Hewlett Packard HP-35660a LIF and HFE difficulties

[richardm]

Hi All

Apologies for the long-winded explanation!!

I have sifted through many threads and tried find an answer to my problems. I have been trying for days trying to work out how to eventually replace my 3.5 floppy in my HP=35660a DSA with an HxC gotek (firmware already setup by me). I am pretty sure it is the same Sony drive that is in the HP-4145B. One thing I MUST be able to achieve is replicate one of the HP-35660a floppies that has an old application on it called IBASIC (HP Instrument Basic, a file called IBASIC_LD.D that you can load at boot). I don't want to lose this application.

So, I have a greaseweazel and have read the raw flux from an empty floppy and the floppy with the IBASIC app. I can write that back to a real floppy and it loads in the DSA. At least now I have several floppies as backups with the IBASIC application.

What I now want to do is create a working HFE image for the Gotek with the IBASIC app on it. That's where I have come unstuck. None of the HP-4145B HFE images can be read in Lifutils and therefore are not going to be readable on the 35660A.

I have a Windows 98 PC that is MSDOS compatible and I have established the correct LIF format that works in the 35660A. I can format a real DS/HD disk (with tape over the HD hole so it looks like a DS/DD) using Lifutils that has a preset for a 616K LIF, 2464 blocks, 256 bytes/sector, 16 sectors/track. This loads fine in the 35660A. Problem is it doesn't have IBASIC on it and Lifutils cannot handle this type of file (File Type 4000 I believe ?). What I have managed to do is format an HFE blank 720k Image from lifutils on the Gotek and using the greaseweazel I can write this to a floppy and it works in the 35660a. This means I am 90% there but I cannot work out how to now use the HxC Software with my Flux images and what I know about the lif format from the blank Lif HFE that works, to create an SCP/HFE with IBASIC on it.

One thing I have noticed is when I load the raw flux is shows as 82 Tracks, 2560 Sectors, Size 327,680 per side. ?

Any help appreciated. I can somehow share the flux and working HFE if it helps

Cheers

Richard

[richardm]

I should also add that I have saved the raw flux as HFE in the HxC Software and saved to a USB, but Lifutils just reports there is no disk in the Gotek drive. If Lifutils cannot see it then the 35660a won't either.