[comp.sys.atari.st] FALCON backups

dav@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (William David Haas) (09/19/90)

I finally bought a copy of FALCON and am learning to play.  The docs
say the game is not copy protected and that you should make a backup
copy but I can't find anything to copy the disks.  I have tried various
copiers and nothing seems to work.  All my copies pop up with PC error 4.

mg20+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Paul Greelish) (09/20/90)

You should be able to copy the game by doing a *file* copy from the
desktop, not a *disk* copy. I copied all of the stuff from the two
single sided disks the game comes on to a double sided disk and it works
fine.

Incidentally, many, many "non-copy protected" programs can only be
copied as files. Seems there are a lot of weird disk formats floating
around out there...

ric@mcrware.UUCP (Ric Yeates) (09/21/90)

In article <24402@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> dav@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (William David Haas) writes:
>I finally bought a copy of FALCON and am learning to play.  The docs
>say the game is not copy protected and that you should make a backup
>copy but I can't find anything to copy the disks.  I have tried various
>copiers and nothing seems to work.  All my copies pop up with PC error 4.

I had this same problem with my original FALCON and the backup of disk #2.
After many attempts, I finally realized that the write protect tabs have to
be in a certain configuration for the disks to work.  I can't remember how
they are, but if you look at the working originals and make your copies the
same, I'm pretty sure it'll work.

Ric Yeates
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ric Yeates                                             Microware Systems Corp.
  "I found these opinions on the floor, so I don't think they belong
                                                              to Microware."
                         1. Grease Generously
                         2. Wax Philosophically
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

hardware@rose.uwaterloo.ca () (09/27/90)

In article <MaxysHe00VIFI0hkV6@andrew.cmu.edu> mg20+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Paul Greelish) writes:
>You should be able to copy the game by doing a *file* copy from the
>desktop, not a *disk* copy. I copied all of the stuff from the two
>single sided disks the game comes on to a double sided disk and it works
>fine.
>
>Incidentally, many, many "non-copy protected" programs can only be
>copied as files. Seems there are a lot of weird disk formats floating
>around out there...

  I guess I would have to agree with you there. For instance the 
Union Demo couldnt be copied because it was using 1024 byte sectors
which means most existing copiers would cough and die. However
there are a few intellegent copiers out there that check sector
size etc. The Union demo used 512 byte sectors for the first three
sectors then resorted to 1024 byte sectors for the rest. Of course
you need a special formatter for it and at one time hypercopy had
this built into it. Other manufacturers are using laser holes to
identify disks they sent out as compared to backup disks which
wouldnt have the holes which send out a distinct error code. 

 With all the time spent into protecting the software it would be
wiser to track down the culprits that leak out software before
it has hit the market. Sometime this is done via backdoors other
times it is a result of theft at a computer show.

**********************************************************************
Hardware Dave at your Service
PS. Good movie to watch if you like comedies is "Nuns on the Run"
*********************************************************************

ekrimen@csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) (09/27/90)

hardware@rose.uwaterloo.ca (Hardware Dave at your Service) writes:

- For instance the Union Demo couldnt be copied because it was using
- 1024 byte sectors which means most existing copiers would cough and
- die.
 
But the Union Demo has a copier built-in that looks and sounds good.  
Why would you want to use any other copier, unless you wanted to make 
multiple copies?