Over the years I've acquired some miscellaneous user group floppy collections from online auctions, scattered amongst other disks in bulk purchases. I'll have to go through the boxes of floppies and cull out the user group disks to get an idea of how many I have. I haven't had a chance to even boot any of them up to see just what's on them, mainly due to lack of free time (explains my absence from this forum, as well).
However, I would gladly contribute to the cause, solely for the reason that they would be archived digitally and also available to everyone, as they should be. You're correct, Eric, in that these disks should be preserved for their historical and human interest value, and to provide a snapshot of time of the past activities of the Amiga community. I truly enjoy the treasure hunt for software, even more so than finding hardware, so I'm always on the lookout for unique and rare software/manuals.
Just let me know how to contribute, I'd be happy to do so.
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JoeUser
- Dallas, TX
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Zippy Zapp
- CA, USA
That is cool. Do you have a way to image the disks? Say with a Grease Weazle or something like that?JoeUser wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 8:14 pmHowever, I would gladly contribute to the cause, solely for the reason that they would be archived digitally and also available to everyone, as they should be. You're correct, Eric, in that these disks should be preserved for their historical and human interest value, and to provide a snapshot of time of the past activities of the Amiga community. I truly enjoy the treasure hunt for software, even more so than finding hardware, so I'm always on the lookout for unique and rare software/manuals.
Just let me know how to contribute, I'd be happy to do so.
I think for these type of disks an ADF is fine.
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intric8
- Seattle, WA, USA
Even something as basic as David Dunklee's excellent "Disk2ADF" program would be great.
I'd be very curious which user groups are represented and quantities. If any of the disks have custom printed (usually via dot-matrix) stickers with their logos, photos of those disks would be tremendous, too. We will be able upload images/logos for each Set - even if a given set = 1 disk.
I'd be very curious which user groups are represented and quantities. If any of the disks have custom printed (usually via dot-matrix) stickers with their logos, photos of those disks would be tremendous, too. We will be able upload images/logos for each Set - even if a given set = 1 disk.
I can also help, I am in Europe though. I have a Kryoflux here.
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A1-X1000
- Toronto, Canada
cool idea 
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JoeUser
- Dallas, TX
I've got a Grease Weazel, just haven't assembled it in for mounting in its case yet. I haven't even explored creating ADF's, and that would likely be the best way to image individual disks, I would think.
However, once I get the GW functioning the files on each disk can be bundled in a zip file on a PC, then emailed or uploaded. I think if that approach is taken then whomever wants to create ADF's can do so, if desired. Or, if they have a GW then they can simply unzip the contents and copy them to a formatted Amiga disk.
In any case, I need to gather the boxes of floppies I've collected over the past few years and begin to go through them in earnest. I can't believe how many disks I've collected over the past three or four years, but they number in the hundreds. And, they really need to be archived to less volatile media (after verifying that the disks are still readable). Amongst that large collection I know that I have user group disks, just can't recall how many or if they are complete collections (it's likely they're disks from differing collections, no complete sets).
However, once I get the GW functioning the files on each disk can be bundled in a zip file on a PC, then emailed or uploaded. I think if that approach is taken then whomever wants to create ADF's can do so, if desired. Or, if they have a GW then they can simply unzip the contents and copy them to a formatted Amiga disk.
In any case, I need to gather the boxes of floppies I've collected over the past few years and begin to go through them in earnest. I can't believe how many disks I've collected over the past three or four years, but they number in the hundreds. And, they really need to be archived to less volatile media (after verifying that the disks are still readable). Amongst that large collection I know that I have user group disks, just can't recall how many or if they are complete collections (it's likely they're disks from differing collections, no complete sets).
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intric8
- Seattle, WA, USA
I'd be very curious which ones, as in the cities/locales and years.I know that I have user group disks
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Zippy Zapp
- CA, USA
Same here.
I think with the GW, unless you are selecting raw flux images IE SCP format then ADF is the image format of choice for regular Amiga disks. That way it can detect bad sectors, etc. With the GW, I don't think you can extract the contents of the disk into files on the fly. It is an imaging solution and you would use one of the 2 formats as per above. ADF would use the least amount of space (880kb) and Flux images would use the most space (many megabytes each disk). Once saved as an image you could extract contents using an emulator or other software but if you are imaging it then there would be no need for someone to image it after the fact, If I get your meaning?JoeUser wrote: However, once I get the GW functioning the files on each disk can be bundled in a zip file on a PC, then emailed or uploaded. I think if that approach is taken then whomever wants to create ADF's can do so, if desired. Or, if they have a GW then they can simply unzip the contents and copy them to a formatted Amiga disk.
If you need help with the imaging, I am in California and have an image station setup at my office dedicated to imaging C64/128, Amiga and PC disks so I can certainly help.