"raw" format?

[schadel]

My SDCard emulator is on order. I'm hoping I can get by using ImageDisk to create a floppy image, or simply creating a blank floppy with no image at all. But I may need or want to know how to create a raw image. This is not explained in the users' manual. The target system is a Japanese SORD computer running CP/M-68K. I want to replace the DD 8-inch external drive, but I believe the formatting is the same as for the HD 5.25" internal drive (they both use the same controller chip, same number of tracks, number of sectors, rpm, etc.). I imagine a raw image would be a full-track image of track 00, side 0 followed by track 00, side 1, then on to track 1, etc., but how does it account for the gaps and are there other considerations? Is there software that can run on a 486 PC (DOS) to produce it? What, exactly, should a "raw" image contain? Many thanks,
--Bruce--

[Jeff]

My SDCard emulator is on order. I'm hoping I can get by using ImageDisk to create a floppy image, or simply creating a blank floppy with no image at all. But I may need or want to know how to create a raw image. This is not explained in the users' manual. The target system is a Japanese SORD computer running CP/M-68K. I want to replace the DD 8-inch external drive, but I believe the formatting is the same as for the HD 5.25" internal drive (they both use the same controller chip, same number of tracks, number of sectors, rpm, etc.). I imagine a raw image would be a full-track image of track 00, side 0 followed by track 00, side 1, then on to track 1, etc., but how does it account for the gaps and are there other considerations? Is there software that can run on a 486 PC (DOS) to produce it? What, exactly, should a "raw" image contain? Many thanks,
--Bruce--

I will update the user manual soon:
i page about this subject.
https://hxc2001.com/floppy_drive_emulat ... ateraw.pdf

To know which floppy format are used by the target system try to read one floppy disk with the dump tool:
https://hxc2001.com/floppy_drive_emulat ... pydump.pdf

[schadel]

Hello Jeff,

I have downloaded the latest software and manual. The manual is very good; thank you for all the effort. Still, it does not really describe a raw file and what information (besides data) it would contain or how to create one. I see that the same dialog is used to read a raw file or to create an empty image. Is that because one must enter the same parameters in either case? Would a raw file indicate the interleave, skew and proper gap3 length or must one know those first?

I have a PC running DOS that can read 5.25" disks from the target system. It has 22DISK and ImageDisk on it. But floppydump runs on Windows and I don't know if I can find an old Windows system with 5.25" drive and a '725 controller. Is there a DOS version?

Many thanks,
--Bruce--

[Jeff]

Hello Jeff,

I have downloaded the latest software and manual. The manual is very good; thank you for all the effort. Still, it does not really describe a raw file and what information (besides data) it would contain or how to create one. I see that the same dialog is used to read a raw file or to create an empty image. Is that because one must enter the same parameters in either case? Would a raw file indicate the interleave, skew and proper gap3 length or must one know those first?

I have a PC running DOS that can read 5.25" disks from the target system. It has 22DISK and ImageDisk on it. But floppydump runs on Windows and I don't know if I can find an old Windows system with 5.25" drive and a '725 controller. Is there a DOS version?

Many thanks,
--Bruce--

The raw parameters depend of the target computer/raw image.
In your case try to dump some floppy with this tool:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img/

This will create some IMD disk image, supported by the emulator and this one is contain all floppy parameters.