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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:AMIGA NOTES
Notice:Join us in the *NEW* conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:HYDRA::MOORE
Created:Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5378
Total number of notes:38326

3090.0. "DISK BACKUP" by BRILLO::FENTON_R (Whale Oil Beef Hooked) Fri Nov 10 1989 07:57

    Thanks for the advice guys - as I feared, it's even more complicated
    than I thought. Maybe I should just get something like the HP Laserjet,
    and upgrade it to Postscript later at horrendous expense.
    
    I have another problem as well. I confess to being totally addicted
    to games on the Amiga, specially when I come back from the pub.
    So far, out of a total of 15 which I have bought, 3 have refused
    to run initially, and 6 have eventually developed faults which either
    caue the game to crash, or not to load. Obviously my thoughts turned
    to making backups, and in view of the horrendous protection systems
    used, I recognised the need for a Utility. I bought one called "X-Copy"
    (quite expensive), but have so far failed to make a copy of anything.
    I have great difficulty in understanding the instructions, which
    make many references to "parameters". I thuink I understand what
    these are as a concept (start/finish/length of tracks, synch characters
    etc.), but have no idea how to find out what the parameters for
    a given disk are.
    
    Please believe I have no intentions of piracy etc. (don't even know
    anyone else with an Amiga, which is why I have to come here for
    advice!) - I am just totally pissed off with having to send disks
    back for replacement (especially when certain S/W houses, like Ocean,
    deny that you ever sent disks to them in the first place). But if
    anyone could at least point me in the right direction, they would
    earn (a) my undying gratitude, (b) a pint or six of Old Spot if
    they're ever in the neighbourhood of Hawkesbury Upton.
    
    Thanks again,
    Roger
    
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3090.1so many problems?HYSTER::DEARBORNTrouvez MieuxFri Nov 10 1989 12:358
So many failures?  Remember, NEVER eject a disk while the drive 
light is on.  You WILL corrupt it if you do.

As for the other ones not loading, maybe there is a drive 
alignment problem.

Randy

3090.2Some info on disk copiersBOMBE::MOOREBaN CaSe_sEnSiTiVe iDeNtIfIeRs!Fri Nov 10 1989 22:3941
    There are many disk copiers out there, X-Copy may not have been a good
    choice for you.  Here are some others:

    [ I have used only Marauder and NIB, comments on others are based on my
      readings of ads, reviews, etc. ]

    Marauder II
    This has long been the 'standard' copier for Amiga.  It has a very easy
    to use interface with most 'parameter' selections handled automatically.
    Unfortunately it is getting harder to find Marauder because it is no
    longer being produced or supported.  No one is out there 'teaching' it
    how to deal with newer protection schemes, which used to be done
    through periodic releases of updated 'Brain' files.

    Project D
    This appears to be the next closest thing to Marauder of the copiers
    still in production.  I believe parameter selection is manual instead
    of automatic. It may be necessary for you to recognize that parameters
    for program "Z" in the menu may copy your program "Y", even though "Y"
    is not listed anywhere.  Periodic releases of parameter files (from the
    authors of Project D) will teach it to copy newer programs.

    Raw Copy
    Raw Copy appears to be similar in capabilities to Project D, but its
    interface expects you to know more about the inner workings of disks
    (all those SECTOR, SYNC, etc. thingies).  I believe there are a limited
    number of predefined parameters (similar to Project D), but they assume
    you will fiddle with settings until you get a copy that works.

    X-Copy
    X-Copy is kind of an extreme version of Raw Copy, with all of their
    parameters written in plain text format.  The idea being that X-Copy
    users will figure out how to copy new programs, then distribute their
    parameter 'commands' for others to use.  This may work out well in the
    long run, if they can develop a sufficient parameter library.

    NIB
    There is a Shareware copier around, it's called "NIB".  It works fairly
    well.  It was supposedly becoming a commercial product which 'registered'
    shareware owners would receive at low cost.  I sent my check, but have
    heard absolutely nothing since...
3090.3HPSCAD::GATULISFrank Gatulis 297-6770Sat Nov 11 1989 00:1715
    .re .2
    
    FYI -
    
    I also sent my money for NIB (when it first came out) and never
    heard from the guy again.
    
    On the other hand, I sent money to John Schieb (for IconMaster)
    and he sent me a personalized disk with IconMaster V2 and a bunch
    of other stuff almost immediately.  I wish commercial vendors were
    as responsive!
    
    Frank