A-Max disks?

[JimDrew]

You only need the amia.device and multi-os.device if you have an AMIA, which is an interface for a real Mac floppy drive. So, those two are not "required" for the Converter II itself unless you have an AMIA. The libraries and SCAIV.font are always required.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by Gilloo

I use a disk called Emplant Disk Converter II v7.0 (WB2.1).adf under AmigaOS 3.1 NTSC.
The 3 libraries jam.library sybil.library emplant.library are present, but not amia.device and not multi-os.device.

That disk works. I created it myself, putting in the needed libraries etc.
I tested/used it on a PAL Amiga, though... could it be that?

EDIT:
I also remember something about the NTSC device in the Devs/Monitors drawer.
See post #394 and later.
But many years have passed; you probably have to read the tread and/or receive more hints by Jim Drew.
Also, I remember something about at least 3MB RAM needed to run the Emplant Disk Converter II v7.0... (I could be wrong)

EDIT#2 (IMPORTANT):
Read post #454.
Read also post #460.
I confirm that it requires A1200 with 3MB RAM.

[Gilloo]

A2000 68000 2MBchip 4MBfast
There is no other tracksaver using GCR encoding ?

[Supamax]

Gilloo, what are your needs exactly?

You could try Emplant Disk Converter I (not II), it works on 68000 Amigas.
Emplant Disk Converter II is better, though (of course).
For example (if I remember well) version I doesn't have the Verify option.

If your need is to make extended .adf dumps of your A-Max disks, you could also try RAWREAD (by Toni Wilen), but it doesn't have the Verify option, too, so the dumps are not guaranteed to be 100% good.
You could also try PowerCopy Professional (the Sector mode is able to copy A-Max disks); it has the ability to save tracks content on the hard disk / RAM, so (although it's a bit tricky) you can then load them in PowerCopy under WinUAE emulation and recreate the floppies in .adf (extended/custom) format.

[JimDrew]

I checked the source code and it is 68000 compatible.

[mark_k]

Aren't the A-Max disks multi-format, so some tracks are readable in a real Mac floppy drive (and unreadable in an Amiga drive), other tracks readable in an Amiga drive (and unreadable in a real Mac drive)?

[JimDrew]

No. Amax format is MFM, just like EMPLANT format. It is possible to read a few tracks of a real 800K Mac GCR disk using an Amiga drive.

[Gilloo]

@Supamax
I just want to make disk images usable with WinUAE from the true disks and a true A2000.
If Amax disks are MFM, rawread would make a custom .adf, but it is not the case, all tracks are empty.
So I supposed it could be a GCR format, but if Jim says it is MFM, they are MFM...

[mark_k]

Aha! I think we're at cross purposes here, talking about two different things.


Jim is talking about A-Max format disks. Those are MFM, the custom 800KB format used by A-Max for reading and writing disks in Amiga floppy drives in Mac emulation. I've successfully used Jim's ConverterII program to create A-Max format disks from Apple Disk Copy image files, both on real hardware and in WinUAE (extended ADFs).


What I think Gilloo is talking about, is the second disk in the A-Max retail package. There are two disks. The Program Disk is (as far as I know) a normal Amiga trackdisk-format disk.

The Utilities Disk on the other hand, is special. It is specially formatted to be readable both in A-Max and on a real Macintosh. Presumably the range of tracks readable in an Amiga drive is different from the range of tracks readable on a real Macintosh.

You put the Utilities Disk in a real Mac's floppy drive and run the Disk Transfer program to create what A-Max calls a Mini Transfer Disk. That allows up to 272KB of data to be transferred, writing with the real Mac drive. The disk is readable in A-Max in an Amiga floppy drive.


So, while you could use an Amiga-side program to read/dump some of the tracks of the Utilities Disk, some or all of the Mac-format GCR tracks will be unreadable by the Paula chip (wrong data rate). To dump the Utilities Disk successfully you'd probably need to use a KryoFlux (or SuperCard Pro ).

[prowler]

Originally Posted by mark_k

The Utilities Disk on the other hand, is special. It is specially formatted to be readable both in A-Max and on a real Macintosh. Presumably the range of tracks readable in an Amiga drive is different from the range of tracks readable on a real Macintosh.

You put the Utilities Disk in a real Mac's floppy drive and run the Disk Transfer program to create what A-Max calls a Mini Transfer Disk. That allows up to 272KB of data to be transferred, writing with the real Mac drive. The disk is readable in A-Max in an Amiga floppy drive.


So, while you could use an Amiga-side program to read/dump some of the tracks of the Utilities Disk, some or all of the Mac-format GCR tracks will be unreadable by the Paula chip (wrong data rate). To dump the Utilities Disk successfully you'd probably need to use a KryoFlux (or SuperCard Pro ).

The A-Max Utilities Disk is described earlier in this thread here and in other posts above and below it.

I uploaded some disk images to The Zone at that point and I'll see if I can find them if there's any interest in them now.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by Gilloo

@Supamax
I just want to make disk images usable with WinUAE from the true disks and a true A2000.
If Amax disks are MFM, rawread would make a custom .adf, but it is not the case, all tracks are empty.
So I supposed it could be a GCR format, but if Jim says it is MFM, they are MFM...

As I wrote in post #1284, you could also try PowerCopy Professional (the Sector mode is able to copy A-Max disks); it has the ability (I tested it myself, successfully) to save all tracks content on the hard disk / RAM, so (although it's a bit tricky) you can then load them in PowerCopy under WinUAE emulation and recreate the floppies in .adf (extended/custom) format.
There's a cracked version (by StingRay), if you need it.

However I suggest you to try Emplant Disk Converter I (not II), it works on 68000 Amigas (but lacks the verify option, if I remember well).

Originally Posted by Gilloo

@Supamax
I just want to make disk images usable with WinUAE from the true disks and a true A2000.
If Amax disks are MFM, rawread would make a custom .adf, but it is not the case, all tracks are empty.
So I supposed it could be a GCR format, but if Jim says it is MFM, they are MFM...

Yes. As Jim and mark_k say, A-Max disks are MFM.
NOTE: we are talking about the A-Max format disks (the custom format used by A-Max during Mac emulation), not the original disks (program and utilities disks) provided when buying the A-Max package.

Do not give up! Years ago I successfully dumped all my A-Max disks (italian versions of Excel, Word, etc.) .
I also provided new A-Max disks (extended adfs) of commercial programs, for use with A-Max.

[Gilloo]

got it !
http://aminet.net/package/disk/bakup/rawread

rawread -u 0 -r -x -1 -f disk

will take 12 minutes to extract data and make an extended adf ~2MB

[Retro1234]

Its a shame Amax is dead but without any amhd theres nothing you can do with it.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by Gilloo

got it !
http://aminet.net/package/disk/bakup/rawread

rawread -u 0 -r -x -1 -f disk

will take 12 minutes to extract data and make an extended adf ~2MB

I'm glad for you .
The images are not verified during creation, though, so you don't know if the floppies are 100% correctly dumped... it would have been better to use one of the methods I suggested...

Good job, however .
Will you upload those images to The Zone?

[commie1974]

Wow, this is a hell of a thread, lasts almost 13 years...!!!
I came across it while searching for any usable diskimages with Mac software, to try on a vanilla A500/1MB/Kick1.3 and AMAX II/IV emulator (no extra hardware, I have the cracked, software-only versions here).
Well, have already read a lot of the thread, but I got more confused, too much information squeezed in here, needs weeks to figure out the exact situation.

My question is, has anybody got any AMAX diskimages with any kind of Classic Mac software (games, utilities) that can be transferred back to real floppies for use on a A500 with AMAX?

Can you make a zip of them, along with the Amiga utilities needed (and perhaps a short instruction txt) and upload them in the zone for me and anyone else interested?

Thanks!!!!

[Retro1234]

I cant remember but iirc IV needs a 68020 and worked with Shapeshifter hardfiles I also picked up a nasty virus from a copy of IV.

there were some games and system disks on the eab server I used powercopy to write them back to disk, dont know if there was another way....converter???

:: Looks like the system disk is still on the EAB file server
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=952735#post952735

So I know they can be written with PowerCopy and I think Converter II (requires kick 2+)will work

::: Ok You can get A-Max II from the official A-Max Home Page

http://crossconnect.tripod.com/AMAXHOME.HTML

The System Disk in the EAB file Server link.
http://grandis.nu:81/eabsearch/searc...xclude=&limit=
The First one is for PowerCopy
Powercopy is on the EAB File server you need the version cracked by StingRay - there is a guide for using Powercopy by dlfrsilver here on EAB but I cant find it.
http://grandis.nu:81/eabsearch/searc...xclude=&limit=

Or you have to use Converter II also on the EAB File Server

http://grandis.nu:81/eabsearch/searc...xclude=&limit=

both methods will require a Hard Drive to write the disk Images back to disk.

[commie1974]

Originally Posted by Retro1234

I cant remember but iirc IV needs a 68020 and worked with Shapeshifter hardfiles I also picked up a nasty virus from a copy of IV.

there were some games and system disks on the eab server I used powercopy to write them back to disk, dont know if there was another way....converter???

:: Looks like the system disk is still on the EAB file server
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=952735#post952735

So I know they can be written with PowerCopy and I think Converter II (requires kick 2+)will work

::: Ok You can get A-Max II from the official A-Max Home Page

http://crossconnect.tripod.com/AMAXHOME.HTML

The System Disk in the EAB file Server link.
http://grandis.nu:81/eabsearch/searc...xclude=&limit=
The First one is for PowerCopy
Powercopy is on the EAB File server you need the version cracked by StingRay - there is a guide for using Powercopy by dlfrsilver here on EAB but I cant find it.
http://grandis.nu:81/eabsearch/searc...xclude=&limit=

Or you have to use Converter II also on the EAB File Server

http://grandis.nu:81/eabsearch/searc...xclude=&limit=

both methods will require a Hard Drive to write the disk Images back to disk.

Thanks, man!! Quite helpful!!!

[Retro1234]

No worrys just let me know if theres anything else I can help with or of course the man him self Jim is about sometimes - its a shame after we find out all this we don't record and upload it somewhere

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by commie1974

have already read a lot of the thread, but I got more confused, too much information squeezed in here, needs weeks to figure out the exact situation.

Hi mate ,
yes, the thread is very, very long...

Time ago we discovered how to use the Converter I and II (written by the Emplant author), how to convert a Mac disk image to an A-Max disk image and many other interesting things .
I had created many extended adfs (including, if I remember well, the related Powercopy dump) of some classic programs, but I really should read a good part of this thread again, since I don't remember many details...

[commie1974]

Yes, after some failed attempts I decided to give up...
I booted from the extended ADFs that you guys kindly provided but...

...my goal was to be able to create a bootable hardfile for use with WinUAE and a plain emulated A500 68000/1.3/1MBchip/A590/2MBfast but A-Max 2.56 does not properly recognize/mount the hardfile with scsi.amhd.
I tried any possible configuration, but no luck!

So here I am stuck again, I suppose I will need true hardware for further testing, but I don't have it available here... anyway, thank you all again for the assistance!