Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

In a message dated 8/7/2003 5:11:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time, hans-artmann@... writes:

> 
> 
> I don't think this works. I tried several disk image programs both on Win98
> and under clean DOS 6.0 and nothing really works properly.
> There is also one called FloppyImage which is said to work under XP (while
> XP generally has a problem with DD disks), howevwer, it seems to work with
> EPS disks but when I try to read a VFX disk and rewrite the image the VFX
> can't read it.
> 
> My further experiences are:
> - epsdisk by Michael Chen does not work with VFX disks. Althogh the disk
> format is equal (# tracks and sectors) the directory structure is different.
> So you can card out the programs dealing with EPS disks.
> - Gary Giebler's ede109 does not work when called from a command window
> under XP what's not surprising. From a command window under Win98 it works
> sometimes. Under clean DOS it's not much better. Maybe it depends on how old
> the disks are. I suspect reading floppies with errors can become very time
> consuming and boring like it does with epsread. Therefore the Giebler tools
> are no alternative.
> 
> Unfortunately I couldn't find new DD floppies to try if ede109 would then
> work without problems. Maybe not: I formatted a floppy in the VFX which
> worked fine and ede109 said 'sector not found' and alike...
> 
> The next option I'll try is to write all data out MIDI for backup. This
> would include programs, presets, sequences, MultiAB,... The only tradeoff is
> the system config which is pretty tiny on a disk and would only be included
> in an 'ALL' sysex. Then I would use floppies for interim storage where I
> don't have MIDI access...
> 
> Any further experiences and ideas are welcome!
> 
> Regards,
> Hans
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gsnedden [mailto:gsnedden@...]
> Sent: Donnerstag, 7. August 2003 21:10
> To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] reorganizing sounds and songs on VFX-SD
> disks
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have heard that a Sony Mavica MVCFD90 1.2MP Digital Camera, can copy a
> 3.5" disk regardless of format.  I do not know, but if you know someone with
> one- check it out.
> 
> Gil
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "supergidi" <supergisi@...>
> To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 12:51 AM
> Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] reorganizing sounds and songs on VFX-SD disks
> 
> 
> Hello,
> I have many disks with my sounds and own songs. I have collected them
> the last 12 years, since I bought my vfx-sd. Unfortunately I have
> saved them more than once on several diks for backup, sometimes as 60-
> songs, sometimes a single songs and so on. Meanwhile the disks are
> getting wors because of their age, so I tried to duplicate and
> reorganize them.
> But making a copy of a whole disk isn\ufffdt real fun on a vfx-sd, and the
> reorganization by loading and changing disks takes a long time.
> I thought about using EDM, but I dont want to pay 35 US$ for a
> product when I am not shure it works. I tried out EDE 1.09, but I
> can\ufffdt create readable disks for my vfx-sd. EDE copies the image (I
> tried 2 disk images, the OS2.10 and the blank), sometimes the program
> aboards with error message, sometimes it seemes to work properly, but
> my vfx-sd says "unformatted disk". I even tested ede1.09 on different
> computers (all WinXPprof) and at last I installed Win98 on an older
> laptop without any sucess (using dos-mode and dos-box).
> Does anyone have an idea how I can do this job easily?
> Best regards,
> Gisi
> 
> 
> 

 Hans
      When using the Gary Geibler software and encountering an disc error I always went back to the VFX and formated a NEW DSDD and did a disc copy. This always seems to work for me.
 Richard