barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (02/16/90)
Since so many people have been asking me "Where can I get NIB 2.0?",
I've decided to post the NIB.DOC file that comes with the program. This
file contains information on ordering, plus technical info on how to use
the program.
This is NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF NIB 2.0. I have no affiliation with
the program nor the programmer. This is simply a response to your requests.
Dan
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| Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University |
| INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | |
| COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP |
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
Stellar Systems, Incorporated
presents
NIB V2.0
) Copyright 1989,1990 Shawn Liptak
All Rights Reserved
distributed by
Utilities Unlimited, Incorporated
Release Date: Sun Jan 28 1990
NIB is intended for archival purposes and to ease the burden of
such copy protection schemes as "Master Disk", "Key Word", and "Code Wheel".
Software authors have the right and a necessity to make a profit on their
products. So, if you use it, then BUY it!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Utilities Unlimited, Incorporated
P.O. Box 532
North Plains, OR 97133
(503) 647-5611 24 hours a day
These Amiga products are currently available:
NIB $44.95
- The product your playin with.
SuperCard Ami $99.95
- Hardware/Software combo that should do 100% of all disk based
protection!
Super-Tracker Ami $79.95
- Digital track display that shows current head position, side,
and write protect status of selected disk drive.
Amiga 500 Repairable Power Supply $109.95
- Replacement power supply for the 500.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc. is dedicated to providing quality
software for the AMIGA series of computers. If you have quality software
that is under development or finished and you are looking for a method of
marketing it, please contact us at the address below. We can also provide
code for specific applications, such as direct disk access.
STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc.
Attn. Software Development
P.O. Box 9047
Hampton, VA 23670-0047
If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about
STELLAR SYSTEMS or NIB, please write us at...
STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc.
Attn. PR
P.O. Box 9047
Hampton, VA 23670-0047
Amiga and AmigaDOS are trademarks of Commodore-Amiga, Inc.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WARRANTY
The magnetic media this software is recorded on is warranted to
be free from defects for a period of sixty days from the date of purchase.
This warranty applies only to the original consumer purchaser.
In the event the magnetic media fails during the warranty period,
it will be repaired or replaced, provided that it is returned to the
distributer with the original label intact. This warranty does not apply
if the magnetic media was damaged from accident, abuse, or neglect on the
part of the original consumer purchaser.
The software on this disk is provided as is. No warranty of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose is provided. Utilities
Unlimited Incorporated, Stellar Systems Incorporated, and Shawn Liptak
shall not be liable for indirect, special, or consequential damages
resulting from use of this product. Laws vary from state to state, so the
exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages may not
apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may
also have other rights which vary from state to state.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NIB
NIB was written to be an economical disk backup system. It uses a
precision disk nibbler combined with flexible parameters and a unique track
selection system. This allows it to make working copies of a variety of
protected software. The parameter system allows the copier to deprotect
many titles and also to backup some especially tough ones. NIB's speed
should be as fast as, if not faster, than competing software, and it should
operate on all Amigas with a variety of hardware configurations. NIB
requires V1.2 or later of the Amiga's operating system.
V2.0 Changes:
1- NIB no longer requires that the screen be blanked in the nibble
modes. This was the number one complaint among V1.0 users!
2- NIB V2.0 is now 100% assembly. This allowed me to add many
enhancements, features and parameters, while only slightly
increasing the size of the NIB file.
3- NIB now supports single drive copying. On a 1Meg Amiga, it will
require four disk swaps to copy an entire disk. If you have 2.5Megs,
then this can be done in only one swap.
4- A bug in the multicopy routine was fixed, so it now works correctly.
5- 63 Parameters have been added since V1.0. A complete list of the
parameters in now available in the text file "NibParam.txt".
6- Complete checksumming has been added to the ADOS copy routines.
This will ensure a 99.9% accurate copy in ADOS mode, as long as
verify is on.
7- The error log has been greatly improved. It now retains a complete
status list for each copied track, with error messages in plain
english.
8- Audio routines were added. These allow the user to turn his back
on the Amiga, while a copy is in progress, and still be notified
of errors.
9- The "Error Check" and "Edit" gadgets have been implemented. The
editor is not yet complete and only allows viewing of the data.
10- The old "Nibble" and "Index Nibble" modes have been replaced by
the new "Sync Nibble" mode. "Index Nibble" is a completely new mode.
11- Many small bugs were fixed, such as trashing one of the low memory
vectors and nibble mode timing problems.
Limitations:
NIB does not check the destination to see if it is write protected.
If it is, then you will receive verify errors in most cases. This can be
useful in certain circumstances.
When NIB loads, the default font size in your system-configuration
file must be set to 80 column mode. 60 column fonts will not be displayed
properly. This will be fixed in a future version of NIB.
When copying some copy protected programs NIB may indicate an error
on certain tracks. You can use the ERR gadget to recopy these bad tracks.
If an error is still indicated, then you should test the copy to see if
it is ok, because it may work anyway.
Software companies will change protection schemes and/or versions
of their software from time to time. In most cases the NIB parameter will
not work for the new version. A new parameter will be required for the new
version.
NIB will have problems copying some of the more heavily protected
titles on certain machines. This seems to be due to differences in disk
drives. Reversing the source and destination drives may help.
Multitasking:
NIB will multitask with most programs without problems
although there are a few things to keep in mind.
1. If your source and destination drives are the same then
NIB will attempt to read as much of the source disk as it can fit
into available memory. So, it is best to have as much memory free as
possible since a whole disk will require 2 Megs.
2. When NIB is running it takes control of all floppy drives
which makes it impossible for AmigaDOS to access the drives.
3. When NIB is copying disks it tends to be a processor hog and
will turn off multitasking for long periods of time. This will
cause other programs to run slowly or not at all.
4. If precise indexing is on and NIB is using either nibble mode, the
display will be blanked while reading or writing disk data.
Harddisk use:
NIB can easily be installed on a harddisk. You need to make a
directory for NIB and its support files such as "NibMegaGreatCopier".
This directory would contain the files NIB, NIB.info, NIB.doc, NIB.doc.info,
NibParam.txt, NibParam.txt.info, NibData.info, and the subdirectory NibData.
The subdirectory will contain the same data files that it does on floppy.
NIB references its data files through the volume name SS.NIB:, so you will
have to assign SS.NIB: to the directory containing the subdirectory NibData.
Then to start NIB from a hard disk partition named DH0: type
Assign SS.NIB: DH0:NibMegaGreatCopier
SS.NIB:NIB
If you find NIB useful, and are not a legal user, then I would urge
you to contact Utilities Unlimited for a legal copy.
Your questions and comments are welcome. If there are features
or parameters you would like to see added to NIB or problems copying
a disk please use the address below or leave me email on GEnie or "The Board".
Any opinions expressed in this file are my own, and do not necessarily
reflect the opinion of Stellar Systems Inc. or Utilities Unlimited Inc.
STELLAR SYSTEMS, Inc.
Attn. Shawn Liptak
P.O. Box 9047
Hampton, VA 23670-0047
GEnie S.Liptak1
The Board (804) 865-8773 300/1200/2400 F8N1 On an Amiga 2000, 65 Meg online
Merry Christmas,
Shawn Liptak
December 1989
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Main Controls
These are used to select the source and destination disks,
verification, parameter and to start the copier. These gadgets are located
in the left section of the screen and run from the top to the bottom of the
screen. To use, select the appropriate gadget by positioning the mouse
pointer over the gadget and depressing the left mouse button.
Here are the steps to copy a disk:
1. Select source drive.
2. Select destination drive(s).
3. Turn verify on or off.
4. Select a parameter.
5. Click "START COPY".
6. Insert appropriate disks.
7. Click on "OK!".
8. Sit back and watch it go (wheee).
The rest of this section will deal with the various gadgets
and what all this junk means.
SOURCE:
Selects the disk drive that contains the disk you wish
to copy. Only one source disk may be selected.
DESTINATION:
Selects the disk drive(s) that contain the disk(s) you
will be copying to. You may select from 1 to 4 destination disks
provided that you have the drive connected to the Amiga.
NIB will not allow you to select a drive that you do not have.
VERIFICATION:
This toggles verification on or off. If turned on it
will cause the copier to read the information written to the
destination. This results in a slower copy, but it helps NIB
catch copy errors. I would suggest that you leave this on unless
you have a need to copy disks rapidly.
PARAMETER:
This brings up the parameter select requester.
*****************************************
* Select A Parameter *
* *
* Parameter1 *
* Parameter2 UP *
* Parameter3 TOP/BOT *
* Parameter4 DN *
* Parameter5 *
* *
* Finished Forget It! *
*****************************************
UP: Scrolls the list of parameters towards the top of the list.
DN: Scrolls the list of parameters towards the bottom of the list.
TOP/BOT: Moves you to the top or bottom of the list. If you are
near the top you will go to the bottom. If you are near
the bottom you will go to the top.
Finished: Accepts the center parameter (Number 3) as the new
parameter and updates the current settings of the
track control.
Forget It!: Exits the menu without making any parameter changes.
The top four parameters are used to select NIB's standard
copy modes. They are...
NORMAL DOS COPY: AmigaDOS mode. Use for unprotected disks.
NORMAL SYNC NIBBLE: Standard nibble mode. (BEST)
QUICK SYNC NIBBLE: Sync nibble except source track is read
only once.
SIMPLE INDEX NIBBLE: Nibble based solely on the index mark.
"NORMAL SYNC NIBBLE" is the best mode for copying
non-standard format tracks. The "QUICK" mode is faster but will
only produce accurate copies if the originals are indexed or
have only one sync mark per track. The "SIMPLE INDEX NIBBLE" will
only work if the originals are indexed in a certain manner.
Note: All three nibble modes index.
START COPY:
This brings up the start copy requester.
*****************************************
* *
* Insert SOURCE disk in drive *
* DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3: *
* *
* Insert DESTINATION disk in drive *
* DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3: *
* *
* OK! CANCEL! *
*****************************************
DF0: thru DF3: These will be indicated based upon the "SOURCE"
and "DESTINATION" selections.
OK!: Starts the copy process.
CANCEL!: Aborts the copy command.
Before selecting "OK!" you should ensure that the write
protected source disk is in the correct drive and that the
write enabled destination disk(s) are in the indicated drives.
NIB does not check to see if the destination disks are write
enabled. It will still attempt the copy, which will result in
no data getting to the destination. If verify is on then you
will get LOTS of verify errors, unless the source and destinations
are already the same.
Once the copy starts you will get a window that looks
something like this...
*****************************************
* Cylinder: 0 Status: Long! * < Overall Error condition.
* Dest Max Words: FFFF 18E8 FFFF FFFF * < One per destination
* CYL B/T Word Indx Time WSec *
* Error# --Error Name-- *
* 0 Bot 1888 0277 6FA6 0220 *
* 00 OK *
* 0 Top 1B3A 021D 6FA6 0220 * < 1B3A shows track length.
* 00 OK * White is long.
* 1 Bot 18FC 0278 6FA6 0220 * < 0278 shows index time.
* 00 OK *
* 1 Top 18FC 0266 6FA5 0220 A B * < 6FA5 shows total track
* 00 OK V B * time.
* 2 Bot 18FC 0274 6FA6 0220 * < 0220 shows words per
* 00 OK * sector.
* 2 Top 18FC 0266 6FA6 0220 *
* 00 OK * < Error code and message.
* 3 Bot 18FC 0273 6FA7 0220 *
* 00 OK * A = Up gadget
* * V = Down gadget
* Hold LEFT mouse button to abort * B = Top/bottom gadget
* ************** *
* * CONTINUE * *
*****************************************
Cylinder: 0
Is the value of the current cylinder (00 to 82).
Status: ????
Indicates the overall status of the copy in progress.
OK - no errors encountered yet.
Error - An error condition occured on one or more tracks.
Long! - A long track was encountered. If your destination
drive can't write out the entire track, then NIB
will indicate this error. A long track cannot be
duplicated by software. It will require a modified
disk drive or a hardware device such as SuperCard.
A NIB parameter can also bypass this type of
protection, but you will have to wait for a
parameter to become available.
Dest Max Words: DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3:
The capacity of a track on the appropriate destination
drive. This is determined the first time data is written
to the drive in a nibble mode. Typically from 1860 to 18F0
(Hex). FFFF indicates the drive was not yet written to in
one of the nibble modes.
CYL B/T Word Indx Time WSec
Word: The number of words of data on the current track.
1860 through 18F0 are normal values. If the value is
substantially larger (greater than 1980) then it may have
long track type copy protection. The value will be printed
in white if it is about 12 words greater than the
destination drive and "Long!" will be indicated in the
status line.
Indx: The timer count from the index hole to the first sync
mark. Should be from 0 to less than the total track time.
If many tracks have similar index times then it may have
an index type copy protection.
Time: The time count for the disk to do one revolution.
Should be about 6FDC for 300 RPM and an NTSC clock. Each
count equals 6.984 usecs. 8,590,908/count(decimal)=RPM.
WSec: The number of words per sector for the given track. This
is only calculated by the "Normal Sync Nibble" mode. If
it is zero then there is only one sector on the track.
Error# --Error Name--
?? Error message......
00 = The track appears to have copied ok for the selected copy
mode.
x1 = Could not locate a sync mark. If in Sync Nibble mode and sync
search is on then NIB will enter sync search mode. This can
take up to 12 seconds and the screen will flash yellow
during this time.
x2 = Can't find gap or too many sectors. Should not happen.
x3 = No sync after gap. Will occur if source only has single sync
marks and mode is AmigaDOS.
04 = Can't find sector (decode). You may have a bad source disk.
05 = Can't find sector (encode). Same as above.
x8 = Write error. Rare indeed.
xF = Verify failed. This is probably the most common error. If verify
is on then NIB will read the destination and compare with
the source. If different it will copy the track again and
do a second comparison. If the second comparison fails
then you will get this error. This may mean the destination
track is bad or is write protected. Verify will also
fail if the source track contains illegal MFM values or
has fluctuating bit type copy protection.
41 = No sync on destination speed test. Should only occur if the
destination has a bad track or it's write protected.
x equals the copy mode 0=AmigaDOS, 1=Index Nibble, 2=Sync Nibble
Track Control
This unit determines which tracks will be copied and in what
mode it will occur. It also contains gadgets to access the other functions.
The main unit is the track select and status indicator which
appears like this...
BOT TOP +------+
--- -- ----- -0 - ----- -- --- | MODE |
--- -- ----- ----- -- --- +--+------+--+
--- -- ----- ----- -- --- G.> | AmigaDOS |
--- -- ----- ----- -- --- +------------+
--- -- ----- ----- -- --- H.> |Index Nibble|
--- -- ----- -5 - ----- -- --- +------------+
--- -- ----- ----- -- --- I.> |Sync Nibble|
+> [+] --- -- ----- ----- -- --- [+] +------------+
| --- -- ----- ----- -- --- +
| [-] --- -- ----- ----- -- --- [-] +-------+
| | --- -- ----- -10- ----- -- --- J.> |SET ALL|
| | | | | | [ERR] +-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | +------------+
| | --- -- ----- -80- ----- -- --- | K.> |MODE NORMAL|
| | --- -- ----- | ----- -- --- | L.> |SEARCH OFF |
| | --- -- ----- | ----- -- --- F. M.> |SYNC 4489 |
| | | | | | +------------+
| | | | | The cylinder number N.> |GENERIC INDX|
A. B. C. D. E.
A. Plus: The plus gadget on the left selects all bottom tracks.
The plus gadget on the right selects all top tracks.
B. Minus: The minus gadget on the left deselects all bottom tracks.
The minus gadget on the right deselects all top tracks.
C. Track Status: Green indicates that the track was copied
successfully. Red means that there was a problem with
the track and you should get an error message in the error
log. Purple indicates a verify error occured.
D. Track Selection: This determines if the track is selected.
To change the state of selection you can either use the
plus, minus, or ERR gadgets, or you can use the mouse
pointer to toggle the indicator on or off.
Yellow = Selected for copy.
Black = Not selected.
E. Track Mode: The current copy mode of the track. This can be set
by selecting the appropriate mode (Items G, H, I.) and
clicking the mouse pointer on the track you wish to change.
White = AmigaDOS.
Green = Index Nibble.
Blue = Sync Nibble.
F. Error Select: This gadget will deselect all good tracks (green).
This is handy when you make a copy and a few tracks show
error conditions (red or purple). You can then select this
gadget and then "START COPY". This will cause only the bad
tracks to be recopied.
G. AmigaDOS select:
H. Index Nibble select:
I. Sync Nibble select:
Items G, H, and I set the current copy mode selection of
the mouse pointer for item E.
J. SET ALL: This takes the currently selected gadget G, H, or I
and sets all of the tracks (item E.) to that mode.
K. Sync Mode: Sets the sync mode as either NORMAL or QUICK.
This is also set by selecting a parameter and is described
in that section.
L. Sync Search: Sets sync search as either OFF or ON. The default
is OFF. If ON and NIB can't find a sync word during a Sync
Nibble copy then it will start looking for some of the
more commonly used non-standard sync words.
M. Set Sync Table: You may click on the sync word and type in a
new value. This causes all of the currently selected tracks
to acquire the new value until a parameter is selected or
you use this gadget again.
Note: K, L, and M only effect the Sync Nibble mode except
for M which also effects AmigaDOS mode.
N. Index type: Sets the index mode as either GENERIC or PRECISE.
GENERIC is the default and should work fine with all current
software. PRECISE blanks the screen so that it can get the
indexing as close as possible.
Error Check
When this gadget is selected you will see the same
requester as if you selected Start Copy. This gadget will cause
NIB to act as if it were copying a disk except that it will not
send the data to a destination drive. This will allow you to
examine a disk without having to copy it.
Editor
The Edit Track gadget will cause a screen sized window to
open. This window will show the contents of a disk buffer. The
start of the display will be positioned at the start of data in
the buffer. The various gadgets in the window allow you to view
the various parts of the buffer. The data contained in the buffer
will be of the last track that NIB read. The editor is far from
being complete and will be better documented in later versions...
Dats all folks........