mnib - Markus' Commodore disk nibbler

mnib is a disk transfer program designed for copying even copy protected original disks into the G64 and D64 disk image formats. These disk images may be used on C64 emulators like VICE or CCS64.

Currently, it is not possible to copy back images to real C64 disks.

This program uses code from Michael Klein's excellent cbm4linux, covered by the GPL. Therefore mnib also is distributed under the GPL. The source code is available as CVS archive: mnib_cvs.zip.

Requirements:

• Commodore Disk Drive model 1541, 1541-II or 1571, modified to support the parallel XP1541 or XP1571 interface.
• XE1541 or XA1541 cable XE1541 or XA1541 cable.
• Microsoft DOS and cwsdpmi.exe software

Extract all files in the zip archive into one directory. Boot to DOS and run mnib by typing:

mnib name

mnib will create a data file with the specified output name. Use n2g to convert this into a G64 disk image, or n2d to generate a D64 disk image:

n2g name
n2d name

Tim Schürmann wrote an excellent article on mnib (German only)

History

• 0.17 added automatic 1541/157x drive type detection
• 0.18 tracks 36-41 added. No more crashing with unformatted tracks.
• 0.19 added Density and Halftrack command line switches (-d, -h)
• 0.20 added Bump and Reset options (-b, -r)
• 0.21 added timeout routine for nibble transfer
• 0.22 added flush command during reading
• 0.23 disable interrupts during serial protocol
• 0.24 improved serial protocol
• 0.25 hopefully fixed nibbler hangups
• 0.26 added 'S' track reading (read without waiting for Sync)
• 0.27 added hidden 'g' switch for GEOS 1.2 disk image
• 0.28 improved killer track detection, fixed some n2d and n2g bugs
• 0.29 added direct D64 nibble functionality
• 0.30 added D64 error correction by multiple read
• 0.31 added 40 track support for D64 images
• 0.32 bin-include bn_flop.prg
• 0.33 improved D64 mode, added g2d utility to archive
• 0.34 improved track cycle detection
• 0.35 added XA1541 support, paranoid mode, first public release

Open Issues

• reliable track-to-track alignment
• 'fat track' detection
• 'unreliable' ($00) byte detection
• bitrate changes within one track

References:

Wolfgang Moser's excellent LPT-Detect and XCD-Detect programs.
Burstnibbler 1.9 Instructions (thanks to Chris Link)
Harald Seeley on v-max! (usenet postings)
Rapidlok documentation (Kracker Jax Revealed, thanks Forrest!)
Burstnibbler 1.9 floppy side code disassembly
Star Commander Home Page
My talk on 1541 copy protections from VCFe V. 3.0

Bonus Stuff

dumprom.zip Floppy ROM dumper. Works with parallel cable, only. Please mail me your floppy ROM. (Version 0.12, 12. February 2004. Improved auto-detection of drives and cables)