ChanServ changed the topic of ##yamahasynths to: Channel dedicated to questions and discussion of Yamaha FM Synthesizer internals and corresponding REing. Discussion of synthesis methods similar to the Yamaha line of chips, Sound Blasters + clones, PCM chips like RF5C68, and CD theory of operation are also on-topic. Channel logs: https://freenode.irclog.whitequark.org/~h~yamahasynths
<cr1901_modern>
I didn't know Microsoft was branching out into programming languages for reading obsolete media
<ej5>
oh that's just HxC
<ej5>
very handy program
<ej5>
also i just realized that's an amiga disk that i imaged
<kode54>
btw
<kode54>
does it support visualizing Apple IIgs floppies?
<kode54>
those actually used multiple motor speeds, and packed the sectors more densely on the outer tracks
<kode54>
so they got 800k instead of 768k
<kode54>
sounds like a very small advantage
<kode54>
for such a complicated piece of hardware or software driving it
<ej5>
GCR right?
<kode54>
I don't remember
<ej5>
it supports apple ii floppies, so perhaps?
<kode54>
apple ii floppies always had 16 sectors per track
<kode54>
except for dos 3.2, which had 13
<kode54>
I just know the only floppy drives that were ever backwards compatible with Apple IIgs floppies were the ones supplied with classic Macs
<kode54>
they could read and write ProDOS disks
<ej5>
interesting
<kode54>
or you could format them HFS and use them with newer GSOS
<ej5>
apple was always really weird about disk drives
<kode54>
back then, Apple IIgs called the "FST" or "File System Translator", High Sierra
<kode54>
the HFS one
<ej5>
dates back to woz designing his own custom controller and (some other engineer) doing the custom analog board for the drive itself
<kode54>
high sierra fs
<kode54>
yeah
<kode54>
the Apple II disk drives were special
<ej5>
yeah, stepping controlled entirely through software
<kode54>
in that they saved a boat load of money by making half of the logic pure software
<ej5>
thats where we get all that spiratracking crap
<kode54>
I remember Lode Runner for Apple II
<cr1901_modern>
floppies with spirals... like CDs?
<kode54>
it used 1/4 and 3/4 offset tracks, spaced with an offset of 1.5 tracks
<ej5>
yeah they did tricks with the 4 software controlled signals that directly controlled the stepper motor phases
<kode54>
and the media was so sensitive to the read head passing over it, that reading the disk with the wrong track offsets could actually damage the data
<ej5>
mmm i dunno about that
<kode54>
well
<kode54>
I just know
<ej5>
the read head is entirely passive
<kode54>
my dad used a generic copy software to copy the game from a friend
<kode54>
and not only did it produce a non-working copy, it rendered the original unusable
<ej5>
could be he didn't swap the disks out correctly, or put the wrong disk in the wrong drive
<kode54>
I found that doing the same thing with a proper copy app for it, even rendered the game unreadable
<ej5>
i'd be very surprised if it was a hardware issue
<balrog>
whitequark: yeah, the Apple II floppy drives do have a different AFE
<balrog>
this means that while you usually can get away with using PC drives for read, reliability for write is difficult
<balrog>
the 3.5" drives are more forgiving, though with GCR media it can still be problematic
<cr1901_modern>
#openmfm
<balrog>
I wouldn't say it's impossible to get it working though
<whitequark>
ack
<balrog>
cr1901_modern: channel is empty?
<cr1901_modern>
sorry it was a joke
<cr1901_modern>
but definitely a bucket list idea
<cr1901_modern>
Absolutely no use other than to prove it's possible
<cr1901_modern>
whitequark: Completely OT, but whatever... have you ever used ansible to successfully redeploy postfix on a fresh VPS install? And it worked w/o issue?
<andlabs>
did anything use GCR on 3.5" disks other than Macintosh
<andlabs>
IDK what the 1581 used
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<whitequark>
cr1901_modern: probably? i use my own recipes though
<ej5>
andlabs, apparently the sector format is standard IBM (or very close to it)
<andlabs>
on the 1581? I thought you still needed special software for reading MFM IBM disks
<ej5>
you do because the file system is different
<andlabs>
oh I thought you needed the special software regardless of filesystem