05.003 How can I back up files on CD-ROM?
Description
This article is from the Apple II Csa2 FAQ, by Jeff Hurlburt with numerous contributions by others.
05.003 How can I back up files on CD-ROM?
Compact disk recording opens up many possibilities. Obviously, archiving
software is one of them. Another is being able to record audio. In my studio,
I've placed a lot of important material on analog tape; and, unlike the
diskette situation, there is no doubt of the imminent danger of degradation.
Burning the audio to CD would maintain the original quality, with the added
bonus of random access.
CDR also opens up business opportunities. Archiving data for businesses
and spinning off audio masters and mixes for bands and clubs are just two good
prospects. All of which more than justified the cost of a CD Recorder.
First priority, of course, was preserving my precious ][ goodies! I began
the whole process on a Wednesday afternoon, and worked non-stop through Sunday.
Step One was to archive programs and their support files into compressed
SHK files. Not only does this help keep everything organized, but it also
prevents loss of resource fork data when files are moved to the PC for
processing.
I archived the data from every floppy I have plus files from each hard
drive partition. A few items were archived twice; but, this way, I can choose
from a 'raw' original or 'set up' version. (Besides, separating out duplicates
would have taken an extra day!) Anyway, the entire backup only reached about
105 megs. There would be plenty of breathing room on a 650 meg CD.
Since all 10 of my hard disk partitions are ProDOS, I settled for
transferring data to the PC in 32MB chunks. This was done using a home brew
null-modem cable to connect the serial ports of both machines.
It's surprising that so many computer users go to the trouble of using
diskettes for machine-to-machine transfers. Null-modem is so easy! I attached
my cable, launched Spectrum v2.0 on the GS and Hyperterminal on the PC, and,
then, told Spectrum to Zmodem-upload everything on the transfer stuff partition
to the PC.
The machines held a steady transfer rate of about 4500 CPS. Since I had a
few 32-meg partitions to upload it was a good excuse for leaving the computers
to their work and indulging in Babylon 5 re-runs!
Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the uploading was complete. On the PC,
everything wound up in a folder called "GS Backup". Inside this folder, I
created other folders (Games, Graphics, etc.). All in all, 100+ floppies and a
340 meg hard drive had been turned into a nice, organized 105 meg archive.
After double checking the archive, I slapped a blank CD into the recorder,
started EZ-CD Pro, and selected "New" from the file menu. I scanned the
displayed listing of burn formats for "HFS" because it is recognized by both GS
System 6 and Mac. Unfortunately, HFS was not in EZ-CD Pro's list; so, I
selected ISO-9660, which System 6 can handle via the HS.FST.
Actually, the whole process went very smoothly. I chose the "GS Backup"
folder as the data to burn to the disc, and, after about 7 minutes, the CD
recorder spit out a shiny new GS archive!
Or, so I thought... I put the CD in the GS drive. It mounted fine, but
upon opening the CD, I found that EVERY file was placed in the root directory,
instead of in it's proper folder. Also, every filename had a ";1" after it?!
It turns out that the ";1" is an end-of-filename character (the ";")
followed by a an ISO-9660 version number. Versions of ISO-9660 which do not
support the Apple Extensions require such a suffix for non-directory files. The
cure is to find a CD burner program which supports either High Sierra Group
format or a more up-to-date version of ISO-9660.
The directory problem was my fault. I was still learning the software's
"parenting" feature, and had mistakenly told EZ-CD to make the disc with every
file in the root directory!
Anticipating some such screw-up, I had made sure to not select "close
disc" on the first burn. This makes a disc "multisession", which means you can
do later burns ("sessions") and write new stuff until the disc is full, or
until you "close" it. (You cannot, however, erase anything.) So, I told the
software to make the first session inactive, and burn a second session which
would have the files in their directories.
After another 7 minutes, out popped attempt #2. Sure enough, in the PC's
CD-ROM drive the first session showed as ignored, and the new, Version 2,
session was active! Alas, on the GS, the situation was reversed. Version 2 was
ignored. I found out later (by asking someone) that HS.FST does not, currently,
support multisession discs! As Poor Richard once observed in his Almanac:
"Experience keeps a dear school ... ."
Despite a few tribulations, I'm pleased to report that my first CD was not
a waste. If you have the Balloon NDA installed and double-click a file, it is
recognized as an SHK archive and is opened accordingly. Opening the files from
GSHK worked fine, as well. It 'ain't pretty'; but, the archives are all intact,
and perfectly readable on the GS.
Since I have more things to add to a future CD (like GNO v2.0.6), I'll
soon be ready to pull all the data off "disc 0" and burn a fresh one, doing it
right this time. At least, for now, I have everything backed up on a safe,
long-lasting medium, thus taming my dying-floppy paranoia. Now, if I could
somehow archive the II hardware ...!
---------------------------
By: M. Kelsey
I made a ProDOS 8 CD-ROM just today for the first time. I used Windows '95
since it has APSI driver emulation in an MS-DOS prompt and a freeware utility
called DISK2CD from http://www.goldenhawk.com .
It consisted of only these few steps:
1. Get all software onto youir Apple II hard drive that you
want written to CD.
2. Disconnect the hard drive.
3. Reconnect the hard drive to a Windows '95 or DOS machine
with appropriate ASPI drivers.
4. Run DISK2CD.
5. Test the CD out on your Apple II =)
Now I can use Copy II+ 6.5 to make disk images in an uncompressed form,
store them with their file attributes, and have a bootable CD-ROM from which I
can access the utilities and disk images! (WooHoo!) Bye bye to all those 300
5.25" disks!
___________________________
By: Supertimer
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