Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!ukma!sean
From: sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: WARNING -- Interceptor Patch (warning is unnecessary)
Message-ID: <9829@g.ms.uky.edu>
Date: 4 Jul 88 23:53:53 GMT
References: <3207@louie.udel.EDU>
Reply-To: sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey)
Organization: The Leaning Tower of Patterson Office @ The Univ. of KY
Lines: 55

In article <3207@louie.udel.EDU> smith@nrl-aic.arpa (Russ Smith) writes:
 >[posted to the generic ARPANET amiga-relay list]

I did not post it to the generic ARPANET amiga-relay list.  I posted it
to Usenet just like this one, and it was gatewayed over there. I take no
responsibility for anything I post that goes outside the Usenet domain
without my knowledge.

 >Recently a "patch" for the brain-damaged F/A-18 Interceptor copy
 >"protection" was posted (S. Casey was the poster). This patch will only
 >work if the version of Interceptor you have is the one that
 >this patch was written for.

Well, there is only one version known at this date, so it is about 99% likely
to work on everyone's copy. 

 >If ONE BYTE is different, you get a destroyed copy.

This might be true, and probably is, but I'm nitpicking and saying that it
isn't necessarily true.  Besides, I TOLD EVERYONE to use a backup copy. This
extra warning is unnecessary. But, if you apply the patch and it blows up,
put your original disk in drive zero, the copy in drive one, and:

copy df0:"F-18 Interceptor" df1:

Now that wasn't so bad.


 >A "better" patch program would check the context of
 >the changed locations FIRST, verifying that things are the same, THEN
 >changing the locations.

That's true. It's still easier than newzap, isn't it.

 >Though I know of no "other" versions of
 >Interceptor out there, it IS possible, so caution is suggested. All
 >zeroed out values should have been 0xF prior to change and you should
 >NEVER modify your original. Be sure to make that copy and modify the copy
 >only.

Like I said, I TOLD EVERYONE TO USE A BACKUP COPY! This warning is redundant.

 >[Note that one "bug fix" on EA's part is sufficient to render that
 >patch program invalid. Bug fixes do not necessarily result in new version
 >numbers...]

Not necessarily. It may or may not work in the future. We'll just have to
whip up another patch, won't we?

Sean
-- 
***  Sean Casey                        sean@ms.uky.edu,  sean@ukma.bitnet
***  The IPCF Roto-Rooter man.         {backbone|rutgers|uunet}!ukma!sean
***  U of K, Lexington Kentucky, USA   Internet site? "talk sean@g.ms.uky.edu"
***  ``I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.''