Different starting sector ID on one track

[arpruss]

Is there a way to specify a different starting sector ID on a special track for HXC raw images? In FlashFloppy one can have an IMG.CFG file that has something like:

Code: Select all

tracks=0-78
id=1
tracks=79
id=97

[Jeff]

are you talking about the hxc tool or the hxc gotek firmware ?

the hxc software uses an xml file to specify the raw format.

[arpruss]

Sorry I wasn't clear. I was talking about the firmware. Yes, I know I can use an XML file to generate an HFE file that has different starting sector IDs for different tracks, but it would be convenient to be able to directly use raw images with different starting sector IDs for different tracks, as it's easier to work with raw images than with HFE files on one's computer. (Of course, one can convert HFE to RAW and back, but it would be nice to be able to avoid that step.)

[Jeff]

To have the full context, which tool on the pc force you to use the raw format ?

[arpruss]

To have the full context, which tool on the pc force you to use the raw format ?

No tool forces me to use raw format. This is for my HP 1653B oscilloscope. I use my lifutils.py python script to manipulate raw LIF images, and the script will launch hxcfe automatically to convert hfe to and from raw as needed. However, it would decrease friction for users of the script if they didn't have to install hxcfe. Moreover, I do a lot of development for this device, and the extra pair of HFE-RAW conversions whenever I change a file on a LIF volume slows things down a bit.

I've tried to use FlashFloppy, but it doesn't seem to work as reliably as HXC. I was able to boot the scope from an HFE file, but then the scope's file utilities didn't recognize the volume.

[Jeff]

i should be able to add this raw support. let me check/update the code

[arpruss]

Thanks, that would be great! Maybe the best thing to put in the custom firmware generator would be to have a section where you can put in special parameters for a specified range of tracks/sides (e.g., different starting sector ID, different number of sectors per side?).

In case anyone is curious, the specifics on my HP unit are as follows. The ROM code in the HP unit for reading/writing disk data checks if the track is 79. If it is, it uses 97 as the starting sector ID number; otherwise, it uses 1. Otherwise, track 79 is like tracks 0-78: five 1024-byte sectors per side. Sector 98 of track 79 side 0 stores a few crucial bytes of information about the the disk format, like the number of sectors per track, the size of each sector, etc.