Virus in SPS release

[Galahad/FLT]

Personally, the CAPS/IPF project making a documentary note on the inclusion of viruses and which titles had them should be enough.

Nothing is removed from the game should the virus be neutralised, even if its just to remove the 'DOS' header so that the virus cannot boot, but there is still a record of its existence.

[mr.vince]

This can always be done later / while using it, like disinfecting a disk after buying it. We don't think we're responsible nor entitled to modify data that's written by the replicator. This can also be done by copying the disk data to some other format, e.g. ADF, at least as long as there's no e.g. density based copy protection present.

[LocalH]

A solution to the naming issue for zipped IPF sets - add a slightly modified [v] tag like [v-d1] or whichever disk has the virus.

[Codetapper]

Originally Posted by mr.vince

This can always be done later / while using it, like disinfecting a disk after buying it. We don't think we're responsible nor entitled to modify data that's written by the replicator. This can also be done by copying the disk data to some other format, e.g. ADF, at least as long as there's no e.g. density based copy protection present.

If the game can run as an ADF then you don't need the IPF!

But if you have a bunch of IPF's that you are inserting in WinUAE, it's a hassle to have to install bootblocks or modify the disk contents.

It just seems mad that SPS cannot release a clean IPF of each of those virus infected games and tag them as clean versions so not identical to the originals, but for all intents and purposes they are. If the SPS team can show me that any of those games do not work when the virus has been neutralised then I'll eat my hat! It's not like the copy protection looks for the virus on the disk!

If a clean version was released but the user chooses to use the virus infected version then so be it, but I would personally only keep clean IPFs and erase the rest.

[mr.vince]

You need the IPF if you want something that's unmodified and authentic. These games were infected (accidentially? on purpose by an employee that had strong feelings against the company?) before they were duped. This is how they were sold. The IPF represents that, with no further changes made. It's the disk as duped.

Which bootblook is the disk supposed to have instead? Standard DOS? Some bootblock with a text output like from X-Copy? Afaik bootblocks also changed from Kickstart to Kickstart, at least a little...

I will look into getting this discussed again, but so far the decision has been unisono.

I will also look into adding an appropriate note into the SPS database which would then show up on the web and display a virus warning in the remark field.

[Crashdisk]

Originally Posted by mr.vince

I will also look into adding an appropriate note into the SPS database which would then show up on the web and display a virus warning in the remark field.

It would be a good thing, indeed

[Codetapper]

Originally Posted by mr.vince

Which bootblook is the disk supposed to have instead? Standard DOS? Some bootblock with a text output like from X-Copy? Afaik bootblocks also changed from Kickstart to Kickstart, at least a little...

Anything would be better than a virus, but the standard installed bootblock from Kickstart 1.3 works on everything doesn't it?

[mr.vince]

Yes, but from the point of preservation... was it there before the virus was there? Or was there some other boot?

Not trying to annoy you, just to point out where the concerns come from.

[Dunny]

I'm afraid that much as I disagree with most of the CAPS team's decisions, they are correct about this one - if those games really did come with a virus direct from the publisher then they should be archived as such.

Info regarding known infected images should be made available though. And I suppose that efforts will be made to find non-infected originals - I know for a fact that my copy (bought in a Crowborough computer shop) of Chase HQ II did not have a virus, as I religiously scanned all my games before running them after I freak accident with a byte-bandit infection some time previously.

D.

[mai]

Originally Posted by Cassiel

How do you treat INDIVIDUAL ADF disks atm? Can't remember what the answer was (and we never explicitly defined in TNC). Dupes or no dupes?

in general no dupes.
an example, which i immediately remember is the Amiga version of "B.A.T. II ".
There is no disk 3 and 4, except the english version.

[Feltzkrone]

Originally Posted by Codetapper

I think that's a terrible example to be honest. I liken this more to Picasso paints a picture and while it's delivered to the art gallery, is dropped and a piece falls off the corner. You can either place the piece back into the painting as it was originally or leave the chunk missing.

By leaving viruses on the disk you are not preserving the original painting at all, just the "arrived at the gallery damaged version".

Yes, I have to admit that it is not a flawless example. But yours isn't either. The problem is, that the piece does not exist anymore and you would have to make assumptions about what the piece looks like in order to build a replacement. You only know for sure the state of the picture when delivered.

Again, what is to be documentented and preserved is the state of the disks or the disks' content when packaged in an original box, regardless of any of the persons involved in creation, duplication, packaging etc. possibly having made a mistake.

My very personal opinion is, that I'd even not fix games (if I had the needed knowledge at all) when don't work because they have been damaged during mastering. It's not that I dislike fixes and improvments of any kind, and I'd of course always prefer a (better) working version of a game, but I think those fixed images should be either collected in another disk image / software database or kept in the SPS database as an addition to the non-working disk image representing 100% unmodified original data.



I wished the HVSC would be geared to the very same principles, but it's full of hand-crafted SID files with music merged per game, containing "driver" code and sometimes secret messages put to the SID file by the person who ripped the music and 100% versions from composers' private archives as a replacement for a damaged version as present on the original media.

The HVSC Project is an attempt to accurately archive the most popular C64 SIDs into one complete collection.
from HVSC introduction, 1-2

In my opinion merging individually loaded tunes and adding custom driver code is not "accurate". I know how much effort is put into the project and how talented the guys behind it are, and I have biggest respect for them. They do great work, but not the work as defined by the goal as I understand it.

[...]that each disk is not counterfeit, and has not been altered in any way since the original mastering.
from Softpres article: The Importance of Data Authenticity

Goal defined, image represents unaltered disk content including virus, criteria satisfied.