Great Hierophant
Veteran Member
I really think the time has come for a replacement for the Central Point Option Boards for the IBM PC. Here are the most important features a replacement should have :
Works with double density and high density drives. (Deluxe)
Emulates "laser burned hole" protection. (Enhanced)
ISA and PCI support. (edge connectors on both edges)
Read and write HD protected images.
CPU and system speed independent.
Better reading algorithms to dump damaged media or media that is unreadable through an ordinary controller.
Properly read DD images in HD drives.
The software should be as easy to use as possible so that the user should not need more than one version of it to get his backups working. The disk images created should be in a format that will allow later writing to a disk.
It should also have software and tools designed for the PC, not the C64, Apple II, Amiga, ST, TRS, CoCo, Mac, TI, or 400/800/XL/XE. Specific protections should be targeted like SuperLok, ProLock, Cops Copylock II, Lock-It-Up, NeverLock and the like.
Most importantly, this has to be something that can be done at a reasonable price level. No need for extra features like the catweasel that include sockets for SID chips.
Personally, I would be satisfied with an 8-bit ISA board the replicates the original CopyIIPC Option Board (the TTL versions). I am basing this on the assumption that all copy protected games came on double density disks and that none of them used laser burned holes (no one has ever identified a game that uses that protection). No need for the features of the Enhanced board or the Deluxe board.
Works with double density and high density drives. (Deluxe)
Emulates "laser burned hole" protection. (Enhanced)
ISA and PCI support. (edge connectors on both edges)
Read and write HD protected images.
CPU and system speed independent.
Better reading algorithms to dump damaged media or media that is unreadable through an ordinary controller.
Properly read DD images in HD drives.
The software should be as easy to use as possible so that the user should not need more than one version of it to get his backups working. The disk images created should be in a format that will allow later writing to a disk.
It should also have software and tools designed for the PC, not the C64, Apple II, Amiga, ST, TRS, CoCo, Mac, TI, or 400/800/XL/XE. Specific protections should be targeted like SuperLok, ProLock, Cops Copylock II, Lock-It-Up, NeverLock and the like.
Most importantly, this has to be something that can be done at a reasonable price level. No need for extra features like the catweasel that include sockets for SID chips.
Personally, I would be satisfied with an 8-bit ISA board the replicates the original CopyIIPC Option Board (the TTL versions). I am basing this on the assumption that all copy protected games came on double density disks and that none of them used laser burned holes (no one has ever identified a game that uses that protection). No need for the features of the Enhanced board or the Deluxe board.