freiss@nixpbe.UUCP (freiss) (05/02/90)
Thanks to all who replied to my previous posting ("Looking for ZAP
programs").
I'll summarize the replies I got -
unfortunately, I still have not found a program that does
everything I want to do. Let me stress that I am not interested in
copying protected disks - I'm sure there are lots of excellent programs
out there to do that.
What I need is a tool to hack intersector information, read sectors with
CRC errors or lost address marks to recover data from mangled disks,
and format disks in very strange ways (for data exchange between PC's
and Mainframes for example).
If possible, this should work on both floppy and hard disk drives
(standard IBM XT or AT controllers).
So... if you know of a way to do all that (in software if possible),
please let me know.
Summary (so far):
JBS@EN.ECN.PURDUE.EDU (Jeff Sponaugle) suggested using Central Point
Software's Option Board for floppy disks.
unido!relay.EU.net!jarthur!jmerrill suggested invoking NU in maintenance
mode (which still doesn't allow me to do what I want, but maybe I'm
being exceptionally stupid today).
Terence Davis <unido!ttidca.TTI.COM!terence> suggested the ULTRA utilities
for 5.25", 360k disks. I haven't played around with them extensively
yet, but they seem to be quite good for formatting disks in strange ways.
Thanks Terence!
unido!relay.EU.net!samsung!fredex (Fred Smith) told me of an article in
the C User's Journal which might help me to program such a beast myself.
loeschner.pad@nixdorf.com suggested using the UNICORN program - I found
someone who has this program, but it refuses to run on machines with
a clock speed other than 6 Mhz, so that it doesn't work for me.
--
Martin Freiss UUCP: freiss.pad@nixdorf.com
Nixdorf Computer AG inside europe: ..!unido!nixpbe!freiss.pad
Pontanusstr. 55 Voice: +49 5251 14 6153 FAX: +49 5251 14 6108
D-4790 Paderborn