Short:    1541 with parallel cable disk image (d64) creator for IDE64
Author:   silverdr@wfmh.org.pl
Uploader: silverdr@wfmh.org.pl
Version:  0.7.4
Type:     disk/misc
Replaces: none

Long:

This program allows relatively fast creation of the high level
Commodore 1541 disk images, widely known as d64s.

Requirements:
- C64 or C128 in C64 mode or compatible low-level capable emulation
- 1541 with Speeddos style parallel cable connection
  (Speeddos, DolphinDOS 2, Burstnibbler etc.)
- IDE64 with enough disk space to hold the disk image

Known bugs and limitations of the current version:
- only 1541 device can be selected as source and IDE64 as destination
- no verification of parallel connection presence
- no source disk errors handling i.e. only "clean" 1541 disks can
  be archived properly
- no proper destination disk errors handling
- timer is as inaccurate as the TOD timer in the 64 itself can be
- somewhat too long due to dangling garbage code still in the codebase

TODOS:
- DolphinDOS 3 / Prologic parallel connection support
- disk error handling / d64 plus error tables support
- reasonable user interface
- persistent preferences
- support for serial bus drives as destination devices

- disk image to 1541 extraction companion program
- non-parallel imaging options

For more info mailto:silverdr@wfmh.org.pl

Version history:

0.7.4  (2006-xx-yy)
-------------------
- 

0.7.3  (2006-04-16)
-------------------
- crude and dirty destination drive error checking added.
  This certainly needs some more testing and polishing
- code partially reorganised for modularity - preparation
  for multiple device drivers. This version is even
  faster than the previous one: 21.3s!
- changed BASIC line and years in the (c) message
- GCR data is now decoded immediately after reading each
  track rather than only after filling up the whole buffer

0.7.2  (2006-04-09)
-------------------
- parallel transfer routines rewritten. Current ones
  no longer use ATN line and therefore allow more than one
  SERIAL device on the bus during transfer. Yes, one
  won't have to turn off the extra drive(s) from now on!
  Tested only with second (1571) drive. More tests with
  different devices (printers, plotters, other drives)
  highly welcome. Soci - your turn for ideservd, please!
- raster based PAL/NTSC identification routine is now
  used rather than volatile, KERNAL dependent $02a6
  variable.

0.7.1  (2005-12-29)
-------------------
- reassembled to make proper use of zero-page variables.
  This version is now shorter and sets a new
  record: 21.6s for a clean 35 tracks image.
  Thanks go to Soci for finding out the assembler
  misbehaviour and reporting
- changed the sort order of entries in the changelog

0.7.0  (2005-11-30)
-------------------
- source and destination devices no longer hard-coded
  devices are scanned on startup and defaults are selected
  based on their types - read: first 1541 as source and IDE64
  as destination. Other 1541s can be selected if present. Should
  work with parallel connected 1541s from #8 to #11 (untested!).
  Remember to turn off / disconnect from the bus all additional
  SERIAL drives ATM.
- sets TOD on PAL systems to use 50Hz ticks, resulting in more
  accurate time measurement on those. $02A6 PAL/NTSC flag used.
  Untested on NTSC systems! Volunteers?
- no longer exhibits the unreliable behaviour on real hardware

0.6.2 and 0.6.3 (2005-11-22)
----------------------------
- temporary test versions

0.6.1  (2005-11-21)
-------------------
- hopefully removed the cause for occasional unreliable reading
  even with perfectly healthy diskette. Thanks to Jarkko Lehti for
  reporting

0.6.0  (2005-11-20)
-------------------
- destination image name no longer hard-coded
- RUN/STOP can now be used to abort and exit at the main menu
- now uses more memory for track buffers and therefore can buffer
  up to five tracks at a time. Although I find the results a little
  disappointing. Read: I expected a noticeable speedup, while the
  achieved one is rather negligible. I may revert to the old
  one-track-at-a-time behaviour in the future unless I find a way
  to get more speedup out of this.
- Optimised the new GCR conversion routines (about 3s gain). With this
  version I managed to make a 35 tracks d64image in 22.6s, which I
  believe to be a new record on the 64! Correct me if I am wrong.
- c00l colour based track counter at the cost of 140 clock cycles ;-)
- version number properly updated this time...

0.5.0  (2005-11-14)
-------------------
- partially rewritten both peripheral and host routines
- faster (table based) GCR conversion routines - saved about 5 secs
- timers count more than one minute now ;-)

0.4.1b (2005-10-30)
-------------------
- first public release