IPF image database

[IFW]

Originally Posted by Abaddon

I'm a bit unclear what you mean by targeted preservation? It's not like we can stop the bidding wars on EBay.

I am willing to help out with purchasing missing items, but I don't think the community actually knows whats missing anymore. There have not been any updates in quite some time and I know people have been uploading dumps, but have no idea what. And, yes, I know you have full time jobs.

When I first received my Kryoflux I dumped several games and never heard anything back whether or not the dumps were good, so I have not uploaded anything since (I am still purchasing rare ones). The dumps include: Gladiators, Rebellion, Twin Turbos, 1000c Turbo, Eye of Horus US release and a few others. Prior to Kryoflux I dumped with the Amiga Tool and only heard back once (granted this was the month the Kryoflux was released).

I now know the dumps are good thanks to Kaffer and his disk-analyse tool. I know have personal IPFs for each of the except Eye of Horus. I have started looking into adding new formats to his utility, but like you I have a real job and am trying to stay active in WHDLoad community.

It would be nice to have a list maintained for good dumps received and maybe you need to ask for help from the community to accomplish this and other tasks you have in mind.

Unfortunately there is not a huge difference between what is available as a database, and what is available yet, as unique, not yet preserved games. We are not talking about hundreds of games of difference, even 100 might be wishful thinking.
If in any doubt, just drop me an email (not forum messages please, if possible).

[IFW]

Originally Posted by Calabazam

About that Kryoflux, is it possible to have one inside a big box amiga such as an A2000 or A4000 to turn it into a "restore original games" machine?
Can it operate with a big Chinon drive of the A2000 type?

If not, could a Catweasel be used somehow to restore ipf to disks from a real Amiga?

I'm not interested in a PC based solution (i only have a PC laptop so no floppy drive or controller). The future of PC, according to Intel last statement, is no more in the PC as we know it, so better have a real Amiga based solution to preserve/restore disks.

Yes, you can write back anything with a KryoFlux to a disk, if you want to.
The processing power and amount of memory you have in a hobby Amiga setup is however (usually!) not enough, except for the various kind of PPC machines, which many would argue about being an Amiga or not - please don't start arguing about it, I am completely neutral on this topic
Just to give you an idea: the KryoFlux hardware runs at 48MHz and can execute most instructions in a single clock cycle, and has dedicated hardware for asynchronous USB communication, sampling, etc. Even this way, all the processing tasks are delegated to the host PC, which must be significantly faster for a reasonable processing speed.

I only use a laptop with KryoFlux, never even tried on a desktop, so you are not alone. I think it was even being used with higher-end EEE PCs, so that kind of performance is enough.
You need to connect a disk drive to the KryoFlux hardware, not your laptop.
You do not need any kind of floppy disk controller in your laptop for KryoFlux to work.
KryoFlux is a sampler device, the samples flux transitions from a disk as it is rotated under the drive head and transmitted in raw signal format by the disk drive.
Everything else is software, there are no hardware constraints imposed by any kind of controller. The capabilities of KF are way beyond any standard FDC.
Similarly, writing the data is the opposite of sampling; the samples to be written are calculated by the host and the hardware writes it to disk.

PCs will stay here for a much longer time than anything else we want to preserve. PCs are the main workstations for any kind of development as a start, including consoles, embedded systems etc.
So your laptop is a safe bet (be it Windows, Linux or Mac, does not matter, all are supported), any other system would only have a novelty value, but no practical use or value for users.

[Abaddon]

Originally Posted by IFW

Unfortunately there is not a huge difference between what is available as a database, and what is available yet, as unique, not yet preserved games. We are not talking about hundreds of games of difference, even 100 might be wishful thinking.
If in any doubt, just drop me an email (not forum messages please, if possible).

I'm not doubting you.

Some of my early purchases were from the Wanted list posted on your site that did not have a WHDLoad install at the time.

Should I start uploading? I should be able to supply you with 20-30 that are not currently listed or are different versions than what listed.

A couple that I purchased used such as Boppin and Boing, the Game have the ability to save custom levels and I have not verified that they have or have not been altered.

[IFW]

I meant, before purchasing something, feel free to ask me if it is needed or not - if not trivial from the db.

Yes, that would be nice

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by IFW

I meant, before purchasing something, feel free to ask me if it is needed or not - if not trivial from the db.

I sent you a mail some weeks ago regarding some games I've dumped, if you have a few minutes please reply as otherwise these dumps will only consume space on my HD's because I'm not sure what to do and how useful they are for SPS purposes.

[dlfrsilver]

just little news about a 5 stars rare game, i have just securized Albedo from Myriad

Another extremely rare game is on the verge to be preserved

And i have also bought up the finale compilation from elite so we will be able to see the version of GNG in it, and the others too.

[MrX_Cuci]

Anyone got IPF's back yet? I am about to give up on my dumps.

[dlfrsilver]

Originally Posted by MrX_Cuci

Anyone got IPF's back yet? I am about to give up on my dumps.

which games are you trying to pass in IPF ?

Cheers,

Denis

[MrX_Cuci]

Delivery agent (was on wanted list)
Cycles (from a compilation pack)
Atari st: Klax, escape from the planet of the robot monsters and ?

[Calabazam]

Originally Posted by IFW

Yes, you can write back anything with a KryoFlux to a disk, if you want to.
The processing power and amount of memory you have in a hobby Amiga setup is however (usually!) not enough, except for the various kind of PPC machines, which many would argue about being an Amiga or not - please don't start arguing about it, I am completely neutral on this topic
Just to give you an idea: the KryoFlux hardware runs at 48MHz and can execute most instructions in a single clock cycle, and has dedicated hardware for asynchronous USB communication, sampling, etc. Even this way, all the processing tasks are delegated to the host PC, which must be significantly faster for a reasonable processing speed.

I only use a laptop with KryoFlux, never even tried on a desktop, so you are not alone. I think it was even being used with higher-end EEE PCs, so that kind of performance is enough.
You need to connect a disk drive to the KryoFlux hardware, not your laptop.
You do not need any kind of floppy disk controller in your laptop for KryoFlux to work.
KryoFlux is a sampler device, the samples flux transitions from a disk as it is rotated under the drive head and transmitted in raw signal format by the disk drive.
Everything else is software, there are no hardware constraints imposed by any kind of controller. The capabilities of KF are way beyond any standard FDC.
Similarly, writing the data is the opposite of sampling; the samples to be written are calculated by the host and the hardware writes it to disk.

PCs will stay here for a much longer time than anything else we want to preserve. PCs are the main workstations for any kind of development as a start, including consoles, embedded systems etc.
So your laptop is a safe bet (be it Windows, Linux or Mac, does not matter, all are supported), any other system would only have a novelty value, but no practical use or value for users.

Thanks for this detailed explanation

[Abaddon]

Here is the list of dumps I am currently uploading:

1000cc Turbo[Amiga]
207 Skat Deluxe[Amiga]
Action Fighter[Amiga]-NTSC (different than the current IPFs)
All Dogs Go To Heaven[Amiga] - NTSC
Aquablast[Amiga] - NTSC
Arazok's Tomb[Amiga]-NTSC
Backstage[Amiga]
Beat It[Amiga]
Boing! The Game[Amiga 500]-NTSC
Boo![Amiga]
Boppin[Amiga] - NTSC
Casino Gambling Simulation[Amiga]
Colour the Map[Amiga]
Commissioner's Disk (Earl Weaver)[Amiga]-NTSC
Conquest Of Japan[Amiga]-NTSC
Crossword Construction Set[Amiga]-NTSC
Cruncher Factory[Amiga]
Crystal Hammer II[Amiga]-NTSC
Curse of the Azure Bonds[Amiga] - NTSC
Deja Vu II[Amiga]-NTSC
Denaris[Amiga]-NTSC
Dream Zone[Amiga]
Enchanter[Amiga]
Eye of Horus[Amiga]-NTSC (fanfare)
Final Trip[Amiga]
Gee Bee Air Rally[Amiga]-NTSC
Ghost Chaser[Amiga]
Gladiators[Amiga]
Gold of the Aztecs[Amiga]-NTSC (kernal v1.1)
Grand Overt[Amiga]
Insanity Fight[Amiga]
Insanity Fight[Amiga]-NTSC
Jack Nicklaus Greatest 18 Holes[Amiga]-NTSC
JUG[Amiga]-Goldrush
Kickstart 2[Amiga]
King's Bounty[Amiga]
Leatherneck[Amiga]
Master Axe[Amiga]
Match It[Amiga]-NTSC
Math Blaster Plus![Amiga]
Math-A-Magician[Amiga]
Mean Streets[Amiga] - NTSC
MicroLeague Wrestling[Amiga] - NTSC
Nightshift[Amiga]
Omni-Play Horse Racing[Amiga] - NTSC
Overlord[Amiga]-NTSC
Paperboy[Amiga]-NTSC
Popeye 2[Amiga]
Power Pinball Expansion 1[Amiga] - NTSC
Power Pinball[Amiga] (copy 1) - NTSC
Power Pinball[Amiga] - NTSC
Quizam![Amiga]-NTSC
Rainbow Warrior[Amiga]
Rebellion[Amiga]
Robot Reader - Aesop's Fables[Amiga]
She Fox[Amiga]
Soccer[Amiga]
SportTime Superstar Indoor Sports[Amiga]-NTSC
Steve McQueen West Phaser[Amiga]
Talking Coloring Book[Amiga]-NTSC
Techno Cop[Amiga]
The Crimson Crown[Amiga]-NTSC
The Grail[Amiga]-Goldrush
The Talking Storybook[Amiga]
Top Cat[Amiga]
TV Sports Football[Amiga] - NTSC
Twin Turbos[Amiga]
Vektor Storm[Amiga] - NTSC
Wayne Gretzky Hockey[Amiga]-NTSC
Web Of Terror[Amiga]-NTSC
What a Memory![Amiga]
Where In Time Carmen Sandiego[Amiga]
Where USA Carmen Sandiego[Amiga] - NTSC
Winnie the Pooh[Amiga]-NTSC

Edit: I have about 20 more coming.

[IFW]

Originally Posted by StingRay

I sent you a mail some weeks ago regarding some games I've dumped, if you have a few minutes please reply as otherwise these dumps will only consume space on my HD's because I'm not sure what to do and how useful they are for SPS purposes.

I definitely did reply asking to upload to our FTP - and thanks

[IFW]

I was about to say that a few generous gentlemen have submitted brand new completely undumped disks recently, but one of them just posted before me

Thanks again

[kipper2k]

94 posts and the question as to why IPFs are not publicly made available has not been answered, but been avoided. IPF's contain the same copyrighted coding as ADF's so why are an elite few controlling the "preservation" when no one else has the benefits of being able to play a game that doesn't crash due to bad hacks etc?

why ?

[alexh]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

94 posts and the question as to why IPFs are not publicly made available has not been answered, but been avoided.

I think you'll find this is my thread and I NEVER asked why IPFs were not being made publicly available. (IPFs were intended just for the owners of original disks)

I was asked is why the SPS team seemed to have given up their preservation efforts? The SPS database has no entries for the last few years, not Amiga, Atari ST or any other platform supposedly supported by SPS tools.

Originally Posted by kipper2k

IPF's contain the same copyrighted coding as ADF's so why are an elite few controlling the "preservation" when no one else has the benefits of being able to play a game that doesn't crash due to bad hacks etc why ?

I think you're being a bit harsh. SPS only ever said they were going to provide IPF images to those who owned the originals and provided dumps. All the IPF's available today wouldn't be available if it wasn't for the efforts of SPS team.

Plus in their eyes (and the eyes of the law?) the IPF images shouldn't be available to people who didn't own the originals anyway. Their proliferation throughout the Amiga community is almost certainly NOT what the SPS team envisaged when they started the commendable project.

Now the IPF plugin has been open sourced, something I campaigned for a long time, I believe the IPF images which exist have been truly preserved.

It is a shame that preservation seems to have stalled but it is their choice.

[MrX_Cuci]

Since I still haven't got a definitive answer....my support ticket is: 00829

[IFW]

Thanks Alex.
We can't release the IPF images ourselves as that cannot be classified as either research or preservation activity - we'd risk the project.
While tracking down copyright holders is not entirely impossible, once you try it a bit more to follow the chains etc, you may find it very difficult to find the people who not only claim to able give you the right, but actually are legally entitled to do so.
Why we'd love to that, we don't have the resources, as it would be potentially a full time job for an entire legal team...
In the meantime any contributor who wishes to share the ipf images of a game is free to do so - but it's at their own choice, and they wouldn't risk the project if they don't work on it, provided the images are not sold for profit.

[IFW]

Under the nick Cheriel?

[IFW]

Preservation work has not stalled - quite the opposite, as long as you consider C64 preservation

[TCD]

Originally Posted by IFW

In the meantime any contributor who wishes to share the ipf images of a game is free to do so - but it's at their own choice, and they wouldn't risk the project if they don't work on it, provided the images are not sold for profit.

We still have the 'No IPF uploads or links' rule here. Maybe we just got it wrong and it's merely about asking for IPF images from you and you don't actually mind that people offer to share their IPF images here with taking any legal consequences?