LisaList2

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 11:21:43 AMAny ideas about this one?

An Apple /// diskware program diskette.

I suspect this is related to the Apple ///'s Twiggy disk drive controller card, meant to be used with the Apple ///'s unreleased external UniFile and DuoFile Twiggy disk drives. These never shipped commercially, though a few examples are now in private hands. Note the Z8 with its piggyback ROM in the top-left.

Bad news, I just looked at what I thought were a second set of Basic diskettes and they had no diskettes in the binders. These binders must be what the non working copies came from. Maybe the other set of binders which I'm fairly certain I saw several years ago in storage have another set of diskettes. I'll post when and if I find the other set.

Quote from: ried on Today at 11:39:04 AMHoly macaroni.    You even have the Twiggy Alignment Disk. Would you consider allowing one of us to archive these? Where are you located?

I have the Pascal A5+ release (which is also available for download in the Files section) and you have both BASIC and COBOL. That is incredible.

sigma7 has developed a a new version of BLU that can use multiple damaged Twiggy disks to "fill in" the bad sectors of a disk with data from another to create a complete image. It worked well when I backed up the BPI System Install disk (I had two copies, each with a couple of bad sectors).

We would love to archive these.

Can the alignment disks be archived? Or are you talking about the other disks? I'll fire up my system eventually once I get the twiggies working with the FPGA board and try to archive them locally. I have to locate the disks again. I have several rooms in the basement packed to the ceiling with storage. Not too well organized at the moment. We need to clean out and get rid of all my boys stuff, they're 21 now so we have quite a bit of old toys and clothes that we should have gotten rid of years ago.
If I can't find a second set of the BASIC diskettes it may be a moot point. I will try and archive the original set again once I locate them. I have no idea if my A5 release disks are working or not.

Quote from: ried on Today at 11:55:36 AM

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 11:21:43 AMAny ideas about this one?

An Apple /// diskware program diskette.

I suspect this is related to the Apple ///'s Twiggy disk drive controller card, meant to be used with the Apple ///'s unreleased external UniFile and DuoFile Twiggy disk drives. These never shipped commercially, though a few examples are now in private hands. Note the Z8 with its piggyback ROM in the top-left.

I have two of those.

One is dated 1982 and the other is dated 1983.

Here are some better photos.

Quote from: ried on Today at 11:39:04 AMHoly macaroni.    You even have the Twiggy Alignment Disk. Would you consider allowing one of us to archive these? Where are you located?

I have the Pascal A5+ release (which is also available for download in the Files section) and you have both BASIC and COBOL. That is incredible.

sigma7 has developed a a new version of BLU that can use multiple damaged Twiggy disks to "fill in" the bad sectors of a disk with data from another to create a complete image. It worked well when I backed up the BPI System Install disk (I had two copies, each with a couple of bad sectors).

We would love to archive these.

I'm pretty sure I have some BPI disks although that may be from the 3.5" systems. I bought a Lisa 2/10 from my former employer in 1993 or 1994 which had the full 7/7 plus Xenix on 3.5" disks. I think that may be where I remember seeing the BPI disks.

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 12:06:08 PM

Quote from: ried on Today at 11:39:04 AMHoly macaroni.    ...
We would love to archive these.

Can the alignment disks be archived? Or are you talking about the other disks?

I mean all of them. You have quite a few disks that have never been archived, at least publicly, and these would go a long way toward preservation of the platform. If we can be of any assistance in archiving these, there are a few folks here who would be more than happy to lend a hand.

Quote from: ried on Today at 12:16:24 PM

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 12:06:08 PM

Quote from: ried on Today at 11:39:04 AMHoly macaroni.    ...
We would love to archive these.

Can the alignment disks be archived? Or are you talking about the other disks?

I mean all of them. You have quite a few disks that have never been archived, at least publicly, and these would go a long way toward preservation of the platform. If we can be of any assistance in archiving these, there are a few folks here who would be more than happy to lend a hand.

I just need to figure out how to set up a serial connection from the FPGA to my desktop computer. Of course I need to test out my Twiggy drives with the board. Did Alex get the changes done to allow both drives to work?

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 01:08:20 PMI just need to figure out how to set up a serial connection from the FPGA to my desktop computer. Of course I need to test out my Twiggy drives with the board. Did Alex get the changes done to allow both drives to work?

I have a newer version with YModem and other features... FYI

It will work through a USB cable and Tera Term

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 12:09:07 PMI have two of those

No way, you have TWO Apple /// Twiggy cards? That's actually insane!

Quote from: ried on Today at 12:16:24 PMI mean all of them. You have quite a few disks that have never been archived, at least publicly, and these would go a long way toward preservation of the platform. If we can be of any assistance in archiving these, there are a few folks here who would be more than happy to lend a hand.

Agreed, we need to get all of these disks backed up if possible. The Twiggy alignment disks may not be possible if they have data written outside the normal readable area of the disk or if it's not standard GCR-encoded sector data, but they're definitely worth a try. Unless you have Twiggy archival experience, it's probably a good idea to collaborate with someone like @ried, @sigma7, or @stepleton to maximize the chances of recovering the data from all of the disks.

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 01:08:20 PMDid Alex get the changes done to allow both drives to work?

Sorry, I haven't gotten around to that quite yet! School just started back up and I've been busy. Hopefully I'll get it done today or tomorrow.

Quote from: slewis1962 on Today at 11:33:27 AMI actually used BLU about 20 years ago to archive my Basic disks but one had several bad sectors.

I have a set of Basic disks, one had a bad sector in the catalog area that I think is repaired (see https://lisalist2.com/index.php/topic,558.msg3940.html), but I haven't got around to testing it. Now that it can be tested with the ESFloppy, I'll upload it for someone else to try. If that fails, perhaps it is the same as yours and the bad sectors can be merged.

QuoteDid Alex get the changes done to allow both drives to work?

I'm hoping that one will have the option (without cutting traces) of emulating either one or both Twiggies with the ESFloppy. It will be much faster to archive Twiggies if they can be read with the LisaFPGA using a real drive, then writing to an image on the ESFloppy.

Quote from: sigma7 on Today at 02:53:26 PMI'm hoping that one will have the option (without cutting traces) of emulating either one or both Twiggies with the ESFloppy. It will be much faster to archive Twiggies if they can be read with the LisaFPGA using a real drive, then writing to an image on the ESFloppy.

I think the easiest way to do this would be to simply leave everything as it is right now and then use the FLOPPY DRIVE SOURCE switch to accomplish something like this. Flip it to the EXT position to select your real Twiggy drives and back them up to RAM using BLU. Then flip it to the ESFLOPPY position (without rebooting the board or anything) and copy everything to an emulated image.