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Amstrad PCW 9512+ Disk Images (again)

N

nfraser01

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Joined
Aug 16, 2023
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9
Location
Bristol, UK
Hi All

I know this has been asked before, but the links/attachements in similar posts are no longer working as far as I can tell...

I'm after a boot disk or boot disk image for this PCW. It's the unusual one with the 3.5" drive, not the 3". I've just taken it apart to replace the belt in the floppy drive and have got it all working again (as far as I can tell), but don't have any software to test with it and PCW 3.5" images or physical disks appear to be hard to track down.

Is anyone able to point me in the direction of links to disk images? I can write 720k floppies from other devices I have, if needed.

Alternatively if there is anyone in the UK with the original factory discs that they want to sell me for a resonable price, I'd be happy to consider that too. I've been keeping an eye on eBay but they don't seem to come up at all (unlike the 3" versions)

Alternatively it seems I might be able to take a 3" image and modify it to be written to 3.5" drive instead, but I've not seen a clear set of instructions on how to do this, it's just been hinted at in other posts I've read.

Apologies if some of the above appears "dumb" - I'm new to PCW's.

TIA

Neil
 
I think I've found a page with a number of 9512+ images, for systems etc.

Try:

Amstrad PCW 9512+ Boot Discs

Amstrad PCW 9512+ Boot Discs
www.cpcwiki.eu

Note that there are two or three different sets, the first I think turned out to be dud, there are in fact SS images but they need to be DS. Read the discussion right through.

Not sure which images you need. I think I can convert an image file into a disk., although I've never tried. I have a 3.5" drive attached to my PCW. I also have one of the uIDE drives so I can deal with the larger file, BUT the software I have will not handle Extended images and many you will get ARE extended. This is discussed in the thread referred to. If images that you want are there, then we'll go from there.

Geoff
 
Hi Geoff

That's one of the threads I had previously read and alluded to in my post. However I don't seem to be able to find any files associeted with that post or for download on that site? Am i missing something?

Thanks.
 
Hello Neil,

I don't know what's happened here.

I've just been myself to the thread I linked to (from 2016) and the file referred to PCW9512BOOTDISKS.ZIP (in the third link) has downloaded fine Maybe I still had it on my pc anyway from 2016, but finding it....... So, downloadid it again.

The earlier .zip files may have been removed, as the files in them are wrong anyway, see text in thread.

This last one, the files seem to be OK. As in, they appear to be what they SHOULD be.

There's a SS version of a CP/M boot disk, this is no use. But MIGHT contain some bits orth having?
There's a 2in1 start-up disk.
There's a set of Loco disks, DS etc, this is for a full version of Loco that has an 'Install' prog rather than a simple boot process, not sure how we can sort that out?
Finally, a correct Boot disk for a 9512+ A: drive (i.e. a DSDD disk), which is what you really want right now. It's got the correct system version on, also i has some .FIB files re using the 3.5" disk as A: which answers some of my concerns mentioned earlier.

BUT - it seems to be an 'Extended' Disk Image, which is a bloody pain. I have two progs that will load an image to a 'real' disk, but they don't work for 'Extended' images, I need a standard image, and there is NO REASON for these images to be 'Extended' at all. John Elliott's Joyce system will boot from an extended image, works better if it's TOLD it's an Extended image it's reading from, so I can work around this but it's MUCH more tedious. Is possible though. Need to attend to the code for the first sector on the floppy disk, which will be different.

Geoff
 
Neil,

I've used a system called SAMDisk for some years, using it for some tasks like image file conversion, but just wondered it this would write an extended image, and seems that it does. Can't test the disk yet, bit it wrote OK.

If you have the software for Simon Owen's SAMDisk, and your PC has a suitable 3.5" drive, than you can use the image I've got and do the job, and prob do something with the Loco ones as well.

As well as the main prog, you need a little driver util fdrawcmd to allow your system to access the FDC, then comes from the Simon Owen website. http://simonowen.com/samdisk/

When I get my old DOS machine booting again, I'll use 22DISK to read the CP/M disk I've just written and see if it all looks OK

Geoff
 
GeoffB17 said:
Hello Neil,

I don't know what's happened here.

I've just been myself to the thread I linked to (from 2016) and the file referred to PCW9512BOOTDISKS.ZIP (in the third link) has downloaded fine Maybe I still had it on my pc anyway from 2016, but finding it....... So, downloadid it again.

The earlier .zip files may have been removed, as the files in them are wrong anyway, see text in thread.

This last one, the files seem to be OK. As in, they appear to be what they SHOULD be.

There's a SS version of a CP/M boot disk, this is no use. But MIGHT contain some bits orth having?
There's a 2in1 start-up disk.
There's a set of Loco disks, DS etc, this is for a full version of Loco that has an 'Install' prog rather than a simple boot process, not sure how we can sort that out?
Finally, a correct Boot disk for a 9512+ A: drive (i.e. a DSDD disk), which is what you really want right now. It's got the correct system version on, also i has some .FIB files re using the 3.5" disk as A: which answers some of my concerns mentioned earlier.

BUT - it seems to be an 'Extended' Disk Image, which is a bloody pain. I have two progs that will load an image to a 'real' disk, but they don't work for 'Extended' images, I need a standard image, and there is NO REASON for these images to be 'Extended' at all. John Elliott's Joyce system will boot from an extended image, works better if it's TOLD it's an Extended image it's reading from, so I can work around this but it's MUCH more tedious. Is possible though. Need to attend to the code for the first sector on the floppy disk, which will be different.

Geoff
Click to expand...
Hi.

Thanks for your reply.

No links showing for me so I'm guessing you have to be a forum member to see the links...Joining now.

Thanks
 
Oh, if you're interested:

The reason that site and link did not work for you. But worked fine for me.

The forum for the CPC Wiki (and the web site) and the associated sites for the PCW, allow full access for registered members, and maybe you are not so (yet ?). If you register, then I assume you will gain access. I am registered, and have been so for a number of years, so I do have access. There is a specific section for the PCW systems, also much of interest/use in sections regarding hardware (esp re disks and disk drives, software, and other things. I have obtained a vast amount of info from there, and other users.

Geoff
 
Neil,

I have used SAMDisk to write the image PCW9512C.DSK to a 3.5" floppy disk, and the process seems to be OK (although there seems to have been a disk/format problem with the first attempt). The first disk gave a couple errors with Tr 1 and 2, but listed the DIR OK, the second attempt with a different floppy is giving no errors. I cannot check that it boots, but I see no reason why not.

If you have all the right bits, you should be able to do the same, or I can send you the disk I've made?

This will make the job of doing something with the 4 Loco disks (for Loco version 4.11) much easier.

As I suspected, the system has an A35.FIB file active, this will adjust the step rate for the 3.5" disk using a 'Field Installed Driver' that loads as part of the boot process. This may cause problems if tried with the inappropriate hardware? The disk I've made is 'good to go'.

Timo - Is the 'stuff' not on 'archive.org'? who might have put it there. I've had no dealing with 'archive.org', I don't know what's there, or how anyone might get at it. These specific files seem to be perfectly safe with JonB (he uploaded them to the CPC forum, I downloaded them then, as did many others, so I've got them, x hundred others did also? CPC forum is the first place I'd look for something like this, not archive.org? Who controls that??

Geoff
 
GeoffB17 said:
Neil,

I have used SAMDisk to write the image PCW9512C.DSK to a 3.5" floppy disk, and the process seems to be OK (although there seems to have been a disk/format problem with the first attempt). The first disk gave a couple errors with Tr 1 and 2, but listed the DIR OK, the second attempt with a different floppy is giving no errors. I cannot check that it boots, but I see no reason why not.

If you have all the right bits, you should be able to do the same, or I can send you the disk I've made?

This will make the job of doing something with the 4 Loco disks (for Loco version 4.11) much easier.

As I suspected, the system has an A35.FIB file active, this will adjust the step rate for the 3.5" disk using a 'Field Installed Driver' that loads as part of the boot process. This may cause problems if tried with the inappropriate hardware? The disk I've made is 'good to go'.

Timo - Is the 'stuff' not on 'archive.org'? who might have put it there. I've had no dealing with 'archive.org', I don't know what's there, or how anyone might get at it. These specific files seem to be perfectly safe with JonB (he uploaded them to the CPC forum, I downloaded them then, as did many others, so I've got them, x hundred others did also? CPC forum is the first place I'd look for something like this, not archive.org? Who controls that??

Geoff
Click to expand...
Thansk Geoff, and Idkraemer.

I now have a Windopws 2000 Pro machine writing floppies using SAMDisk and it's working great.

I've manged to create a CP/M boot disk and a Locoscript 4.11 disk that are both functional :)

Thanks everyone who contributed..I can now begin to explore the PCW ecosystem...
 
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