Disc format: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 22:16, 30 December 2022

CPCs could read discs formatted in three separate ways. Several high-capacity disc operating systems existed to add new formats to the three standard ones.

Standard CPC disc formats

Data: 180k single-sided. 40 tracks of nine 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &C1 to &C9. 64 directory entries. Can also be read by PCWs. The useable capacity is 178k.
System: 180k single-sided. 40 tracks of nine 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &41 to &49. 64 directory entries. Two reserved tracks containing CP/M BIOS. The useable capacity is 169k.
IBM: 160k single-sided. 40 tracks of eight 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &01 to &08. Provided for compatibility with CP/M-86 (and DR-DOS 1.0). Used by very few CPC purchasers, but Locomotive Software stated that this was invaluable for cross-assembly. The useable capacity is 158k.
Vendor: Term used for System format discs with no software in the reserved tracks. The useable capacity is 169k.

All these disc formats use a CP/M based filesystem.

Third-party CPC disc formats

FAT formats [1] (invented by MS-DOS; supported by SymbOS, DOS Copy, ReadDSK, DSK-CPC)
MS800 formats
Prem format (supported by Stream2)
RODOS formats
ROMDOS formats (also supported by ParaDOS: D80 supported by S-DOS and 400K/S)
Ultraform
Vortex (80 tracks, 2 sides, 9 sectors of 512 bytes, 2 reserved tracks, 704 KB; supported by FutureOS, ParaDOS / VaraDOS, VDOS and X-DDOS)
Xexor formats (also supported by ParaDOS)
X-DDOS (supports 0.7 MB Data-, System- and Vortex- formats)
B360K (80 tracks, 1 side, 9 sectors of 512 bytes)
etc.??

References

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 * '''Data''': 180k single-sided. 40 tracks of nine 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &C1 to &C9. 64 directory entries. Can also be read by [[PCW]]s. The useable capacity is 178k.
 * '''System''': 180k single-sided. 40 tracks of nine 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &41 to &49. 64 directory entries. Two reserved tracks containing CP/M BIOS. The useable capacity is 169k.
-* '''IBM''': 160k single-sided. 40 tracks of eight 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &01 to &08. Provided for compatibility with CP/M-86 (?). The useable capacity is 158k.
+* '''IBM''': 160k single-sided. 40 tracks of eight 512-byte sectors each. Sectors numbered &01 to &08. Provided for compatibility with CP/M-86 (and DR-DOS 1.0). Used by very few CPC purchasers, but Locomotive Software stated that this was invaluable for cross-assembly. The useable capacity is 158k.
 * '''Vendor''': Term used for System format discs with no software in the reserved tracks. The useable capacity is 169k.
+All these disc formats use a CP/M based filesystem.
 == Third-party CPC disc formats ==
-* [[FAT]] formats (invented by MS-DOS; supported by [[SymbOS]], [[DOS Copy]], [[ReadDSK]], [[SymDOS]])
+* [[FAT]] formats [http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/firmware/fatgen.mspx] (invented by MS-DOS; supported by [[SymbOS]], [[DOS Copy]], [[ReadDSK]], [[DSK-CPC]])
 * [[MS800]] formats
 * [[Stream2#MoDOS|Prem]] format (supported by [[Stream2]])
@@ Line 16: / Line 18: @@
 * [[ROMDOS]] formats (also supported by [[ParaDOS]]: D80 supported by [[S-DOS]] and [[400K/S]])
 * [[Ultraform]]
+* [[Vortex]] (80 tracks, 2 sides, 9 sectors of 512 bytes, 2 reserved tracks, 704 KB; supported by [[FutureOS]], [[ParaDOS]] / [[VaraDOS]], [[VDOS]] and [[X-DDOS]])
 * [[Xexor]] formats (also supported by [[ParaDOS]])
-* XD-DOS etc.??
+* [[X-DDOS]] (supports 0.7 MB Data-, System- and Vortex- formats)
+* [[B360K]] (80 tracks, 1 side, 9 sectors of 512 bytes)
+* etc.??
 == References ==
-* http://www.seasip.demon.co.uk/Cpm/amsform.html
+* http://www.seasip.info/Cpm/amsform.html
 * http://www.wacci.org.uk/magazine/138/138_08.html
+* http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/firmware/fatgen.mspx
+[[Category:Software]][[Category:DATA Storage]][[Category:CPC Internal Components]]