How to create an ADF image from IPF

[kipper2k]

Hi all,

I haven't seen anything on how to do this and here is how i was able to create an ADF file from an IPF image and then write that to floppy so i can play the original image on my Amiga.

Bear in mind that certain track protections cannot be copied, but there may be a way to copy the non standard tracks to a certain degree. i think it depends on how Winuae sees the non standard disks


obviously you will need...

- the ipf image to convert
- Winuae. (i used the A500 config, 1 meg setup)
- mount the Action replay III rom file in Winuae

k, heres the steps....


- mount the ipf as DF0:
- boot up winuae, start the game loading
- press "page up" to get into the Action Replay mode.
- type "burst" to activate the burst nibbler
- click start to read DF0: (the ipf image)
- once it finishes and prompts for the destination disk press F12
- you should now be in Winuae edit mode.
- create a blank floppy, and mount it in DF0: (write enabled)
- press F12 to exit Winuae edit mode
- click to start the write.
- once the write is complete you now have your clean original image
- send the adf file to the Amiga and write it.

you should now have a good image providing the burst nibbler is able to copy the protected tracks. I successfully copied the NDOS disk Flood.


Enjoy

[thomas]

NDOS does not necessarily mean copy protected. If the disk was copy protected, you wouldn't have been able to store it in an ADF. The ADF file format does not allow to store copy protections.

Your method is ok for unprotected disks, but you could as well have done it with normal DiskCopy from Workbench. This IPF file was just a joke, it does not need to be an IPF because it does not store any non-Amiga information. Most other IPF files are really protected and you cannot copy them into an ADF.

[Retro1234]

PowerCopy has been a great tool for copying IPFs back to disk.


:Great Giana Sisters IPF copied nicely back to Disk with PC

[mr.vince]

Giana does not have any "real" protection. By "real" I mean kind of track which can not be written with standard Amiga hardware. In fact, you can also copy Giana Sisters with X-Copy in Nibble mode.

[Retro1234]

Sure but you couldnt copy Giana back to disk with X-copy

IPF > PowerCopy > Floppy

If you have the powercopy hardware you can copy other protections - of course this could be possible with the X-Copy dongle if the software was available.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by thomas

If the disk was copy protected, you wouldn't have been able to store it in an ADF. The ADF file format does not allow to store copy protections.

No, this is absolutely wrong!
Kipper2k was obviously referring to extended ADFs. The extended adf format (not the normal one) supports many protections: long tracks, strong bits, sector errors, custom formats and many many others, including some which cannot be written back to real Amiga hardware.

In fact, Toni's program RAWREAD can read many original protected programs and create working ADFs out of them.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Hi all,

I haven't seen anything on how to do this and here is how i was able to create an ADF file from an IPF image and then write that to floppy so i can play the original image on my Amiga.

Bear in mind that certain track protections cannot be copied, but there may be a way to copy the non standard tracks to a certain degree. i think it depends on how Winuae sees the non standard disks


obviously you will need...

- the ipf image to convert
- Winuae. (i used the A500 config, 1 meg setup)
- mount the Action replay III rom file in Winuae

k, heres the steps....


- mount the ipf as DF0:
- boot up winuae, start the game loading
- press "page up" to get into the Action Replay mode.
- type "burst" to activate the burst nibbler
- click start to read DF0: (the ipf image)
- once it finishes and prompts for the destination disk press F12
- you should now be in Winuae edit mode.
- create a blank floppy, and mount it in DF0: (write enabled)
- press F12 to exit Winuae edit mode
- click to start the write.
- once the write is complete you now have your clean original image
- send the adf file to the Amiga and write it.

you should now have a good image providing the burst nibbler is able to copy the protected tracks. I successfully copied the NDOS disk Flood.


Enjoy

Hi kipper2k,
which Amiga program do you use to write the (extended) ADFs back to real floppies? You didn't specify, and this is the weak link of the chain...
I don't know any Amiga program which can write extended ADFs back to disk, protections included.

Note: for this tasks I (and dlfrsilver and Boo Boo and a few others) use the excellent Powercopy. And sometimes it's very tricky.

[EDIT]
Also, there is an easier way (without the use of the ARIII) to obtain an extended adf from an ipf. You only need X-Copy (I use X-Copy Pro v8.5, very powerful) or another good nibbler:

- boot up WinUAE with basic A500 config, even 512 KB, but with 2 drives
- load X-Copy (or any other nibbler you'll use)
- press F12 in WinUAE and create a CUSTOM blank floppy (if the ipf doesn't contain DOS tracks you can create a normal adf, of course). Then return to the emulation
- mount the ipf as DF0
- mount the custom adf as DF1
- copy (in NIBBLE mode) from DF0 to DF1

If the protection can't be managed by any nibbler, you'll have to use the mentioned RAWREAD or try to use Powercopy (when it will be correctly cracked).

[kipper2k]

i have tried the standard ipf images and the ones that work are the ones that use the standard Amigados format. I'm not really sure what you mean by extended ADF, do they have extra sectors etc ?

Any discs that have track and sector protection would likely not copy as i believe the protection of the ipf's is removed by the SPS plugin and the copier would not even see this information. Mr Vince would probably be able to tell you more on this.

For ipf's containing password checks etc this would probably work as they use a proper format. Its just a crapshoot to hope the one you want works.

Personally i'm kinda fed up of the bad hacks out there which crash and spoil the game. I still prefer to wait for an original to load knowing it (shouldn't ) crash.

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Any discs that have track and sector protection would likely not copy as i believe the protection of the ipf's is removed by the SPS plugin and the copier would not even see this information.

The SPS plugin doesn't remove any copy protection. If you "insert" a protected IPF into the emulated drive and run X-Copy f.e. you'll see the errors just like on a real machine.

[kipper2k]

What would happen though if you try to copy for instance a psygnosis game with a non standard track 0 or 1, i dont think it would copy, i would love to be proven wrong if it can be done.

When you nibble an actual Psygnosis game disk it can be copied, i dont think the ipf can ?

(i did try the shadow of the Beast ipf with no luck)

[Retro1234]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

What would happen though if you try to copy for instance a psygnosis game with a non standard track 0 or 1, i dont think it would copy, i would love to be proven wrong if it can be done.

When you nibble an actual Psygnosis game disk it can be copied, i dont think the ipf can ?

(i did try the shadow of the Beast ipf with no luck)

Depens on the type of protection - dlfrsilver did Agony and Ork both Psygnosis games with PowerCopy. But if you can copy the game on a real Amiga Drive-should be able to copy on WinUae. Try Create Custom Disk but I dont know about Shadow of the beast.

[IFW]

If you can copy a disk on a real amiga you can copy an ipf made from the exact same disk as well.
Obviously different versions of games having different protections can fail.
Also, it may be purely up to your luck if you succeed or not with some games...