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From: Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: I have damaged 5.25 disks. What program will help recover them?
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 09:11:28 +0000
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itsme writes ...
>
> I have a few 5.25 DOS 3.3 and Prodos disks that went bad on me suddenly.
>
> There is no visible physical damage, some of them will boot but the files
> won't load, there are various other problems.
>
Are any or all of these commercial wares? If any are, they may be
copy-protected. Repairing/restoring a copy-protected diskette can be much
more difficult that fixing one which is not copy-protected.
> What program can I run that will automatically fix them? (if they are
> fixable)
>
> I have tried Track/sector lists, Zap utilities, etc.
>
> The fact that they haven't worked is probably because they are pretty
> complicated, and they aren't automatic.
>
> I am looking for a program that I can boot up, and it automatically does
> everything for me. ....
>
There are various "Disk Fixer" and bit copy utilities (Copy II
Plus, Locksmith, etc.) which may get the job done for some diskettes.
Ground, Apple2.Caltech, Asimov, and other A2 sites have collections of such
utilities. There is no 'fix everything which is fixable' utility because
what is "fixable" is not always easy to determine.
In case you have not already tried eliminating the usual
non-diskette variables ...
First, get a Cleaner Diskette Kit from Radio Shack and use it to clean
the heads on your drives. On Apple II 5.25" drives, the head is on the
bottom; so, this is the side of the Cleaner Diskette which should be open.
Next, use a Speed adjustment utility to set drive speed. Copy II
Plus's VERIFY/SPEED (available in the C2P main menu) works fine. Normally,
you want 200ms or a smidgen more per revolution-- say 200ms-201ms. (200ms
--> 5 revs/sec --> 300 RPM).
The above steps will, fairly often, solve all or most "sudden" disk
access problems.
Assuming the diskettes did at one time work on your computer, then,
for diskettes which, even on clean, properly adjusted drives, persist in
screwing up, you will, probably, need to make fresh copies.
If any of the wares are copy-protected, you may be able to make a good
copy using one of the bit copiers mentioned earlier. A lot depends upon the
particular piece of software, availability of copy parameters, and whether
or not the copy protection scheme is one which, itself, could damage data.
By far, the easiest solution to restoring a bombed copy-protected
diskette is to download a new copy from one of A2 wares Preservation Sites.
For years, despite occasional complaints by a few software speculators,
these sites have stood between the great mass of formerly commercial wares
from the 80's and early 90's and extinction. The main Preservation Site for
formerly commercial 5.25" A2 wares is Asimov. Asimov's emmulator disk
images can be converted back to diskette form using DSK2FILE.
Here are a few general hints for copying 'problem diskettes':
Whatever copy program you are using, try copying with each drive
getting a chance to be the Source/Original Drive. It may be that one
drive's head alignment will 'fit' a particular source disk better.
It may be helpful to try lower speeds (e.g. 205ms) for the
Source/Original diskette. You want the Target/Copy Drive set for 200ms;
and, once finished, you want the Source Drive set back to 200ms, too.
Sometimes, a quick copier (like Disk Muncher) will succeed in making a
no-errors copy on the second or third try.
COPYA with error-checking turned OFF will, sometimes, succeed in
making a good copy of a problem disk.
A bit copier, like the one in Copy II Plus, may make a mostly-good
copy on the first pass. You may be able to get the problem tracks copied
via repeated retries on the particular tracks.
Rubywand