulate the write with -p if needed.

 

The SCP GUI is there as an alternative, I've used it to create extra images for 26+ sector protections. You can also only write .scp files so extra conversion is needed for atr/atx.

 

With 40 track drive detection I've had luck with loading the image to write, resetting to defaults in the Config menu then selecting 48 TPI in the Drive options.  

 

Note  - You can't use a8rawconv if the SCP GUI is open - Unable to open serial port error

[BillC]

21 hours ago, SoulBuster said:

The idea is to have a device that can house the SuperCard Pro, a 3/12 inch disk drive for the ST and a 5 1/4 inch disk drive for the 8-bit software.

When dumping older disks it is recommended to clean the heads frequently, the oxide layer on vintage disks can come off and contaminate the heads damaging any other disks accessed later. I recently had 2 original SpartaDOS V1.1 disks(probably 30 to 35 years old) that had the oxide layer come off both sides, I could see through the mylar, while dumping them with a Greaseweazle and a Mitsumi D503 from an XF551. I have put a hold on any more dumping until a no-flip modified drive I purchased arrives, since this would increase the chances of dumping both sides of a flippy disk.

 

5.25" cleaning disks have a limited lifespan, most are only supposed to be used 15 to 30 times, and replacements are getting expensive/hard to find. Another method of 5.25" head cleaning is with magnetic head cleaning solution/isopropyl alcohol combined with cotton/foam tip cleaning swabs, this requires access to the top of the mechanism. I have also purchased a dental inspection type of mirror to allow visually checking the upper head.

 

I have some old external SCSI chassis that are deeper with the power supply completely behind the drive bays, the upper bay is completely exposed with the cover removed. This is the type of external chassis I would recommend for dumping if a 5.25" mechanism is involved.

 

It would also be handy to make a small bracket that allows mounting whichever flux device you use, with the USB port accessible, in place of the SCSI connector.

 

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by BillC

[Zarxx]

I've just updated my preservation guide if it helps.

 

 

[BillC]

1 hour ago, Zarxx said:

I've just updated my preservation guide if it helps.

I don't know about where you live but I just purchased 99% isopropyl alcohol locally yesterday for a much lower price than currently available on eBay, 2 - 500mL bottles at C$5/bottle. It's carried by many Canadian pharmacies, I have been purchasing it from different pharmacies wherever I have lived for about 30 years.

[Zarxx]

12 hours ago, BillC said:

I don't know about where you live but I just purchased 99% isopropyl alcohol locally yesterday for a much lower price than currently available on eBay, 2 - 500mL bottles at C$5/bottle. It's carried by many Canadian pharmacies, I have been purchasing it from different pharmacies wherever I have lived for about 30 years.

UK.

I don't think it's available here in larger quantities off the shelf generally, except maybe chemists as you suggested. eBay seems to still offer the most choice on sizes.

 

Checking eBay and Amazon it's around £8 for 1ltr, £20 for 5ltr here.

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Zarxx

[BillC]

7 hours ago, Zarxx said:

UK.

I don't think it's available here in larger quantities off the shelf generally, except maybe chemists as you suggested. eBay seems to still offer the most choice on sizes.

 

Checking eBay and Amazon it's around £8 for 1ltr, £20 for 5ltr here.

The prices I found on Amazon.ca were much higher than the $10/l I paid locally for 2-500ml bottles, most were at least double. The store I purchased it is where I usually shop for groceries anyways, Real Canadian Superstore, so no special trip was needed.

 

I haven't been using floppies much in recent years, mainly ATR images on Sdrive NUXX or CF card via IDE+ 2.0/SIDE cartridge, so the now almost empty 500mL bottle I have is at least 5 years old.

 

Not that I am going to be dumping flux images I purchased more IPA in order to keep cleaning the heads frequently, I had used a cleaning disk, waiting several minutes after cleaning to give the alcohol time to evaporate, before dumping the SpartaDOS 1.1 disks that got damaged. I was able to get 2 successful dumps of the V1.1+ disk(had 3 originals of that SpartaDOS release), the dump of the V1.1 disk had 10 missing and 1 damaged sectors that affected 2 files, Farb from a8preservation.com was able to use data from the v1.1+ dump to recover STANDARD.DOS(the DOS files are the same on both releases), but has been unable to recover AT_RS232.COM yet.

 

Afterwards I used some IPA/cotton swabs to clean the drive, I was surprised how little there was on the heads/mechanism, I think most of the oxide coating that peeled off must have stayed inside the disk jacket. I have ordered some MG Chemicals 407C Audio/Video Head Cleaner as well(probably not necessary) to use for a final cleaning after the IPA, and also a small dental inspection type mirror to do a visual check of the upper head.

 

[ijor]

On 6/2/2021 at 7:45 PM, SoulBuster said:

Today, I received the last Item I needed to complete my SuperCard Pro Device, a Panasonic disk drive for archiving the 8-bit line.  The idea is to have a device that can house the SuperCard Pro, a 3/12 inch disk drive for the ST and a 5 1/4 inch disk drive for the 8-bit software.

 

It is now complete and operational.

 

Great. And thank you so much once again for all the archiving you are performing. But be aware that 8-bit disks has an additional complication when dumping the "flippy" side. We covered this issue in a few threads here already.

[ijor]

On 6/3/2021 at 8:33 AM, SoulBuster said:

From what I understand, the SCP software does not deal with the copy protection well and Phaeron's software does when converting the image to an ATX.  If you want to get it back on a real disk, keep the .SCP rip and use it to re-create a disk.

Actually it has no relation with the copy protection. You will have the same issue with disks without any copy protection, or even with your own home made disks formatted with a 1050 or 810.

 

The problem is that most A8 disks are not formatted aligned with the index hole. This is true both for original disks and for personal disks unless formatted with some drives like the XF551. To writing low level images of these disks correctly, the software must locate a suitable write splice point that is not the index hole. The SCP software can't perform this reliably as Phaeron's software does.

[Zarxx]

1 hour ago, BillC said:

I haven't been using floppies much in recent years, mainly ATR images on Sdrive NUXX or CF card via IDE+ 2.0/SIDE cartridge, so the now almost empty 500mL bottle I have is at least 5 years old.

 

I agree, for just head cleaning a 500ml bottle should last for years. If I have a big batch of disks to do I tend to pour a little out and work from that.

I also use mine for monitor/glass cleaning, half IPA/half distilled water in a small sprayer. Works wonders. Lots of other household uses too.

[BillC]

3 hours ago, Zarxx said:

If I have a big batch of disks to do I tend to pour a little out and work from that.

I bought the second bottle because this was the lowest price I can remember(have been buying it for over 25 years, had issues finding the 99% variety back then) plus the fact I have dozens of original floppies to dump, some of them with rarity 9 or 10 on Atarimania and no dumps/disk images at a8preservation.com.

 

After my experience of destroying the oxide layers on 2 of 4 SpartaDOS floppies dumped I am going to be somewhat compulsive about head cleaning, and have also ordered a modified drive to increase the chances of dumping both sides of flippy disks.