Can't read Mac 1.44M HD floppy disks with CrossMac or A-Max 2.5

[superfrog]

Originally Posted by AMIGASYSTEM

So if i understand correctly the 800k image floppies "can't" fit on AmigaOs (CrossMACFileSystem) right?

CrossMACFileSystem can read 800k images just fine, provided there is a means to physically read the disk it's stored on, which on real hardware required some variety of adapter to allow connection of a real Mac 800k drive or to provide a hacked-up Amiga floppy interface that could handle the variable sector densities across the surface of the Mac floppy.

The add-ons that allowed use of 800k Mac floppies on Amiga included the A-Max and MAC-2-DOS cartridges for connecting a real Mac drive via the external floppy port, the A-Max II+ board, and Emplant board with Sybil add-on for hacking Amiga floppy drives into working with 800k Mac disks.

Originally Posted by AMIGASYSTEM

I tested some 800k floppies downloaded from HERE (MacOS_6.0.zip), the extension is .image

Those images are DiskCopy 4.2 images, not raw 800k disk images, and are not directly usable with most emulators. They cannot be read directly by CrossMAC, as they contain extra checksums and metadata. They have to be converted to a raw image either by writing out to a floppy with DiskCopy or DiskDup+ on a real or emulated Mac, or converted with a program like this one:

https://www.bigmessowires.com/2013/1...age-converter/

[mark_k]

The first post in this thread gives URL of an archive which contains Mac System 6.0.8 in A-Max/extended ADF format. Putting those in DF0: you should be able to read them with CrossMac and A-Max.

[superfrog]

Is there any way to download that archive elsewhere? That URL points to a file hosting site that insists I create an account before I can download anything, and it bombarded me with so many pop-ups I ended up having to kill my browser process.

Not really the kind of site I want to create an account on

[mark_k]

I just uploaded it to The Zone. PS: Try using an ad blocker.

[superfrog]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Was there any Amiga floppy port to variable speed mac drive hardware interfaces or was A-Max hardware the only one that accepted mac drives?

All the solutions available for reading/writing 800k DD Mac floppies with the Amiga that I am aware of:

--> Mac-2-DOS (Central Coast Software): Data transfer software, optionally included a cartridge to allow connecting Mac floppy drive to Amiga external floppy port; only worked with OS 1.2/1.3

--> CrossMAC (Consultron): Data transfer software, could optionally use A-Max floppy cartridge, if available, to read/write 800k Mac floppies

--> A-Max (ReadySoft): Cartridge to allow connecting 800k Mac floppy drive to Amiga external floppy port; provided with A-Max Mac emulation package, allowed real-time use of 800k Mac floppies during Mac emulation

--> A-Max II+/IV (ReadySoft): Zorro-II board offered as an option for use with later versions of A-Max (2.5 and 4.0), allowed standard Amiga floppy drives connected to the Z2 board to read/write 800k Mac floppy disks in real-time during Mac emulation

--> Emplant w/Sybil option (Utilities Unlimited): Allows standard Amiga floppy drive to read 800k Mac floppy disks for imaging purposes only, by altering Amiga custom chip timing to allow I/O processing speed to match variable sector density on DD Mac floppy disks

--> Emplant w/AMIA option (Utilities Unlimited): Allows standard Amiga floppy drives to read/write 800k Mac floppies for real-time use in Mac emulation

[superfrog]

Originally Posted by mark_k

I just uploaded it to The Zone. PS: Try using an ad blocker.

Thanks!

[Retro1234]

This Web Page says this

http://www.amigareport.com/ar207/p1-4.html

"A-Max deals with floppies a little differently than Emplant. While
both boards will read and write Macintosh 1.4MB floppies, neither will read
or write 800K Mac floppies. A-Max has a program that transfers the data
off of an 800K disk to a virtual file on your hard drive, "

Any idea what this Virtual File is?

[superfrog]

This refers specifically to A-Max IV. A-Max IV was the first (and only) version of A-Max to allow the use of files located on Amiga DOS partitions as virtual floppy and hard disk volumes, from within the emulated Mac. A-Max versions prior to 4.0 only allow partitions or entire drives to be used as Mac hard disk volumes.

A-Max IV comes with a disk transfer utility that will read the contents of a real Mac 800k floppy and dump it into a Virtual Disk File. This is the only way to use 800k disks in A-Max IV, while Amigas equipped with a high-density drive can use Mac HD floppies directly from A-Max starting with version 2.5.

A-Max IV eliminated support for the "A-Max Format" floppies commonly used in older versions, which allowed standard density Amiga drives to function as pseudo-800k Mac drives, using a custom disk format that could be read and written only with A-Max.

[Retro1234]

Thanks again dude I have Tool to dump and load A-max II Ram disk, guess that will have to do.

[superfrog]

Do you mean you have a tool that can dump data in and out of the A-Max RAM disk from AmigaDOS? Or is it a tool that runs on the Mac side? I'd be interested in finding out more.

[Retro1234]

Its called AMAX_RAM_v1.1 and can Backup and load the A-Max II Ram Disk, ive not used it for a while but it is possible but quite fiddly.

[AMIGASYSTEM]

mark_k and SUPERFROG, thank you very much for the info

[Retro1234]

Wish I had A-MAX back in the day just swap a few floppys and your using a decent Word Processor or Speadsheet on a 68000.

[JimDrew]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Was there any Amiga floppy port to variable speed mac drive hardware interfaces or was A-Max hardware the only one that accepted mac drives?

Yes, I made one called AMIA, which is supported by EMPLANT's Mac emulation and FUSION. The Mac 400K and 800K disk drives are intelligent devices that are controlled through commands sent through the floppy port on a Mac. Data is streamed as well, but the command setup is actually rather complex and controls the motor on/off, select, track to seek, etc. I had to use a CPLD to make the interface between the Amiga and the Mac drive.

SYBIL was the first device that could read and write 400K/800K Mac disks using a stock Amiga. It is the very reason why EMPLANT was created. ReadySoft struck a deal with us where we would supply SYBIL to them for use with AMAX. After building 1,000 units and having them ready to ship we asked for payment and they conveniently changed their minds. They had a way to detect SYBIL (I gave it to them) to prevent others from trying to create a similar device. I was so mad that they had stiffed us that I created the EMPLANT board and made a full color multitasking MacII based emulation. It would be more than a year later before AMAX-IV was released, without much fan fare.

[superfrog]

Originally Posted by Retro1234

Wish I had A-MAX back in the day just swap a few floppys and your using a decent Word Processor or Speadsheet on a 68000.

Hey there Retro1234, glad I could help! Yeah, A-Max was pretty cool stuff when it first came out. I managed to get a hacked copy of A-Max 1.0 that didn't need the cartridge, just to play around with back in the day. Along with it I got a System disk, HyperCard, and one of the first versions of M$ Excel in A-Max format. It was the first emulator I ever had the chance to use, and even though I could do little more than just boot up to the desktop and start up a couple of programs that I had no use for (what's an 11-year-old kid gonna do with Excel?), it was quite a thrill to think to myself that I was getting to use a Mac without paying a cent to buy one. I never had a real Mac floppy or hard drive to use with it, and the interlace flicker made it really painful to look at without a scan doubler, so after a few days of messing around it got tossed in the pile of disks to be re-used. But I can pretty much trace the beginnings of my fascination with cross-platform emulators back to good ol' A-Max. Cheers and good luck!

[Retro1234]

Originally Posted by superfrog

Hey there Retro1234, glad I could help! Yeah, A-Max was pretty cool stuff when it first came out. I managed to get a hacked copy of A-Max 1.0 that didn't need the cartridge, just to play around with back in the day. Along with it I got a System disk, HyperCard, and one of the first versions of M$ Excel in A-Max format. It was the first emulator I ever had the chance to use, and even though I could do little more than just boot up to the desktop and start up a couple of programs that I had no use for (what's an 11-year-old kid gonna do with Excel?), it was quite a thrill to think to myself that I was getting to use a Mac without paying a cent to buy one. I never had a real Mac floppy or hard drive to use with it, and the interlace flicker made it really painful to look at without a scan doubler, so after a few days of messing around it got tossed in the pile of disks to be re-used. But I can pretty much trace the beginnings of my fascination with cross-platform emulators back to good ol' A-Max. Cheers and good luck!

Yeah that sounds great, But I think I would of used it for course work etc If I had of used MsWord under A-Max how could I of transfered the the MsWord document to a 720kb PC disk?

theres a flicker reducer patch on Aminet but probably need a CRT to test it?
http://aminet.net/package/misc/emu/Fuzz2

I'd forgton about the flicker on Shapeshifter I used MagicTV but that was AGA only.