STX file format ?

[exxos]

Thanks, I grabbed a couple files. my searches just came up 20+ broken links and I gave up.

I may have a test tool done for public use later today. The STX extraction works, as already proven . ST MSA should be simple, ill look into other formats as well.

[alexh]

IPF has a windows DLL plugin intended for use in emulators. You should be able to use it if you wanted to add support for IPF to dump the contents of DOS formatted disks.

https://www.softpres.org/download

[exxos]

IPF has a windows DLL plugin intended for use in emulators. You should be able to use it if you wanted to add support for IPF to dump the contents of DOS formatted disks.

Id assume that wouldn't work on a Linux box though ?

[alexh]

Id assume that wouldn't work on a Linux box though ?

There is a linux equivalent for various CPU architectures.

[exxos]

First test run.

https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/img2files/img2files.php

I only tested a few files with IPX, MSA, ST, it extracts the image to files, but i've not checked if files extracted correctly or tried to run anything.

Report any bugs and I will look into them likely next week. Will need a copy of the image you are trying to extract if something fails. I can't be bothered to go looking for SCP HFE either.

[alexh]

What does it do if the disks are non DOS? As most .STX/IPF are

[exxos]

What does it do if the disks are non DOS? As most .STX/IPF are

Assume it wouldn't matter. But all needs testing out. I don't know anything past MSA and ST . Those I understand :P

[ijor]

I designed STX many years ago. The public variant was mostly meant for emulators. There was a different variant, based on dumps made with the Discovery Cartridge, that was much more suitable for writing back.

For the purpose of extracting sector data, and files, it is just fine. If you are missing any details, let me know.

[ijor]

I was helping with this floppy disk preservation work. IPF format is the format if you want to write back and have confirmed that you flux dumps are good. IPF is a format from Software Preservation Society (SPS) and was very controlled until things kicked off on the Atari-Forum with the help of @Dlfrsilver .

Get a Kryoflux (KF), Supercard Pro (SCP) or Greaseweazle and preserve old disks. It's been a work-in-progress on https://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28228 for a while with IPF provided for good clean, original flux dumps.

I said this several times. There seems to be a misconception that a file format itself can provide certainty for complete, non damaged and not modified original dumps. This is not true. You can get a "bad" dump, even a non working one, on any file format. And you can get a perfectly clean original dump on any other format as well.

What makes a specific dump more certain than others, is how it was verified, not the file format. Originally, each IPF files was individually reviewed and verified by the main CAPS/Softpres developer. Not anymore. Now an IPF file doesn't guarantee anything in itself. As a matter of fact, since Dennis started using all sort of techniques and shortcuts, there are several IPF files on the mentioned repository marked as verified, that they are really not and are actually modified. That's a real pity.