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How do I create KryoFlux Stream files?

Applies to: RIDE 1.7.7 and later

The creation of Stream files (from an image, e.g. *.DSK, or real device, e.g. KryoFlux) must be approached by dumping, Disk → Dump. In the Dump to destination dialog, click on the Destination button (Alt+D).
In the newly shown Save file dialog, navigate to the folder where you want to create the set of Stream files (for each track one). There exist two ways (quick and precise) to create KryoFlux Stream files.
1. The precise way requires you to type in a name that follows the pattern (mind both dots!)
  
  <name><cyl>.<head>.raw
  where
  - <name> is a prefix to be used for all Stream files created during this dump session,
  - <cyl> is a decimal two-digit cylinder number,
  - <head> is a head number, always either 0 or 1.
  During the dump process, the <cyl> and <head> placeholders are substituted with actual cylinder and head values, so don't worry about which values to choose here. The following examples match this pattern:
  - track00.0.raw (given that I usually create Stream files in a separate folder bearing the disk name, I typically put in this filename)
  - T24.1.raw
  - myStream_99.1.raw
  - 00.0.raw (the <name> prefix is empty)
  Press the Save button.
2. The quick way consists of simply clicking on the "KryoFlux Streams" hyperlink, pointed to by an arrow in the above image. This way uses the track00.0.raw pattern, and assumes that the target folder is ideally empty (if Stream files with the same name already exist, they will be overwritten).
Back in the Dump to destination dialog, the application shows recognized format in the Destination, and presets settings to dump the whole disk to KryoFlux Stream files, plus some extra tracks beyond the nominal drive capacity (some disks contain here "secret" tracks, serving as a copy-protection). If the DOS has been recognized by the application, you usually at this moment may press the Dump button. However, there still may be settings to revise, especially if the DOS has not been recognized.
- Confirm the value set in the Medium combo-box (Alt+M). If it doesn't specify the right floppy type, change it to comply with the floppy inserted in the drive. Such inconsistency may occur, for instance, if the DOS has not been recognized.
- Specify the range of Cylinders to dump to the image (Alt+F, and Alt+T, respectively). You usually may leave the default values (whole floppy will be dumped).
- The Encoding (Alt+E) specifies the method used for data representation in the target disk. This combo-box currently always contains just a single option (so you can safely ignore it at the moment), however, more DOSes and encodings are to come, hence please stay tuned.
- The Gap3 value (Alt+G) represents the inter-sector gap, and it's usually not necessary to change it. Some game producers liked to decrease this value to accommodate an extra sector that normally would not fit in the track (usually as part of their copy-protection, e.g. Titus the Fox game by Titus Interactive). If you stumble upon a track that is apparently longer than common tracks, try to decrease this value. The default for this value derives from recognized DOS, or follows the IBM recommendation if DOS hasn't been recognized.
- The Filler Byte (Alt+B) determines the value that will be used as the initial content of fresh formatted sectors. You usually may leave the default.
- The Do full track analysis checkbox (Alt+A) subjects each track in currently open disk to low-level timing analysis. This analysis consists of (1) search for non-formatted areas, (2) search for data in gaps, and (3) search for fuzzy regions in data. This checkbox can be unticked when creating Stream files to speed-up the dumping.
- The Show report when done checkbox (Alt+R) instructs the application to show a summary at the end of the dump. Included in the report is a summary of what errors arose and a summary of the full track low-level analysis (Alt+A).
- If observing delays in accessing the floppy drive (e.g. in a highly concurrent environment), be sure to have the Real-time thread priority check-box (Alt+P) ticked.
- Press the Dump button.
If (and only if) the range of cylinders specified in the Dump to destination dialog doesn't match the official geometry obtained from the boot sector (if any), you are presented a dialog to revise this mismatch.
- Continue with format adopted from boot sector updates the range of cylinders so that the whole "official" part of the disk is covered. Provided there is no copy-protection, use this option if creating images for emulators.
- Continue to last occupied cylinder updates the range of cylinders so that only occupied part of the disk is covered. Use this option if creating images of user data, e.g. saved positions, documents, etc. This options differs from the previous one in that it may finish faster.
- Continue with current settings leaves the range of cylinders unmodified. Use this option if unsure about copy-protection. Seeing a dump fail towards the end of the session is typically an indication of secret data beyond the official format. In such case, re-run the dump with a more featured image (e.g. *.DSK or *.SCP) to account for these secret data.
A common Flux device access options dialog pops up.
- Make sure the Use jitter and other corrections (Alt+C) is unticked.
- All other values are set correctly or are irrelevant at this moment (including the "Not formatted or faulty" error in the Medium field, Alt+M).
- Press the OK button.
A dialog displaying progress of dumping shows up.
Occasionally during dumping, the Sector read error dialog may pop up, reporting on errors while reading a particular sector. For Stream files are to represent an exact magnetic image of a track, you typically may accept all errors (see the Accept button options).

How do I create KryoFlux Stream files?

See also