Dumping ST Games

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orpheuswaking
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:42 pm

Dumping ST Games

Post by orpheuswaking » Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:28 pm

Looking through the ST Database I see I have a couple of disks that you do not have dumps for. I'm fairly new to the ST scene but I do know that dumping ST games is more complicated than I am used to with the Atari 8bit. Is there a FAQ for newbies that outlines different ways to dump these disks?

if it's beyond my capabilities I can still contribute with Box and Art scans once I get access to a scanner...
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marakatti
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Re: Dumping ST Games

Post by marakatti » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:37 am

Hi and welcome to world of Atarimania :)

Thanks for your kind offer. Here are some instructions how to make Pasti- or MSA-images with your ST. Please use Pasti for protected ST-originals and MSA for unprotected ones.

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Most important thing first. ALWAYS write-protect your original games disks before you start imaging them.
This quickstart guide was written by marakatti for Transfer Disk (standard ST) or for Direct Imaging (ST with hard disk or similar) and Steem-emulator (http://steem.atari.st/).

You will need the following files:

http://pasti.fxatari.com/downloads/PastiImgKit.zip for Atari ST and PC tools
http://pasti.fxatari.com/downloads/PastiDll_02h.zip for Steem to support Pasti
http://steem.atari.st/ for running ST programs

You also need:
Atari ST/STe/Mega computer running at 8Mhz without modifications. Mega STe is also fine but you need to use 8MHz / no cache mode to make it work.
Windows-machine with floppydisk drive (or serial cable between ST -> PC) and Steem emulator installed.

A) Transfer Disk
1. Transferdisk initialize
For the first time you need to prepare a Transfer Disk. This is the disk that will be swapped from ST to PC drive to produce a complete Pasti-image. There's good instructions how to do it on PastiImgKit.zip documentation, but here's the short version.
a) Format standard 720Kb disk that works on both machines. Do not use any extended formats, they won't be readable by Windows.
b) Check that the disk is readable by both machines.
c) Run Pastitools.exe on Windows machine to initialize Trasfer Disk. (Transfer -> Initialize Transfer Disk)

Now the disk is ready so the real work may begin

2. Making Pasti-image using transfer disk
a) Select Transfer -> Start Transfer... from Pastitools.exe (Windows)
b) Run PASTI.PRG on Atari ST
c) Check that the Xfer is selected from the Mode-box.
d) Put the original ST gamedisk in drive A and click Start.
e) Pasti-program starts reading the gamedisk and asks for Transfer Disk after a while. Remove the gamedisk and insert Transfer Disk in Drive A. It now writes the first part of the image-file.
f) When the first part is written to the Transfer Disk, put it to the PC disk drive and select OK. To save some time put the ST gamedisk back to ST drive so it continues reading the next segment while PC is working for the first part of Pasti-image.
g) Repeat this as many times as the programs asks for disk change. Some games require more swapping than others, this is because they use bigger disks format (double sided for example)
h) When the final round of swapping transfer disk is done, you can save the image to Windows hard drive and test it with Steem.

3. Testing the Pasti-image
a) Unpack PastiDll_02h.zip to the same folder where your Steem.exe is.
b) Run Steem and you should see an info box about the Pasti extension.
c) Pasti support can be activated from Disk Manager -> Use Pasti and configured from Disk Manager -> Pasti Configuration.
d) From Pasti-configuration select Max Accuracy

When testing the image, please do not use fast forward and make sure Steem has the original 8Mhz ST configuration. Loading Pasti-image is slower than on real ST so don't worry, this is normal. If everything went fine, you should now see your game running on Steem.
If it didn't, retry doing the image again. In some cases the original can't be imaged at all, or your disk might be damaged.
If you're sure there's no copyprotection, you can try other tools like MSA (http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/software/atar ... a_2_32.zip ) to make usable file for emulation use.

B) Direct Imaging
If you have a hard disk, making Pasti-images is much more joy. I use MegaSTe / TOS 2.06 / 1.44Mb disk drive / hard disk combination.

1. Making the image
a) If you have MegaSTe, make sure that the machine is set to 8Mhz with cache OFF. This can be done for example with XCONTROL.ACC.
b) Transfer the contect of PastiImgKit.zip on your ST hard disk.
c) Run PASTI.PRG
d) Select FILE from the Mode-box, then click on FSEL ... from Destination-box. Insert filename for the pasti-image with STX-extension.
e) Put your original ST gamedisk to Drive A and click START. If you want you can select the VERBOSE to see information from every track.
f) When imaging is ready, repeat from d).

2. Transfering image to PC
Double sided image-files can have size close to 2Mb. This is normal, so transfering them with floppy can be tricky.
- If you have 1.44Mb floppy drive in your Atari, you can pack the STX-files for example with ST-ZIP ( http://jfhaslam.atari.org/downloads/stzip.tos ) and transfer them using floppy disk to Windows.
- If you only have 720Kb floppy drive in your Atari, you will have some difficulties to fit the double sided pasti-images on the disk even after packing. In this case you can use an ST program called SPLITTER.PRG to cut the file half ( http://jfhaslam.atari.org/downloads/splitter.zip ). Remember to install the same program on your Steem hard disk too to join the file back again.

3) Activating Steem hard disk emulation:
a) Go to Disk Manager -> Hard Drive -> New Hard Drive -> Browse, select folder you want to act as an ST hard drive.
b) Make sure Disable All Hard Drives has no checkbox.
c) Reset Steem and wait for the GEM Desktop to appear.
d) Click once on Disk A icon.
e) Select Options -> Install Disk Drive.
f) Replace Drive Identifier letter A with C and click Install.
g) Go to Options -> Save Desktop -> OK.
h) Depack files using your favourite Windows unzipper into the folder you selected earlier.
i) Go back to Steem GEM Desktop.
j) Open Drive C and run the ST program.
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Marko
orpheuswaking
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:42 pm

Re: Dumping ST Games

Post by orpheuswaking » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:30 pm

Hi there,

I've been around for awhile just haven't had time or focus to be able to contribute until now. Plus I just did a huge inventory of my 8bit and ST stuff so I know what I have and can work my way through the list to try and help. Thanks for the how to, I think I have the right tools and equipment to be able to assist.

I'm not promising immediate contributions but I will endevour to have something soon.
orpheuswaking
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:42 pm

Re: Dumping ST Games

Post by orpheuswaking » Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:35 am

Ugh, my STe internal drive seems to have quit GRRRRR
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marakatti
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Re: Dumping ST Games

Post by marakatti » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:36 am

Sad to hear it :(

Unfortunately it's a very common problem these days. Good thing is that it's very easy to replace once you find a working Amiga or ST disk drive
---
Marko
orpheuswaking
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:42 pm

Re: Dumping ST Games

Post by orpheuswaking » Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:33 pm

They seem really scarce here, can't seem to find any at a reasonable price. but I'm not giving up jsut yet.
rcamp48
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Re: Dumping ST Games

Post by rcamp48 » Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:29 pm

OK now that I am in the right area I have lots of NEW UNHEARD of games for dumping , I have a working STFM and a working IBM PC with a floppy drive as for the unprotected games I can copy them to MSA on the IBM PC , the protected ones seem to copy to MSA or ST on Omniflop but I am unsure of that one I managed to make an ST file that worked wih my Gotek of a heavily copy protected disk from PCA called ST Diagnostics, also my STFM has an original disk drive (720 K) in excellent condition, if you have non-working drives please do not throw them away I have a friend that can rebuild them for under $30.00 Canadian Russ Campbell :mr.green:

Pretty well all protected games I have in my 40,000 game collection of .ST files you name it I got it .....
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