[ Introduction | Changelog | Information | Download | Lib765 | Diskette Tools | Serial Port Server ]

LIBDSK page

LIBDSK is a library for accessing discs and disc image files. It is intended for use in:

• Emulator tools - converting between real floppy discs and disc images, as CPCTRANS / PCWTRANS do under DOS.
• Filesystem utilities - CPMTOOLS is configurable to use LIBDSK, thus allowing the use of CPMTOOLS on emulator .DSK images. To do this, install LIBDSK and then build CPMTOOLS, using "./configure --with-libdsk". For CPMTOOLS 1.9 or 2.0, you will also need to apply this patch.
• Emulators - it is possible to use LIBDSK as part of an emulator's floppy controller emulation, thus giving the emulator transparent access to .DSK files or real discs.

New in v1.2.2

• Compilation scripts updated to autoconf 2.68.

New in 1.3.5

• TeleDisk images with 'advanced' compression are supported.
• Bug fix: dsk_format_t numbers were out of sync with the format definitions.
• All utilities now take -types and -formats options, to list supported disk image types and formats.
• Double-sided Ampro disk formats can be autodetected.

New in v1.3.6

• Compilation fixes only.

New in 1.3.7

• New drive geometry type: 'extsurface'. For discs where both sides are marked as side 0, with sector numbers on side 1 starting where side 0 left off.
• New backend: IMD (for files created by ImageDisk).

New in 1.3.8

• Bugfix in the IMD driver: Geometry probe returned the wrong data rate for HD discs.

Older changes

Disc types supported

LIBDSK has drivers for:

• Raw files (including /dev/fdn).
• Raw files, rearranged into logical filesystem order.
• .DSK files, as used in CPCEMU, JOYCE and other Sinclair/Amstrad emulators.
• MYZ80 hard drive image files.
• NanoWasp floppy image files.
• .CFI (Compressed Floppy Image) files, as created by FDCOPY.COM under DOS.
• The Linux floppy drive (supports CPC System and Data formats, which the standard "Raw file" driver does not).
• The Windows 3.x/95/98/ME/NT/2000 floppy drive.
• The DOS floppy drive (via the PC BIOS).
• CopyQM files (read-only)
• TeleDisk files (read-only)
• APRIDISK image files
• rcpmfs - a backend that makes a Unix/Windows directory appear to be a CP/M disc image.
• Another instance of LibDsk over a serial line.

Download

Stable version: libdsk-1.2.2.tar.gz

LibDsk 1.2.1 executables for Windows

LibDsk 1.2.1 executables for DOS

Development version: libdsk-1.3.8.tar.gz

LibDsk 1.3.8 executables for Windows

Debian packages by Darren Salt.

Packages for Fedora Core 2 and Redhat 9 by Ian Chapman.

Packages for Gentoo

LIB765

Lib765 is the floppy controller emulation from JOYCE, separately packaged. It is (in some sense) the reverse of LibDsk; it converts uPD765a commands into LibDsk API calls. It should come in handy if you're writing a PCW, CPC or Spectrum+3 emulator; if you want to use it in a PC emulator, you'll need to add features such as DMA.

New in v0.4.x

• (v0.4.2) Increased buffer size to fix multisector reads on high-density disc images.
• (v0.4.1) Removed spurious references to LIBDSK_EXPOSES_DIRTY.
• (v0.4.0) Initial support for multisector reads.

lib765-0.4.2.tar.gz

Diskette Tools

The Diskette Tools program is a GUI front-end to LibDsk. It doesn't do any more than the provided sample utilities, but it looks nicer.

dsktool-1.0.3.tar.gz (38k): Source code - suitable for Linux, Windows and probably other platforms. Requires wxWidgets to compile.

dsktool103.zip (1473k): Compiled version for Windows, including source code.

Serial Port Server

AUXD is a server for CP/M, allowing drives from CP/M systems to be made available to LibDsk over a serial link. Two versions are included - a generic CP/M server, and one for Amstrad PCW/CPC/Spectrum +3 CP/M.

auxd.zip (62k) - source code and compiled programs.

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John Elliott 2014-03-01