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KryoFlux - USB Floppy Controller

Yes, currently read only. That feature is planned, but if you want a device that will definitely write too, I would wait until we've completed that work before purchasing - basically because we can't really say how long it will take, as it's jostling against various other priorities we have.
 
Writing definitely works fine; I did the original prototype for Kryoflux and it can basically write anything including any copy protection, long tracks, etc. Here's a demo of it (same hardware, test software) from a while back writing high-density long tracks (as used in various copy protection systems).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TR15SiuwBk

The Kryoflux guys are very thorough; they're sorting the reading out first, but "write any disk format" will not be a problem.

Rich Aplin
 
Any update on this? The SPS site indicates no logged activity on the project since May 2010 - is that a lack of logging or a lack of progress? I *will* buy one of these when they've got stable writing support claimed as a feature, even just for the PC formats (since the hardware will eventually do all other formats without needing to buy a "new" one or anything).
 
Hi, there has been so much progress you have not seen since it was moved to a dedicated site & forums:

http://www.kryoflux.com

http://forum.kryoflux.com


It's working fine so far with many 3", 3.5" and 5.25" drives. More drives are under investigation.

We currently do have support for FM, MFM (this includes IBM PC, Atari ST and many others, including many musical instruments), AmigaDOS, C64, many Apple formats and Emulator I+II from E-MU Systems. More formats will be added.

One key feature is the option to do forensic dumps regardless of the format, so even alien formats can be read and archived and then processed later.

Writing, as Richard wrote, does work, we have tested the hardware and can confirm it can write data to disk. We just have not finished this part of the software, because other features (ports, GUI) seemed more important and we all do work full time besides doing this.

The software, including a GUI, is available for Windows (and yes, we *do* support 64bit :p) and Linux, with a Mac port in production. The software is completely free for private, non-commercial use = the community gets it for free. Pro-users need to get a commercial licence for it. These will help to fund further development.

Here's a quick overview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjEPo2pRGjY

Basic (older) schematics are included with the software, and we plan to release the current schematics (which do use bus drivers) with the next release.

We also have pre-built boards available, so you don't have to etch your own boards and start soldering. Many people that originally intended to built their own decided to go for a ready-made product when they saw the pitch used here (the components are *really* small).

Anyway, if you want a board, you can get them here: http://webstore.kryoflux.com/catalog

Cheers,
Chris
 
Yes, the source will be provided (when we have finished putting in everything needed for 1.0 final) for the host app. However, it won't come as GPL and it still is commercial software. Doing developmemt based on donations does not work unfortunately.

The firmware won't come as source, at least not in the near future. However, it will be archived at various institutions, so it won't get lost and is safe in regard to long term preservation. Besides there are no "user serviceable parts" in there. All decoding logic is in the host app.

Permanent funding (e.g. research assignment by university or the like) could change this and enable the project to be changed to GPL. We are pretty open minded in this regard. So spread the word.
 
What is the purpose of a drive accessing tracks beyond 80? What device(s) use tracks 81, 82, 83, and 84? I'm a PC guy, for the most part, so I imagine the answer is "Macs, Amigas, Commodore, etc."... can a typical PC drive access these tracks? Do they typically go to track 82? Can Kryoflux tell me what a given drive I have can do?

The only difference between the two versions is the accessories, yes (and no offense, but I can wire up my own double-ended molex cables! :D)?

The basic version with no accessories costs $120USD... :(

I can't afford one yet, but presuming I could buy one soon, the hardware is not going to change as the writing capacity for the device improves, right? That'll just be a firmware/software change, if I'm not mistaken, and still apply to the older devices?
 
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There is no huge difference between PC drives and home computer drives. At least not for 3.5" or 5.25". In fact, many of them are the same, there are just some changes in configuration, either by jumpers or small solder pads.

I'd say all 3.5" drives can acces up to 81, some even 83. As for DOS software I only know of one title that did access 80, DOS itself only used up to 79.

For preservation, the higher means the better, although above 83 is nonsense since we don't know of any platform that was guaranteed to have drives that could access more than 81...

As for pricing: I've stated elsewhere that if we'd make 100000 units, the price could fall below US$30 (maybe even US$20). But we're making less than (two batches of 100 units so far), yet we make too much of them to be considered private by the law. That means all ugly discomfort of doing (paying some to do) bookkeeping, electronics recycling registration (fees) and so forth. I am not complaining here, nor am I trying to find excuses. I feel it is very reasonably priced. Try and get a quote to have just one made and then look at the parts and the size of them and ask yourself how many you can build each day if you do this by hand. I am very thankful so many people believed in us so we could have them produced industrially. And please keep in mind: a machine with about the same feature set cost GBP 15.000 or more in 1990. It was also custom made, but the technology was just much more expensive.

I can't tell about the future and if and what we could / will change in regard to hardware. But I can assure you that as of now, there is nothing that needs to be changed in hardware to enable writing. It's all there: high precision timers in hardware, connected to WRITE DATA and WRITE ENABLE.

As for the editions: yes, anyone capable of buying stuff locally (or making it DIY) will need the basic version only. The rest is convenience.
 
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lol tingo (typing too fast). Maverick you said "sell one of" your DOBs? If that statement is accurate then of course you should ;-) As long as you don't expect a huge hardware update to occur in between. I hadn't really followed this much but see a lot of folks disputing some rare games that have shown up on ebay in recent months. I'm just curious though, if one was to make a disk image with these types of systems that back up the entire disk not just track data (I guess there is/was sector sway or something that ends up with noise in unwriteable areas on the disk?) then wouldn't this create that as well if it could write to disk? Not complaining since again the point is preservation of this software since lots of us own rare legitimate copies that are losing bits on our shelves. It's certainly annoying to think that folks are scamming though.

Perhaps the next big thing is an image CRC database of what a valid copy should result in? Though I don't (obviously) fully understand the output I've seen in those oscilloscope like images so maybe it wouldn't work since there's enough random data in between that the legit copies themselves would have differing data?
 
I'll be honest - the software pirates bother me. I've a few valuable pieces of Sierra history, and I've no desire to see them become "common." That said, those same pieces all still function - thankfully - and I'd dearly like to have fully "nibbled" diskettes of the stuff.

As for the DOBs... Eh, I'll consider it. I paid well for one, and got a very, very nice deal on the other two from someone that just wanted to see them go to a good home. They have one - but I have this little "honor" thing about reselling something I obtained in that manner at a profit.

We'll see.
 
Sorry - Deluxe Option Board, as in Copy II PC DOB from Central Point Software. It's an old ISA floppy controller that was made for imaging protected floppies as well, though I believe that it works only with PC and Mac floppies (I've never explored using it for machines other than the PC, though I know it was marketed for use with Mac diskettes as well, I suppose that there's probably a few other machines' floppies that it will copy)
 
I'm still up in the air on this product/project. I'm really REALLY tempted to get one for the ease of use as far as a USB floppy drive controller but I'm not sure I understand all the software bits that are involved and what it can truly do. I think they mentioned it does have write access now for some formats however reading another thread on their site it also seems like this thing still only saves the dumps in a proprietary format which the public doesn't really get the software to use or at least from what I'm understanding you can send them the image you created, they'll convert it to a format which it supports writing back for free.

A little confused.. the version available for sale seems to support all the features but does indicate you don't get a license for something but can download their free software which I believe lets you at least do the dumps and adds a gui to the cli for the parameters to set for the disk you're imaging.

Also I should point out today at least (possibly over the weekend) they've offered them for 10 euros off as a little sale promotion. Sale will probably end today.

The ability to back up disks for preservation is great. However I'm certainly wanting to make sure I can utilize these images reliably too. Anyone else play with one yet?

Well, searching around a few other computing forums I've seen members of several other types chat about the device. This amibay has a pretty nice conversation between several folks using one. It SEEMS like it does back disks up to commonly supported formats (adf) which are immediately usable in an emulated environment. It sounds like copy protected disks will only be archived in the stream/raw format and probably not readable as an adf or other image until you send the raw data to the software preservation society and they convert it to the ipf format file and then you can use the image. Write support is currently only for ipf images which again you can't currently create on your own (I read somewhere that you could purchase the software from them but it's beyond a hobbyist budget).

So perhaps it's not as big of a gamble to back up your data, I just dislike not being able to recreate it easily and having a middle man "collecting" the archives, I suppose they may be available somewhere too though. I've found where they state if you back up your legit disk with their software you can prove that you're entitled to a working backup of that software and they can provide you an ipf of the disk upon submitting. I wouldn't have a huge problem with it if that's more of the case, to provide legit backups for folks or to provide the archive in some manner.
 
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I've been reading up on this project as well. From my understanding, once you have the Kyroflux, you can create the IPFs. The "use this to create a file and we'll send you the IPF" thing was before they actually started selling them, or releasing write support. IF I understand correctly. Big if.

I can say that I've seen IPFs of PC games showing up on the torrents. There is no CAPSDI releases for PC/Atari/etc (just Amiga), so to the best of my knowledge, there isn't an organized way to have gotten these images. Either (a) you created them with your Kyroflux, (b) you had them created by SPS, or (c) you found a file repository that I haven't!

***** Edit
Ignore the first paragraph. After re-reading several things, it appears that the Kyroflux hardware and software only produces what SPS calls a "stream" file (and a sector-based file suitable for use in emulators, such as .ADF). Then you submit the "stream" file to their team, and if they determine that it's an actual original, good disk image, they send you back an .IPF which can then be written with Kyroflux.

I don't see any data indicating that the stream file will be writable by Kyroflux software, and as SPS donates their time, the return time on receiving an IPF is indeterminate (and possibly never if they deem your file as "bad")

Though I haven't looked through all of their forum yet, I haven't seen where they say that they will send you an IPF of a "good" disk to replace your "bad" stream file, though their goal is to provide IPF images to "legitimate" copyright holders.

While I salute their efforts and their dedication, and I get that they donate their time for free "for the love," it does rub me a bit that SPS get to keep (and ostensibly use) all the IPF images even to software of which they have no legal right to have. That's where I have a problem with their moral code - they're skirting the letter of the law to begin with (if they don't own the actual software, they have no right to KEEP a copy of the IPF after they've made it for the "customer" who sent in the stream files), yet they don't want to come on over to the other side completely and just release all the IPF images anyway :) I mean, I get WHY they do it - they want to avoid legal action that would shut down the project... it just rubs me, as I may never get access to replace my own originals should they go bad (or if they are already bad), nor will the "warez d00d" in me get to add more files to my file hoarding ;) CAPSDI exists and distributes Amiga images.. as a PC/Commodore guy, I only hope that the users get organized enough to do something similar for those systems (and Atari 400/800/ST, Apple II/Mac would be nice too..)

All that said. I still want a Kyroflux unit.
 
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