Semi-Virtual Diskette (SVD)
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For Info:
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Index  -  Selecting & downloading a floppy image

Index - Using the PC Software

Each one of these sections includes a bunch of illustrations and screen shots so they may download a bit slowly on slow connections.

For a single file, printable version version of these instructions, click here. Note that the file which next comes up will NOT have the menu on the left side, and may take a little while to load.



Section 2 - Selecting & downloading a floppy image


1.

Select a machine type

First you should select the type of vintage equipment you are using on the other side of the SVD. By choosing this machine, the SVD-CP will automatically configure itself to present the most valid options while choosing files and floppy images. You can choose "generic" as the floppy type if you like.

To choose the type of machine, select
File > Floppy Type. Then click on the appropriate machine/floppy to use.

Note that since machines are constantly being added to the supported list, the picture here may be out of date.


2.

Choose the floppy number & click "Load..."

The SVD acts like up to three real floppies to the vintage equipment. The SVD-CP shows these three as virtual floppies that you can load with floppy images. When you load a virtual floppy with a floppy image, and download it to the SVD, it will act as the associated floppy to the vintage equipment. For example, if you load virtual floppy #0, and download it, then the SVD will appear to the vintage equipment as a real floppy drive #0. If you download virtual floppies #0 and #1 then the SVD will appear as both real floppy #0 and #1.
The SVD is smart enough to co-exist with real floppies. You should be careful, though, not to download a virtual floppy that has the same number as a real floppy. In this case, the SVD and real floppy will try to respond to the vintage machine at the same time...and neither one will work!

Some vintage gear selects the real floppy number through special floppy cable connectors. In these cases, for the SVD to act as the desired floppy number, you will need to plug it into the right connector or modify the cable to allow it to act as any floppy number. Please check out the instructions for your particular vintage machine for notes about how the floppy drive may be selected by the floppy cable.

Once you decide on the floppy you which to load, click on it's Load... button.


3.

Select "Floppy Image File"

When you click on Load... the load screen pops up. The load screen allows you to download either:
Floppy Image FileSelect this option if you want to download a complete floppy image. Floppy image files have names with extensions that vary from vintage machine to machine. Some of them are named file.dsk for example.
List of FilesSelect this option if you want to download one or more individual files. The SVD-CP will wrap the file(s) in a floppy image before downloading them to the SVD. This is a great option if you have a binary program, text file, or even basic program that you would like to run. For more information, please see the example in Section 4 - Downloading a file .
In this example, I clicked on the Load... for floppy #1. By default, the "Floppy Image File" option is checked.

At this point, either type in the full path name for a floppy image file, or click on the Browse... button to locate the image file. When you click on OK when browsing, the SVD-CP will check the image that you selected to see if it can be understood as a compatable floppy image. If so, a brief description of the image file will appear under the file name. If the image file cannot be properly decoded, an error message will appear.

Click OK when you have found the appropriate image, and it will be loaded into the virtual floppy.

See Section 4 - Downloading a file for information about how to load a single file into a virtual floppy.


4.

Download to the SVD

As you can see, in this example the Dos 3.3 disk was loaded into virtual floppy number #1. Below the name is an indicator of how much memory, relative to the maximum amount of memory in the SVD, that will be consumed on the SVD when this image is downloaded. Other controls include:
EnabledIf you "check" Enabled the given virtual floppy will be downloaded when you click on "Download". You can turn it off to disable downloading of this virtual floppy.
Write ProtectChecking off Write Protect sets the write-protect switch on the virtual floppy...just like covering the write-protect tab on a real floppy.
EjectPressing Eject clears this virtual floppy image.
Once you are comfortable with the settings for this virtual drive, you must be sure to:

      Download All.

Loading the virtual floppies simply prepares them for downloading to the SVD. You must click on Download All so that the virtual images will become available to the SVD. After download, the SVD will respond to the vintage machine just as though the floppy images were real floppies in real floppy drives.

Note that downloading clears the SVD. So any images previously loaded are cleared when the download starts. For example, if you have downloaded floppy #0, and then want to download floppy #1, you need to actually download both at the same time...essentially reloading #0 and loading #1.

If you like, you can check-off Auto Download which will cause the SVD-CP to automatically download to the SVD after each time you Load... a virtual floppy.


5.

The SVD is now ready!

Before download, and during the download itself, the SVD will not respond to floppy requests from your vintage computer. It will essentially be "invisible."

After a completed download the the SVD, however, it immediately begins to operate as a floppy drive to the vintage equipment. That is, any request by the vintage computer to a floppy drive that matches a loaded virtual floppy will be serviced by the SVD. This works for both booting, and reading data from the SVD. In most cases, this includes writing to the SVD as well.



Index - Using the PC Software

Each one of these sections includes a bunch of illustrations and screen shots so they may download a bit slowly on slow connections.

For a single file, printable version version of these instructions, click here. Note that the file which next comes up will NOT have the menu on the left side, and may take a little while to load.