Rawfloppy

Introduction

Rawfloppy is a device driver for Windows XP that makes it possible for Spectaculator to read and write custom disk formats.

Currently Spectaculator supports the MGT Plus D/DISCiPLE/Uni-DOS 10-sector formats but it is envisaged that this will be extended to include Spectrum +3 formatted disks in the near future.

Checking whether your computer can support reading and writing of Plus D-formatted floppy disks

Unfortunately, USB floppy disk drives cannot read non-standard disk formats as the controller is actually part of the drive and cannot be reprogrammed to read a custom format: If you only have a USB floppy disk drive, do not install Rawfloppy - it will not work.

Over the past few years, most new PCs have been shipped without an onboard floppy disk controller so you must check your PC still has one before installing Rawfloppy.

The easiest way to check this is to open Device Manager and look for the presence of a standard floppy disk controller:

• On the Start Menu, right-click My Computer and choose Manage... on the resulting Pop-up menu.
• Click Device Manager to see your PC's hardware list.
• Check for the presence of a Standard floppy disk controller and attached Floppy disk drive. See the diagrams below for reference.

Figure 1 - PC with a suitable onboard floppy disk controller

Rawfloppy can be installed on this computer and Spectaculator will be able to read and write real Plus D-formatted disks.

Figure 2 - Unsuitable PC (no standard floppy disk controller)

Rawfloppy cannot be installed on this computer to enable read/write access to Plus D disks.

Installation Instructions

Firstly, make sure your computer has the necessary hardware requirements (see above).

The driver is designed for Windows XP - it does not work on earlier versions of Windows or Windows Vista.

1. Download Rawfloppy and extract the contents of the zip file to a suitable folder.
2. Right-click rawfloppy.inf and choose Install on the resulting pop-up menu.

If Spectaculator 7 is already running, close it down and restart it. If the Disk Wizard on the Tools menu is now available, rawfloppy has been successfully installed.

Disclaimer

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE DISTRIBUTED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE PROGRAM, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.