Kryoflux offer for Amibay members

[Harrison]

From the makers of the Kryoflux hardware:

We officially unveiled the software in February 2010 and started producing boards in September 2010.

So it's really time to celebrate one year of KryoFlux! Please check the webstore for our Cyber Weekend Promo - we're offering a EUR 10.- discount on all KryoFlux editions.


http://webstore.kryoflux.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1


Offer valid while supplies last.

I've owned a Kyroflux myself for some time now and can definitely recommend the hardware for anyone wishing to archive a large collection of original floppy disks into Disk Sector Image files.

The Kryoflux supports a huge range of drives, from the standard PC 3.5", to 3", 5.25", 8" etc, and file formats including ADF, IMG and many other disk image formats for every platform you can think of.

In addition to being able to create file images from disks, recent support for writing images has also been added to the software. At the moment allowing IPF files to be written back to disk, with future plans to add support for writing other formats also.

If you have ever considered a Catweasel then I highly recommend you consider this instead as its ability to read a disk is a lot more accurate, because the software was written with this purpose in mind. Or have you ever wondered how you could easily make file images from your own floppy disk collection, for archival, or for use with emulators, then the Kryoflux is the perfect device.

Any questions you have I might be able to answer from my own experience using the hardware. Otherwise, the Kryoflux site has its own forums which contain a lot of useful information, and also their member Mr Vince is great at answering everything you might have to ask.

When I got my Kryoflux I used an old external SCSI enclosure, mounted a floppy drive inside, added a floppy drive power connector to its internal PSU, and then connected up the Kryoflux board. It is a nice solution.

 

[Chinners]

oh:
That'll be me broke NEXT month too

I was considering a catweasel for a while...

Do you know if this will "know" if a disk is corrupt when reading? I assume not, but it would be good to know.

 

[Xanxi]

Is the software only for PC?
I would like to handle everything retro related such as burnin eproms, reading/writing disks from within my amiga.

 

[Harrison]

oh:
That'll be me broke NEXT month too

I was considering a catweasel for a while...

Do you know if this will "know" if a disk is corrupt when reading? I assume not, but it would be good to know.

As it is reading the disk and "imaging" it, it reports the state of each track and will flag it as it goes, so you will instantly know if there are certain bad tracks or sectors on a disk. The GUI colour codes the tracks as it goes to show the success.

Depending on the floppy drive used with it, you can get better reading results. I've found Samsung and ALPs drives the best.

You can also setup multiple pass attempts per sector/track to try and recover a disk if you are finding it hard to read. That can often recover a more corrupt or damaged disk.

Is the software only for PC?
I would like to handle everything retro related such as burnin eproms, reading/writing disks from within my amiga.

No, it has software support for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Most features are via commandline, but it has a Java based GUI that works really well.

 

[merlinkv]

I owned one few months a go and I love this small piece of hardware

One Kryoflux board + Compatible Floppy Drives + Real DD floppys = The best solution to make backups of your original disks (not the only one).

Xanxi as Harrison saids, you have DTC versions for Win, Mac OS & Linux. But, at the moment, only the Windows version includes the Write IPF option.

I've tested the Write IPF option with some IPF's and .......

More read/write (with verify) options will be included in the next future... adf, dms, ....

 

[merlinkv]

Few days a go the new DTC is available and now support .adf writing (only Windows & Linux users at the moment).

Any Kryoflux owner can download the new version here: http://www.kryoflux.com/

A big advance to all Kryoflux owners

 

[Harrison]

This is definitely something a lot of us have been waiting for since the KryoFlux project was started, let alone the hardware actually being sold. It has been some time coming but the wait is worth it. I've not had chance to test it out yet myself. Hopefully this weekend.

 

[merlinkv]

Kryoflux software Update 2.0 Beta 13.

http://www.kryoflux.com/

New options added and more parameters to dump/write disks The project is updated almost "every two months"

This incredible board is one of my best buys

 

[jvdbossc]

Seems as a nice solution. Is it windows only software?

---------- Post added at 18:37 ---------- Previous post was at 18:35 ----------

Ok nice, found the linux soft

---------- Post added at 18:39 ---------- Previous post was at 18:37 ----------

Connection of two drives supported using a dual floppy cable, one can be accessed at a time.

So this means a small scsi tower with an old 5.25 drive for c64 and a small floppy for amiga is possible?[SIZE=+1]
[/SIZE]

 

[merlinkv]

@jvdbossc

Hi my friend,

I thinks is possible, of course. I'm using it with two 3.5" floppys under Win7 x64 and works great.

Best is to read carefully the manual and use the correct disks. e.g. for Amiga you must use real 720/880kb DD disks not the 1.44" ones.

 

[jvdbossc]

@jvdbossc

Hi my friend,

I thinks is possible, of course. I'm using it with two 3.5" floppys under Win7 x64 and works great.

Best is to read carefully the manual and use the correct disks. e.g. for Amiga you must use real 720/880kb DD disks not the 1.44" ones.

Thanks, I put it on the wanted list (need to save for it)

I alway's use tape for hd flops so that is probably ok as well. (as long as the flop keeps the data)

many thanks!

ps: I had a "free" container at hand at my parents house, and going into my "previous" collection room to get some stuff into it, I realised I have tons of flops for C64 and amiga icard

It seems I just started to fill a new room in my new house, while my hold had lot's of items in it..

 

[merlinkv]

Thanks, I put it on the wanted list (need to save for it)

I alway's use tape for hd flops so that is probably ok as well. (as long as the flop keeps the data)

many thanks!

ps: I had a "free" container at hand at my parents house, and going into my "previous" collection room to get some stuff into it, I realised I have tons of flops for C64 and amiga icard

Great

For C64, Apple, Amiga, ......

Here http://www.softpres.org/glossary:KryoFlux you can see all supported formats

 

[TroelsDK]

If new dd floppies were easy to find or if the few that are available were cheap I'd get me a cryoflux at once! But they aren't so I dont see any reason for having one.. What about you guys that all ready have one, did you have a lot of new/ unused discs or what?

 

[desiv]

What about you guys that all ready have one, did you have a lot of new/ unused discs or what?

I got a case of about 200 of them (unused) last year.

So, .. yes.. ;-)

desiv

 

[protek]

Can you use Kryoflux as plain floppy controller, i.e. reading/writing PC floppies? My new motherboard no longer has a header for a floppy disk drive so I was wondering, if Kryoflux would help with that. Also does Kryoflux enable you to use other disk image read/write programs like CPCDiskXP?

 

[desiv]

Can you use Kryoflux as plain floppy controller, i.e. reading/writing PC floppies?

Nope.
It is only for creating and writing images.
There is no real-time floppy access..

desiv

 

[TroelsDK]

I got a case of about 200 of them (unused) last year.

So, .. yes.. ;-)

desiv

Yes I know about some US sites selling them new and for a fair price, but importing them would be very expensive

 

[Slayer]

If new dd floppies were easy to find or if the few that are available were cheap I'd get me a cryoflux at once! But they aren't so I dont see any reason for having one.. What about you guys that all ready have one, did you have a lot of new/ unused discs or what?

I remember quite a few years ago in a thread on EAB before hardware of this nature was a real reality when I said I had at least 8,000 blank disks(and growing but slowing now days) someone had asked me what I could possibly want them for... I had something like this in mind

I got one of the first batch nof KF, I haven't even powered it up yet, the task is just too big at the moment, like, where do I start

Some people may believe you need new disks but you don't, a various combination of erase/format/erase and having to write to a track more than once generally solves the "taking too" odd problem... I know, I copied Dragons Lair track by track with Cyclone

 

[Harrison]

If new dd floppies were easy to find or if the few that are available were cheap I'd get me a cryoflux at once! But they aren't so I dont see any reason for having one.. What about you guys that all ready have one, did you have a lot of new/ unused discs or what?

Writing disks with the Kryoflux is really a secondary function and not the primary goal of the project. The main goal is to accurately read disks and create archival images for historically accurate preservation so they won't be lost in the future as floppy disks eventually all expire.

But saying that, the more recently added ability to write images back to disk accurately is a nice bonus. I've had some original retail disks that were unreadable/corrupted. I formatted them a couple of times and then wrote the games back onto them and it restored the disks about 80% of the time. They will always be some disks that are beyond use, and it will only get worse as they get older.

Regarding the question about using one as a floppy disk controller. As already mentioned the Kryoflux is only for reading and writing images, and is not a controller for direct access to disk drives for accessing their contents in an OS or emulator. You have to create an image first before being able to then use that to access the contents. Personally I think that is a better way anyway as once created the image will be more reliable within emulation to access the contents.

If you really wanted a direct floppy drive controller then your only real option is the Catweasel MK4.

 

[merlinkv]

Completely agree @H