Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rochester!cornell!batcomputer!braner
From: braner@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: A challenge to you disk experts
Message-ID: <1866@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Date: Thu, 18-Dec-86 01:13:46 EST
Article-I.D.: batcompu.1866
Posted: Thu Dec 18 01:13:46 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Dec-86 22:37:43 EST
Reply-To: braner@batcomputer.UUCP (braner)
Organization: Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Lines: 30
Summary: Utilize the back of disks formatted as SS

[]

The fastest way to copy a disk's data is to copy the whole disk
(rather than file-by-file copy which is very slow).
A consequence is that most disks I got with PD software, and all
commercial disks, are single sided - and so are their back-ups!
Since I have a double-sided drive, I resent wasting half of each
of those disks.  There are at least two possible solutions:

(1)  Devise a way to copy the complete contents of a SS disk onto
     a DS disk quickly, resulting in a half-full, fully functional
     DS disk (on which you can save a lot of other files).  I guess
     this would be done by reading the whole disk into RAM, analyzing
     it, modifying the stuff in RAM a bit (FATs, etc), formatting the
     target (DS), and writing the data on it.

(2)  Achieve the same or a similar result, but by post-processing an
     existing SS disk (leaving the data in place, formatting the other
     side, and modifying the FATs, etc).  If making it into a DS disk
     without moving the file data is impossible, perhaps it is possible
     to make it work like two separate single-sided disks. It might be
     necessary to run a little program to activate each side when it is
     wanted (by modifying the boot sector).

Any disk experts up to the challenge?

I would also appreciate any info explaining how to emulate the incredible
disk-reading speed demonstrated by STCOPY 2.0.

- Moshe Braner