8-Bit Software

The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

Floppy Disk Transfer:

OmniFlop

 

Last Update: Friday, 02 June 2006 12:28 (v2.01i)

 

[for v2.01i] Instant free on-line licensing (via WWW and e-mail).

 

Support unavailable 11 June 2006 to 30 June 2006. Please be patient!

 

 

On This Page You Will Find

Overview

OmniFlop Overview

Features

OmniFlop vs OmniDisk vs FDC

Formatting Disks

Filing System vs Format

Compatible Programs

Download & Installation

Download & Installation

Quick Start

Help!

Previous & Pre-release versions

Support

Support

Requests

Licenses

 


OmniFlop Overview

OmniFlop is a ‘universal’ floppy disk reader, writer, and tester for the IBM PC or compatible which can handle alien floppy disk formats not normally supported by DOS, Windows and Linux.

 

For access to files on alien format disks you will need to use this to image the disk, then other software to interpret the filing system - see here.

 

OmniFlop consists of a Windows driver plus a Wizard. The Wizard can be used without installing the driver, but only the ‘standard’ DOS formats can then be read, written or tested – none of the alien ‘extended formats’ will be available.

 

It runs under Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. For DOS and Windows 95 through to Windows Me, use OmniDisk instead. Under Linux, you've got a whole host of tools already (of course) more than capable!

 

 

OmniFlop was written to archive aging floppies for alien formats from other systems (e.g. BBC DFS and BBC DDOS). OmniFlop knows many disk formats and can even work out formats if they’ve never been seen before. Formats that have never been seen before can be tested, read and written - the known formats can also be used to format disks (then use a disk image to write the filing system & files on to the disk).

 

If you find a new format please e-mail me the format code produced by the Diagnostic 'Test disk'. This allows me to add the format properly to the program (including the format function) - you’ll get credit for 'discovering' the new format.

 

OmniFlop has been released but is still a ‘work in progress’. This means changes can be made by request.

 

Features

 

  1. Automatic detection of formats and hardware.
  2. [for v2.01g] Manual and automatic choice of format.
  3. Read, write, and format Single Density*, Double Density, and High Density disks.
  4. Read, write, and format 3½" and 5¼" disks.
  5. Read and write ‘standard’ disk image files (‘.img’).
  6. Read and write ‘interleaved double-sided’ images (‘.dsd’) for double-sided disks containing single-sided formats.
  7. Read and write single-sided format images (‘.ssd’).
  8. Read and write ‘Cylinder/Head/Sector’ images (‘.chs’).
  9. Read and write ‘Head/Cylinder/Sector’ images (‘.hcs’).
  10. Read and write ‘Head 0 then Head 1’ images (‘.hcs’).
  11. Read and write ‘Head 0 out then Head 1 back’ (FEAT) images (‘.fea’).
  12. [for v2.01h] Read and write Commodore 1581 floppy images ('.d81').
  13. Read, write, and format IBM PC DOS formats (160kB, 180kB, 256kB, 320kB, 360kB, 640kB, 720kB, 800kB, 1.2MB, 1.23MB, 1.44MB, 2.88MB, 20.8MB, 120MB, 128MB, 230MB).
  14. Read, write, and format extended DOS formats (1215kB, 1230kB, 1245kB, 1458kB, 1476kB, 1494kB, 1722kB).
  15. Read, write, and format CP/M-80 format (640kB), as used on the Philips P2000C and many others.
  16. Read, write, and format ABB/Asea Robot format (640kB).
  17. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC Master 512 DOS formats (360kB, 720kB).
  18. Read, write, and format Acorn ADFS formats (ADFS S 160kB, ADFS M 320kB, ADFS L 640kB, ADFS D/E 800kB, ADFS F 1600kB).
  19. Read, write, and format BBC SJ Research MDFS format (800kB).
  20. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC 40-track and 80-track formats, single & double-sided (100kB, 200kB, 400kB).
  21. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC Z80 CP/M format (400kB).
  22. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC Master 512 DOS Plus format (800kB).
  23. Read, write, and format Acorn BBC DDOS 80-track format (360kB, 720kB).
  24. Read, write, and format AKAI MPC 60 MK II format (800kB).
  25. Read, write, and format AKAI S-900 formats (800kB, 1440kB).
  26. Read, write, and format AKAI S-950 formats (800kB, 1440kB, 1600kB).
  27. Read, write, and format AKAI S-1000 formats (800kB, 1600kB).
  28. Read, write, and format AKAI S-3000 formats (800kB, 1600kB).
  29. [for v2.01h] Read and write Amstrad AMSDOS Data format, single & double-sided.
  30. Read, write, and format Amstrad CP/M format.
  31. [for v2.01h] Read and write Amstrad AMSDOS System format, single & double-sided.
  32. [for v2.01h] Read and write Amstrad AMSDOS System/Data DS and Data/System DS formats.
  33. Read, write, and format Apple Macintosh 1.44MB HD HFS format (1.44MB).
  34. Read, write, and format Atari ST DSDD format.
  35. Read, write, and format Atari STE formats (738kB, 800kB, 810kB).
  36. [for v2.01f] Read, write, and format Atari ST 820kB format
  37. Read, write, and format BMI3030A format (396kB).
  38. Read, write, and format cbm1581 format (800kB).
  39. Read, write, and format cmdfd1m, cmdfd2m, cmdfd4m formats (810kB, 1620kB, 3240kB).
  40. Read, write, and format DEC Rainbow format (400kB).
  41. [for v2.01g] Read, write, and format Dynacord (1600kB).
  42. [for v2.01] Read, write, and format Electroglas Wafer Probers CP/M (800kB).
  43. [for v2.01f] Read, write and format EMu Emax (800kB).
  44. [for v2.01f] Read, write and format EMu EOS (1440kB).
  45. [for v2.01f] Read, write and format EMu ESi (1440kB).
  46. Read, write, and format Ensoniq ASR-10 formats (720kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB).
  47. Read, write, and format Ensoniq EPS formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  48. Read, write, and format Ensoniq KS32 formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  49. Read, write, and format Ensoniq KT formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  50. [for v2.01f] Read, write, and format Ensoniq Mirage (400kB)
  51. Read, write, and format Ensoniq SQ1 formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  52. Read, write, and format Ensoniq SQ2 formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  53. [for v2.01h] Read, write, and format Ensoniq SQ80 formats (480kB, 720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  54. Read, write, and format Ensoniq TS12 format (1540kB)
  55. Read, write, and format Ensoniq VFX-SD formats (720kB, 800kB, 820kB, 1440kB, 1600kB, 1640kB)
  56. [for v2.01g] Read, write, and format HP-2100 8" format (125kB)
  57. Read, write, and format IBM Torch Graduate format (360kB).
  58. [for v2.01i] Read, write, and format Korg 01/W format (720kB)
  59. [for v2.01f] Read, write, and format Korg T-series (T1, T2, T2EX, T3, T3EX) (1600kB)
  60. Read, write, and format LynxDOS format (800kB).
  61. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format Moog TMC Blowmould control format (640kB).
  62. [for v2.01g] Read, write, and format Mori Seiki DS DD format (648kB)
  63. Read, write, and format NEC PC9801 UV & NEC FC9801 V DMF format (1680kB).
  64. [for v2.01f] Read, write, and format Oberheim DPX (800kB)
  65. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format Peavey SP format (1440kB).
  66. [for v2.01f] Read, write, and format Prophet 2002 (800kB)
  67. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format RadioShack OS9/Nitros9 40-track, 80-track, single & double-sided, 96TPI and 48TPI formats (180kB, 360kB, 720kB).
  68. Read, write, and format Roland S5xx formats (720kB, 1440kB).
  69. Read, write, and format Roland S7xx format (720kB, 1440kB).
  70. Read, write, and format Shima Seiki DS DD format (640kB).
  71. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 40S format (160kB).
  72. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 40D format (320kB).
  73. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 80S format (320kB).
  74. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX Spectrum BetaDisk 80D format (640kB).
  75. Read, write, and format Sinclair ZX-Spectrum TR-DOS (640kB) format.
  76. Read, write, and format Sinclair Spectrum Plus3 CP/M format.
  77. Read, write, and format Spectrum Miles Gordon Tech +D/Disciple format (800kB).
  78. [for v2.01f] Read, write, and format Spectrum Opus Discovery (180kB)
  79. Read, write, and format Sinclair QL QDOS (800kB).
  80. Read, write, and format Stride PDOS (640kB) format.
  81. [for v2.01d] Read, write, and format Tandy CoCo RSDOS single & double-sided 48TPI (157.5kB, 315kB).
  82. Read, write, and format Tandy CoCo RSDOS single & double-sided 96TPI (157.5kB, 315kB).
  83. [for v2.01i] Read, write, and format Thomson TO9 3½" (640kB).
  84. Read, write, and format ZEISS Spectrophotometer Specord M400 format (640kB).
  85. Extended support of more drive types, motherboards and media.
  86. Test floppy disks for compatibility with the IBM PC (including unknown formats!)
  87. Read and write unknown formats, including Intel 8271, WDC1770, and NEC µPD765 FDC formats.
  88. Easy to use – a wizard guides you through the process.
  89. Choice of formats and detection algorithms after auto-detection.
  90. Diagnostics included for advanced support and data recovery.
  91. [for v2.01i] Immediate on-line licensing (via WWW and e-mail).

 

* Most modern PCs can support single density. The main difficulty in getting it to work is usually the software or the configuration of it. Don’t assume your PC can’t do single density: try OmniFlop or OmniDisk!

 

Some of these functions require a (free) license. See section 2.5 of the User Guide (in the download) for more information.

 

OmniFlop vs OmniDisk vs FDC

 

OmniDisk is a Command Prompt universal disk reader, writer and formatter. It is more powerful than OmniFlop but harder to use. It includes native support for some filing systems, and configures itself automatically to your system. It is capable of automatically reading all formats that the hardware can, even if these formats have never been seen before, or are copy-protected. [OmniFlop can also test, read, and write all such formats if uniform.] The original 16-bit version of OmniDisk runs under DOS or a DOS Command Prompt in Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or Me. The new version of OmniDisk, OmniDiskXP, runs in a Command Prompt under Windows XP, 2000, NT.

 

FDC is a Command Prompt disk reader, writer, and formatter. It is manually configured and you must use the correct combination of commands for your system to access disks correctly. There is no auto-configuration. FDC runs under DOS or a DOS Command Prompt in Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or Me.

 

The most important difference between these utilities is the Operating System(s) they work under. There is no point trying [the 16-bit version of] OmniDisk or FDC under Windows XP!

 

 

16OmniDisk

XPOmniDiskXP

OmniFlop

FDC

Configuration

Automatic

Automatic

Manual

User Interface

Command line (DOS box)

Windows Wizard

Command line (DOS only)

Ease of use

Medium

Easy

Medium/Hard

Facilities under DOS

16Disk read/write/format

16Interpretation of disk images

Not compatible

Disk read/write/format

Facilities under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me

16Disk read/write/format

Interpretation of disk images

Not compatible

Disk read/write/format

Facilities under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP

XPDisk read/write/format

Interpretation of disk images

Disk read/write/format

Disk test (v0.03+)

Diagnostics

Not compatible

Editing Disk Images

Supported

Not supported

Not supported

.inf Files

Supported

Not supported

Not supported

DFS ‘*’ Commands

Supported

Not supported

Not supported

DDOS ‘*’ Commands

Supported

Not supported

Not supported

Floppy Drive Types Supported

(BIOS setting)

Any - BIOS setting not used.

5¼" 360kB (v0.04+)

3½" 720kB (v0.04+)

5¼" 1.2MB

3½" 1.44MB

3½" 2.88MB (v0.04+)

Any - BIOS setting not used.

Filing Systems Supported

BBC DFS

BBC DDOS

Stride PDOS (Basic)

None (use external program, e.g. emulator)

None (use external program, e.g. emulator)

Physical Formats Supported

All

including:

All DOS formats

All BBC DFS formats

All BBC ADFS formats

All Spectrum formats

All Amstrad formats

All CP/M formats

All PDOS formats

… plus many more …

See 'Features' above, but including:

All DOS

All BBC Acorn

All BBC Opus DDOS

All Acorn ADFS

All Acorn DOS/Plus

CP/M-80

PDOS

ZX Spectrum +3 CP/M

Atari ST

Amstrad

ZX Spectrum MGT

+More NEC µPD765/7265/ 72065/72066 FDC formats ‑ including Intel 8271 and WDC1770 formats.

DOS 180kB

DOS 360kB

DOS 720kB

DOS 1.2MB

DOS 1.44MB

DOS 2.88MB (untested)

BBC DFS 40-track

BBC DFS 80-track

Acorn ADFS L 640kB

Acorn ADFS 800kB

DEC RX01

DEC RX02

DEC RX50

Support/Enhancement

Available

Available

Try http://www.8bs.com/

Status

16v3.6 Established

XPNot yet released

v2.01h established.

v2.01h available as pre-release

v0.13 Established

 

Formatting Disks

 

If you format a disk with OmniFlop it does not put on the disk all the filing system information for the format you choose - it just makes a disk of the correct physical format. The reason for this is the sheer number of operating systems out there - I do not have the time in my short life to implement all the Operating Systems ever invented, even if it is just to access the disks! For the same reason you can't see all your files listed in OmniFlop (see Filing System vs Format).

 

If you format a disk to your chosen format you must then put an image onto the disk for the correct Operating System/Filing System. That is, you are meant to use OmniFlop like this to create blank 'formatted' disks:

 

  1. Archive a blank disk (e.g. freshly formatted on original equipment) to an image file on your PC.
  2. Use OmniFlop to format a new disk to the correct physical format.
  3. Use OmniFlop to write the blank disk image to the disk (so correcting the Filing System).

 

OmniFlop knows no Filing Systems at all.

 

Filing System vs Format

 

OmniFlop will give you the raw data off floppy disks of the formats listed above plus other formats it can work out. However, it can't work out the filing system (data format) of the disk - such as FAT12, FAT16, NTFS, DFS, ADFS, Atari ST, RS-DOS - to give you access to the logical files on the disk! Once you've got the data onto your PC in an image file, though, it should be easy to extract the data from the disk image, either manually or with software. Many utilities already exist out there on the Internet to interpret your disk image as files of a whole variety of formats - see Compatible Programs below.

 

Compatible Programs

 

The OmniFlop Wizard will let you archive a whole disk to a file on your PC and write such a file back onto a disk, formatting it if needed. This is great for handling the whole disk, but if you want to edit or alter the content of the disk (i.e. files, samples, data) on the disk you'll need a program which understands the (logical) format of the disk - i.e. the filing system (see above).

 

Some utilities allow you to edit the images of the disks - i.e. the files produced by the OmniFlop Wizard. Other utilities are integrated with the OmniFlop driver and can directly access the disks themselves - for these, you will need a version of the OmniFlop driver installed which has the necessary support - or a later version.

 

 

I have got…

 

…of Disk Format…

 

…so I should use:

OmniFlop  version required

a disk image file from OmniFlop

for an ancient computer

an emulator for that computer.

Any

a file *.ssd

BBC DFS, Opus DDOS

Almost any BBC emulator [DFS], BBC Explorer, OmniDisk, DFS Explorer

Any

a file *.dsd

BBC DFS, Opus DDOS

Almost any BBC emulator [DFS], BBC Explorer, OmniDisk, DFS Explorer

Any

a file *.adl

Acorn ADFS

Almost any BBC emulator [ADFS], ADFS Explorer

Any

a file *.adf

Acorn ADFS

Almost any BBC emulator [ADFS], ADFS Explorer

Any

a floppy disk or image file

Shima Seiki

SFManager

v2.01a

a floppy disk or image file

EPS Ensoniq

Awave Studio

v2.01a

a floppy disk or image file

Electroglas Wafer Probers CP/M

Electroglas

v2.01b

a floppy disk or image file

Tandy/RadioShack CoCo RS-DOS

unknown

v2.01d

a floppy disk or image file

All AKAI

All Ensoniq

All Roland

Dynacord

Ensoniq MID-Disk Tools, Ensoniq Disk Tools, Ensoniq ASR-X Tools, Translator all by Rubber Chicken Software Co.

v2.01e

 

Note: You must have the OmniFlop driver installed with the version specified, or a later version, for direct disk access from these programs to work. Those accessing file images of the disks do not require the OmniFlop driver.

 

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Download & Installation

OmniFlop is written for Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP only. For DOS and Windows 95 through to Windows Me, use OmniDisk instead. If you want to use OmniDisk under Windows 2000 and Windows XP you will need to install OmniFlop then use OmniDiskXP.

 

Download the latest version unless you specifically need a previous version. Make sure you re-install the driver if you download a different version.

 

Download the latest release of OmniFlop here

 

Download the next (pre-release) version of OmniFlop here

 

Note: Licensing is via WWW and e-mail, or by manual e-mail alone. E-mails to support are dependent on my Internet connection - please send an e-mail and be patient.

 

The download contains installation instructions in Adobe ‘pdf’ format. You can read these with the free Adobe Reader at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html, if you don’t already have it installed. If you want to read them immediately on-line they are also available here.

 

The download contains a user guide (OmniFlop.pdf), a Windows driver (OmniFlop.inf, OmniFlop.sys), and a Wizard (OmniFlop.exe).

 

The Wizard can be used without installing the driver, but only the ‘standard’ DOS formats can then be read, written or tested – none of the ‘extended formats’ will be available.

 

The driver can also be used without the Wizard from v2.01 onwards. See support.

 

Quick Start

 

Download the archive, install the driver (if you want extended format support beyond the standard DOS formats), and run the Wizard.

 

Help!

 

For help or suggestions, use the ‘Support’ contact at the bottom of this page or in the ‘About’ box from the Wizard.

 

Previous and Pre-release Versions

 

In case you need to use a previous version, here they are. Please tell 'Support' if you find you need a previous version, because usually that means the newer version doesn't do what you want!

 

 

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Support

If you have problems, check the lists below, and look in the User Guide - online (the one with your download may be out-of-date).

OmniFlop is designed to work with the majority of PCs using a 'standard' Floppy Disk Controller and in most cases works immediately without any changes to the host system. However, trying to use some alien disk format in a PC under Windows is fraught with problems:

 

 

so you shouldn't expect it to work. Also, floppy disks are physical media using magnetism to store binary data - trying to read that 20-year old floppy in a modern PC with an unrelated drive from 10 years ago is fraught with opportunities for things to go wrong. Start with a floppy disk and drive that works - i.e. a 1.44MB or 1.2MB DOS-formatted floppy.

 

Generally, if you have a problem, make sure you've got the latest version of the driver and wizard installed, turn off your anti-virus software, and run in Safe Mode.

 

If you have tried all the suggestions on this page then use the contact address in the ‘About’ box of the Wizard, or post to the BBC Mailing List with ‘OmniFlop’ in the subject - if that doesn’t work, contact the host of this page (who will have my e-mail address). My e-mail address is not available on this page due to excessive spam. You will need to provide details of:

 

Hardware

If your hardware does not work properly then OmniFlop won't work properly. Make sure your hardware works - under Windows, you should be able to format disks (to Windows'/DOS' FAT12), write them, fill them up, read them, and delete files off them - this must all work without error. Then try this disk with OmniFlop. Make sure you have a decent floppy drive, and disk, that actually works before trying to get support for one that doesn't.

 

 

Your hardware includes the media - i.e. the floppy disk. If the disk is old, damaged, dirty, or losing its magnetic coating, then the disk will be at best unreliable, at worst unreadable. Use decent, known good, media, at least initially for testing. Once you know the system works, you can then try those disks from 20 years ago. Make sure you use a disk of the correct density for the format - 3½" disks can be Double Density or High Density:

 

3½" Double Density disks:

 

3½" High Density disks:

 

You should use the correct media format for the disk format you are trying to use.

Single Density Support

Note that there are cases of PCs with chipsets that do not support Single Density operation. However, it is not as common as portrayed out on the Internet - those who it didn't work for are vocal about it, while those it did work for remain silent ("How can you say it works for most PCs when it doesn't work on mine…?"). The PCs known about so far that do not support Single Density are:

 

 

If you find more, or wish to clarify which particular machines are afflicted, please contact support.

 

To test single density support on a PC, get hold of a known, working floppy disk drive, and a known good double-density floppy disk (one with only one hole in the top - not a High-Density one). First make sure that a double-density format works, by, for example, formatting the disk to Acorn BBC DDOS 720kB, then reading it back in - it should be recognised as this format and should read without error. If this works, try re-formatting the disk to Acorn BBC DFS 80-track double-sided 400kB, and try reading that back in - if the disk is not recognised as BBC DFS 400kB or it cannot be read back in then it is reasonable to assume your PC does not support Single Density. Contact me and I will add it to the list above - you will have to use another PC if you want to handle Single Density disks.

Software

If your hardware works properly then under Windows there is an added complication: other software. Other software running at the same time as OmniFlop may interfere with OmniFlop's operation; OmniFlop needs exclusive access to the floppy disk while it runs. As a first step, check:

If none of these help, reboot Windows into Safe Mode. To do this, as your PC reboots, before it starts Windows, press 'F8' many, many times, like a lunatic, even if the PC starts beeping at you. This should give you the Windows Options Menu - select "Safe Mode" and hit 'Enter'. Try OmniFlop once Safe Mode is up and running.

If you want to prove that your hardware is OK then reboot your PC into DOS and use a DOS-based program such as OmniDisk to SAMPLE a disk. If this does not work, then your hardware (PC) and the disk you are trying to read simply aren't compatible. Try another PC, or disk, or both.

Requests

Use the support contact – requests are welcome and are normally implemented.

Licenses

You do not always need a license. However, some functions require a license so that I get feedback on whether they work or not. Licenses are free and used for feedback only - they are not used for marketing. When a format or function is known to work (because of sufficient feedback) the license is usually removed.

You do not need a license unless the program tells you so. Use the program and it will prompt you for a license if you need one. From v2.01i onwards, the program offers you the choice of registering automatically on-line (via WWW with an e-mail reply) or using e-mail alone.

If you use the on-line registration process (via a web browser and an e-mail account) you should get an almost immediate response. If you use the e-mail contact alone a license is usually issued (manually) within 1 working day. However, as this is a free service you do not get 24-hour emergency support.

If you want to use the facilities of OmniFlop with your own program this is also possible from v2.01 onwards. The users of your application must get themselves a license to enable access your formats (see 'Get a License' in the Wizard) - they can use the on-line registration to do this with the minimum delay. Note that the formats you want to access must be known to OmniFlop before you can access them - make sure all formats you need are registered with OmniFlop first by using the 'Test disk' function in Diagnostics.

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