All I want is to make backup images of my MSX games, so I downloaded DCOPY from Msx Faq. I followed the instructions on the site like so...

C:\> DCOPY A: ALESTE2_2.DSK /T:80 /S:9 /H:2

and run into problems. I get a bunch of CRC and Bad Address errors. Running DCOPY without switches doesn't make a difference. I know my disks are perfectly fine because I double checked them on my MSX. So something else has to be at fault. Any suggestions?

If you use HD floppies, make sure you cover the density hole with some tape, so floppy drive knows that it's dealing with. DCOPY.EXE (a DOS program) doesn't work under 64-bit Windows, so I use NTRW.EXE, a native windows program, usually shipped with various Linux and *BSD systems for boot floppy creation.

I think Disk Manager is a good solution, because you can archive your programs as DSK in the PC, and the other way around, and it works Ok on XP system.

@dhau - There's no need to put tape since I'm trying to create images of the original disks. I'm also running DCOPY in pure MS-DOS with a floppy drive that supports 720k disks.

@xgipe - I tried Disk Manager and it too gives me the same problems.

Here's a list of every disk copier I've used...

DCOPY
DITU
Fastcopy (for the MSX)
XSA
Teledisk
Dsk Manager
Copia720
I even went as far as using Slackware and Openbsd to make a backup. All I know is nothing works and I give up.

Try copia720 with /! option (it will read all the disk even if it has bad sectors). Maybe your original disks are damaged or your diskdrive is.

Quote:

I'm also running DCOPY in pure MS-DOS with a floppy drive that supports 720k disks. @xgipe - I tried Disk Manager and it too gives me the same problems. All I know is nothing works and I give up.

It's very strange!!. Are you sure your PC floppy is working properly???

many original games have a protection copy !!

I have the same problems with all of those disk editors, remember?

Now I just use blueMSX to create disk images; works just fine.
(for completeness: probably you can do it with openMSX as well)

@SaebaMSX - Nope Copia720 with /! option didn't work. I'm 100% sure that the games I'm trying to backup are perfect. I just replayed through Jesus and Psy-O-Blade last night just to be sure. I'm also having the same problem with Aleste 2. The game plays perfectly but I can't make a backup.

@xgipe - Nothing that I know of. My floppy drives on my PC and MSX work fine.

@Jipe - Yeah, definitely must be some kind of copy protection. I can't even read the files on these games with MS-DOS or MSX Basic using the command FILES.

rolins: not being able to read the file listing using the FILES command in MSX-BASIC shouldn't keep you from making a disk image on a PC. It is very likely that your PC disk controller can't handle the MSX disk type, if you've got a spare disk drive it would be easy to test. Swap 'em out and you'll know it. If you don't have a spare disk drive, tough luck, but usually these cost around € 5,- at the local hardware store. Worth a shot!

Rolins, using /! option with copia720 lets the program to copy even bad sectors (after several times retrying). It could be an OS issue? You could check at the BIOS if this lets that kind of disks to be read (720KB).

In PC I am using a IOmega USB external disk drive and it works perfect with MSX disks.

@D-Tail - I wish I had a spare floppy drive just to be sure. I've tested all this on two PCs, one with WinXP and the other with MS-DOS only, and my MSX2+. But I just remembered that the disk drive in my MSX2+ is actually a converted PC floppy drive. Would that make a huge difference?

@SaebaMSX - Yeah, already been tried. The bios in my computer has the option for 720kb but the end result is the same. I also setup driver.sys in MS-DOS to identify only 720k floppy drive. Nothing happened. You mind telling the exact model of your Iomega USB disk drive? Most likely the source of my problems are my floppy drives, and if I can find the same model that you have my luck might turn around. Also are you using that Iomega disk drive in WinXP to backup those MSX disks?

Look in the topic 'Throw your floppy disks away" here :
http://www.msx.org/forumtopic8587p15.html
and try Omniflop. It's a "must have"

I did a mistake, Rolins. I answered you in a incorrect place!

See my answer here:

www.msx.org/forumtopicl8587.html

I bought a USB floppy drive. Not the same Iomega that SaebaMSX suggested but a different one. I took the advice of friend and bought a IBM floppy drive because it was cheaper and he said it works with backing up MSX disks. Well turns out the USB floppy drive didn't work out as I thought. I now get controller errors while using DCOPY and Copia720 with the 2 computers I'm using. So I'm guessing it's really the FDC on my computers or it's some kind of copy protection.

Has anyone here ever tried to make a backup of Jesus (disk 1)? I can make copies of disk 2 & 3 but the first disk is giving me all the errors. Same goes for disk 2 on Aleste 2. As I said before these games work without problem in my MSX2+ so the original disks can't be damaged.