8-Bit Software
The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library
Floppy
Disk Transfer:
OmniFlop
Last Update: Friday, 09 May 2008 13:25 (v2.01p)
Instant free on-line licensing
(via WWW).
Use WWW registration for instant reply - e-mail takes time!
e-mail support not available 20 May - 27 May
2008
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On This Page You Will Find |
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Overview |
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Download & Installation |
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Support |
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OmniFlop Overview
OmniFlop is a ‘universal’ floppy disk reader, writer, and tester for the IBM PC or compatible which can handle alien floppy disk formats not normally supported by DOS, Windows and Linux. It was first released in December 2004.
For access to files on alien format disks
you will need to use this to image the disk, then other software to interpret the filing system - see here. The OmniFlop
Wizard only handles whole disk images.
OmniFlop consists of a Windows driver plus a Wizard. The Wizard can be used without installing the driver, but only the ‘standard’ DOS formats can then be read, written or tested – none of the alien ‘extended formats’ will be available. The download contains:
- the driver (.inf and .sys), and
- the Wizard (.exe), plus
- the User Guide (.pdf).
Programmers ‑ you can access disks of your chosen formats using the standard Windows® CreateFile/ReadFile/WriteFile interface (no need to learn about the PC internals!!). Contact support for more information.
It runs under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
Windows Vista. For DOS and Windows 95 through to Windows Me, use OmniDisk instead. Under Linux, you've got a whole host
of tools already (of course) more than capable!
OmniFlop was written to archive aging floppies for alien formats from other systems (e.g. BBC DFS and BBC DDOS). OmniFlop knows many disk formats and can even work out formats if they’ve never been seen before. Formats that have never been seen before can be tested, read and written - the known formats can also be used to format disks (then use a disk image to write the filing system & files on to the disk).
If you find a new format please e-mail me the format code produced by the Diagnostic 'Test disk'. This allows me to add the format properly to the program (including the format function) - you’ll get credit for 'discovering' the new format.
OmniFlop has been released but is still a ‘work in progress’. This means changes can be made by request.
1. Automatic detection of formats and hardware.
2. Manual and automatic choice of format.
3. Read, write, and format Single Density*, Double Density, and High Density disks.
4. Read, write, and format 3½" and 5¼" disks.
5. Read and write ‘standard’ disk image files (‘.img’).
6. Read and write ‘interleaved double-sided’ images (‘.dsd’) for double-sided disks containing single-sided formats.
7. Read and write AKAI S-series floppy image files (‘.akai’).
8. Read and write Atari ST disk image files (‘.st’).
9. Read and write Roland disk image files ('.out', '.s50').
10. Read and write ‘Head 0 out then Head 1 back’ (FEAT) images (‘.fea’).
11. Read and write Commodore 1581 floppy images ('.d81').
12. Read and write Thomson floppy images ('.fd').
13. Read and write single-sided format images (‘.ssd’).
14. Read and write ‘Cylinder/Head/Sector’ images (‘.chs’).
15. Read and write ‘Head/Cylinder/Sector’ images (‘.hcs’).
16. Read and write ‘Head 0 then Head 1’ images (‘.hcs’).
17.
Read, write, and format IBM PC DOS formats (160kB,
180kB, 256kB, 320kB, 360kB, 720kB, [
for v2.01m]
729kB, 800kB, 1.2MB, 1.23MB, 1.44MB, 2.88MB, 20.8MB, 120MB, 128MB, 230MB).
18. Read, write, and format extended DOS formats (640kB, 1215kB, 1230kB, 1245kB, 1458kB, 1476kB, 1494kB, 1722kB, 1743kB).
19. Read, write, and format CP/M-80 format (640kB), as used on the Philips P2000C and many others.
20.
Read, write, and format ABB/Asea
Robot formats ([ for
v2.01m] 328kB, 640kB).
21. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC Master 512 DOS formats (360kB, 720kB).
22. Read, write, and format Acorn ADFS formats (ADFS S 160kB, ADFS M 320kB, ADFS L 640kB, ADFS D/E 800kB, ADFS F 1600kB).
23. Read, write, and format BBC SJ Research MDFS format (800kB).
24. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC 40-track and 80-track formats, single & double-sided (100kB, 200kB, 400kB).
25. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC Z80 CP/M format (400kB).
26. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC Master 512 DOS Plus format (800kB).
27. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC DDOS 80-track format (360kB, 720kB).
28. Read, write, and format AKAI MPC 60 MK II format (800kB).
29. Read, write, and format AKAI S-900 formats (800kB, 1440kB).
30. Read, write, and format AKAI S-950 formats (800kB, 1440kB, 1600kB).
31. Read, write, and format AKAI S-1000 formats (800kB, 1600kB).
32. Read, write, and format AKAI S-3000 formats (800kB, 1600kB).
33. Read, write, and format Alesis Datadisks (800kB).
34. Read and write Amstrad AMSDOS Data format, single & double-sided.
35. Read, write, and format Amstrad CP/M format.
36. Read and write Amstrad AMSDOS System format, single & double-sided.
37. Read and write Amstrad AMSDOS System/Data DS and Data/System DS formats.
38. Read, write, and format Apple Macintosh 1.44MB HD HFS format (1.44MB).
39.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format Applix 1616 formats
(800kB, 810kB, 820kB).
40.
Read, write, and format Atari ST DSDD and [ for
v2.01m] Atari ST SS (320kB, 360kB) formats.
41.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format Atari
8-bit format (90kB).
42. Read, write, and format Atari STE formats (738kB, 800kB, 810kB).
43.
Read, write, and format
44.
[ for
v2.01p] Read, write, and format Atari
ST Power Up Plus format (913kB) Note: This may require retries when writing!
45. Read, write, and format Balzer Metal Evaporator format (250.25kB)
46.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format Beli disk format
(640kB)
47. Read, write, and format BMI3030A format (396kB).
48. Read, write, and format cbm1581 format (800kB).
49. Read, write, and format cmdfd1m, cmdfd2m, cmdfd4m formats (810kB, 1620kB, 3240kB).
50.
[ for
v2.01m] Read and write COMX DOS formats (70kB, 140kB, 35-track, 70-track).
51.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format Computer Automation LSI-2 mini-computer format
(1001kB)
52. Read, write, and format DEC Rainbow format (400kB).
53. Read, write, and format Dynacord (1600kB).
54. Read, write, and format Electroglas Wafer Probers CP/M (800kB).
55. Read, write and format EMu Emax (800kB).
56. Read, write and format EMu EOS (1440kB).
57. Read, write and format EMu ESi (1440kB).
58. Read, write, and format Ensoniq ASR-10 formats (720kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB).
59. Read, write, and format Ensoniq EPS Classic & 16+ formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
60. Read, write, and format Ensoniq KS32 formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
61. Read, write, and format Ensoniq KT formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
62.
[ for
v2.01p] Read, write, and format Ensoniq Mirage
(440kB) - fixed in v2.01p.
63. Read, write, and format Ensoniq SD-1 formats (800kB)
64. Read, write, and format Ensoniq SQ1 formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
65. Read, write, and format Ensoniq SQ2 formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
66.
[ for
v2.01p] Read, write, and format Ensoniq SQ80 formats
(440kB, 720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 880kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB) - note: there was a fault with some of
these formats which has been fixed in v2.01p.
67. Read, write, and format Ensoniq TS12 format (1540kB)
68. Read, write, and format Ensoniq VFX-SD formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
69.
[ for
v2.01p] Read, write, and format GravoGraph VX
engraver format (320kB)
70. Read, write, and format HP-2100 8" format (125kB) and 3.5" format (616kB)
71.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format HP-9000 Series 300/310 3.5" format (616kB)
72.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format HP-9121 3.5" format (315kB)
73. Read, write, and format IBM Torch Graduate format (360kB).
74. Read, write, and format Korg 01/W format (720kB)
75. Read, write, and format Korg DSS-1 (800kB)
76. Read, write, and format Korg T-series (T1, T2, T2EX, T3, T3EX) (1600kB).
77.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format LIF
format (1232kB).
78. Read, write, and format LynxDOS format (800kB).
79. Read, write, and format Moog TMC Blowmould control format (640kB).
80. Read, write, and format Mori Seiki DS DD format (648kB)
81. Read, write, and format NEC PC9801 UV & NEC FC9801 V DMF format (1680kB).
82.
[ for
v2.01p] Read, write, and format Oberheim DPX (880kB)
83.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format OS-9/68K
3.5" DD 38W7 format.
84.
[ for
v2.01n] Read, write, and format Panasonic KX-W940 Word Processor Typewriter
(320kB) format.
85. Read, write, and format Peavey SP format (1440kB).
86.
[ for
v2.01p] Read, write, and format Prophet 2002 (880kB)
87. Read, write, and format RadioShack OS9/Nitros9 40-track, 80-track, single & double-sided, 96TPI and 48TPI formats (180kB, 360kB, 720kB).
88. Read, write, and format Roland S5xx formats (720kB, 1440kB).
89. Read, write, and format Roland S7xx format (720kB, 1440kB).
90.
[ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format Sanyo
X68000 format (1248kB).
91. Read, write, and format Shima Seiki DS DD format (640kB).
92. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 40S format (160kB).
93. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 40D format (320kB).
94. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 80S format (320kB).
95. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 80D format (640kB).
96. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX-Spectrum TR-DOS (640kB) format.
97. Read, write, and format Sinclair Spectrum Plus3 CP/M format.
98. Read, write, and format Spectrum DISCiPLUS 40-track.
99. Read, write, and format Spectrum Miles Gordon Tech +D/Disciple format (800kB).
100. Read, write, and format Spectrum Opus Discovery (180kB)
101. Read, write, and format Sinclair QL QDOS (800kB).
102. Read, write, and format Stride PDOS (640kB) format.
103. Read, write, and format Tandy CoCo RSDOS single & double-sided 48TPI (157.5kB, 315kB).
104. Read, write, and format Tandy CoCo RSDOS single & double-sided 96TPI (157.5kB, 315kB).
105. [ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format Tatung Einstein TC01
Xtal Dos 1.31 40-track DS (400kB) & 40-track SS
(200kB).
106. Read, write, and format Thomson TO9 3½" (640kB).
107. Read, write, and format ZEISS Spectrophotometer Specord M400 format (640kB).
108. [ for
v2.01m] Read, write, and format unnamed formats 144kB [Brian "Briza" Palmer], 180kB
[Shawn Howell], 360kB [Ralph Hänsel]. If
you have names for these please contact Support.
109. Extended support of more drive types, motherboards and media.
110. Test floppy disks for compatibility with the IBM PC (including unknown formats!)
111. Read and write unknown formats, including Intel 8271, WDC1770, and NEC µPD765 FDC formats.
112. Easy to use – a wizard guides you through the process.
113. Choice of formats and detection algorithms after auto-detection.
114. Diagnostics included for advanced support and data recovery.
115. Instant free on-line licensing (via WWW) and support (by e-mail).
* Most - but not all - modern PCs can support single density. The main difficulty in getting it to work is usually the software or the configuration of it. Don’t assume your PC can’t do single density ‑ it's always worth a try. Just try OmniFlop or OmniDisk.
Some of these functions require a (free) license. See section 2.5 of the User Guide (in the download) for more information.
OmniDisk is a Command Prompt universal disk reader, writer and formatter. It is more powerful than OmniFlop but harder to use. It includes native support for some filing systems, and configures itself automatically to your system. It is capable of automatically reading all formats that the hardware can, even if these formats have never been seen before, or are copy-protected. [OmniFlop can also test, read, and write all such formats if uniform.] The original 16-bit version of OmniDisk runs under DOS or a DOS Command Prompt in Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or Me. If there is sufficient demand, a new version of OmniDisk, OmniDiskXP may be released to run in a Command Prompt under Windows XP, 2000, NT and Vista.
FDC is a Command Prompt disk reader, writer, and formatter. It is manually configured and you must use the correct combination of commands for your system to access disks correctly. There is no auto-configuration. FDC runs under DOS or a DOS Command Prompt in Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or Me.
The most important difference between these utilities is the Operating System(s) they work under. There is no point trying [the 16-bit version of] OmniDisk or FDC under Windows XP/Vista!
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16OmniDisk XPOmniDiskXP |
OmniFlop |
FDC |
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Configuration |
Automatic |
Automatic |
Manual |
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User Interface |
Command line (DOS box) |
Windows Wizard |
Command line (DOS only) |
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Ease of use |
Medium |
Easy |
Medium/Hard |
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Facilities under DOS |
16Disk read/write/format 16Interpretation of disk images |
Not compatible |
Disk read/write/format |
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Facilities under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me |
16Disk read/write/format Interpretation of disk images |
Not compatible |
Disk read/write/format |
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Facilities under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP/Vista |
XPDisk read/write/format Interpretation of disk images |
Disk read/write/format Disk test (v0.03+) Diagnostics |
Not compatible |
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Editing Disk Images |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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.inf Files |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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DFS ‘*’ Commands |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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DDOS ‘*’ Commands |
Supported |
Not supported |
Not supported |
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Floppy Drive Types Supported (BIOS setting) |
Any - BIOS setting not used. |
5¼" 360kB (v0.04+) 3½" 720kB (v0.04+) 5¼" 1.2MB 3½" 1.44MB 3½" 2.88MB (v0.04+) |
Any - BIOS setting not used. |
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Filing Systems Supported |
BBC DFS BBC DDOS Stride PDOS (Basic) |
None (use external program, e.g. emulator) |
None (use external program, e.g. emulator) |
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Physical Formats Supported |
All including: All DOS formats All BBC DFS formats All BBC ADFS formats All Spectrum formats All Amstrad formats All CP/M formats All PDOS formats … plus many more … |
See 'Features' above, but including: All DOS All BBC Acorn All BBC Opus DDOS All Acorn ADFS All Acorn DOS/Plus CP/M-80 PDOS ZX Spectrum +3 CP/M Amstrad ZX Spectrum MGT +More NEC µPD765/7265/ 72065/72066 FDC formats ‑ including Intel 8271 and WDC1770 formats. |
DOS 180kB DOS 360kB DOS 720kB DOS 1.2MB DOS 1.44MB DOS 2.88MB (untested) BBC DFS 40-track BBC DFS 80-track Acorn ADFS L 640kB Acorn ADFS 800kB DEC RX01 DEC RX02 DEC RX50 |
Support/Enhancement |
Available |
Available |
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Status |
16v3.6 Established XPNot yet released |
v2.01h established. v2.01h available as pre-release |
v0.13 Established |
If you format a disk with OmniFlop it does not put on the disk all the filing system information for the format you choose - it just makes a disk of the correct physical format. The reason for this is the sheer number of operating systems out there - I do not have the time in my short life to implement all the Operating Systems ever invented, even if it is just to access the disks! For the same reason you can't see all your files listed in OmniFlop (see Filing System vs Format).
If you format a disk to your chosen format you must then put an image onto the disk for the correct Operating System/Filing System. That is, you are meant to use OmniFlop like this to create blank 'formatted' disks:
- Archive a blank disk (e.g. freshly formatted on original equipment) to an image file on your PC.
- Use OmniFlop to format a new disk to the correct physical format.
- Use OmniFlop to write the blank disk image to the disk (so correcting the Filing System).
OmniFlop knows no Filing
Systems at all.
OmniFlop will give you the raw data off floppy disks of the formats listed above plus other formats it can work out. However, it can't work out the filing system (data format) of the disk - such as FAT12, FAT16, NTFS, DFS, ADFS, Atari ST, RS-DOS - to give you access to the logical files on the disk! Once you've got the data onto your PC in an image file, though, it should be easy to extract the data from the disk image, either manually or with software. Many utilities already exist out there on the Internet to interpret your disk image as files of a whole variety of formats - see Compatible Programs below.
Getting the data
off an alien format disk is the hardest part - which is what OmniFlop does for you ‑ interpreting the data (as
files/samples/documents/audio/video) can be done by anybody with experience of
handling files under Windows, with their own tools of choice, and knowledge of
the system from which the floppy came. I will not live long enough to
re-implement all the systems that ever used floppies - sorry! - so I just give
access to the raw data off the floppy disk.
The OmniFlop Wizard will let you archive a whole disk to a file on your PC and write such a file back onto a disk, formatting it if needed. This is great for handling the whole disk, but if you want to edit or alter the content of the disk (i.e. files, samples, data) on the disk you'll need a program which understands the (logical) format of the disk - i.e. the filing system (see above).
Some utilities allow you to edit the images of the disks - i.e. the files produced by the OmniFlop Wizard. Other utilities are integrated with the OmniFlop driver and can directly access the disks themselves - for these, you will need a version of the OmniFlop driver installed which has the necessary support - or a later version.
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I have
got… |
…of Disk
Format… |
…so I
should use: |
OmniFlop version required |
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a disk image file from OmniFlop |
for an ancient computer |
an emulator for that computer. |
Any |
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a file *.ssd |
BBC DFS, Opus DDOS |
Almost any BBC emulator [DFS], BBC Explorer, OmniDisk, DFS Explorer |
Any |
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a file *.dsd |
BBC DFS, Opus DDOS |
Almost any BBC emulator [DFS], BBC Explorer, OmniDisk, DFS Explorer |
Any |
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a file *.adl |
Acorn ADFS |
Almost any BBC emulator [ADFS], ADFS Explorer |
Any |
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a file *.adf |
Acorn ADFS |
Almost any BBC emulator [ADFS], ADFS Explorer |
Any |
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a floppy disk or image file |
Shima Seiki |
v2.01a |
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a floppy disk or image file |
All AKAI All Ensoniq All Roland And more... About 260 file
formats total. |
v2.01a |
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a floppy disk or image file |
Electroglas Wafer Probers CP/M |
Electroglas |
v2.01b |
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a floppy disk or image file |
Tandy/RadioShack |
unknown |
v2.01d |
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a floppy disk or image file |
All AKAI All Ensoniq All Roland Dynacord |
Ensoniq MID-Disk Tools, Ensoniq Disk Tools, Ensoniq ASR-X Tools, Translator all by Rubber Chicken Software Co. |
v2.01e (partial) v2.01n (full) |
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a floppy disk or image file |
All Ensoniq |
Ensoniq DT |
v2.01i |
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a floppy disk or image file |
Emu Emax |
EMXP/EMXPN by ///E-Synthesist |
v2.01j |
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a floppy disk or image file |
All Ensoniq |
v2.01k |
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a floppy disk |
DEC RX50/Rainbow/DECMate |
RSX2MS by Tony Fagg |
v2.01p |
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a floppy disk |
AKAI S20 |