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# ATTENTION: This post is a reference to a website. The poster of #
# this Usenet article is not the author of the referenced website. #
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<URL:https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/05/recovering-lost-tre
asure-filled-floppy.html>

The text below is a quotation from the URL above:
>
> There are many good, modern solutions for reading data off old floppy
> discs and drives. Perhaps the best is the Greaseweazle: it's capable,
> open source, open hardware, inexpensive and has a vibrant and friendly
> community behind it. It connects directly to a floppy drive, replacing
> the floppy disc controller, and reads the disc in great detail. It can
> handle regular discs or any known copy protection without really
> breaking a sweat.
>
> But what happens when the Greaseweazle reports data that is heavily
> corrupted and unreadable? Are we out of luck? What if the unreadable
> disc contains some historic treasure, such as source code for an iconic
> game? Do we have to shed a tear and move on?
>
> I recently found myself, along with Phil Pemberton, in this situation.
> Given the unique nature of source code discs, and the potential for
> historical interest, we were determined to succeed...
>
> ...

On 5/17/2021 6:33 PM, Rich wrote:
> ####################################################################
> # ATTENTION: This post is a reference to a website. The poster of #
> # this Usenet article is not the author of the referenced website. #
> ####################################################################
>
> <URL:https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/05/recovering-lost-tre
> asure-filled-floppy.html>
>
> The text below is a quotation from the URL above:
>>
>> There are many good, modern solutions for reading data off old floppy
>> discs and drives. Perhaps the best is the Greaseweazle: it's capable,
>> open source, open hardware, inexpensive and has a vibrant and friendly
>> community behind it. It connects directly to a floppy drive, replacing
>> the floppy disc controller, and reads the disc in great detail. It can
>> handle regular discs or any known copy protection without really
>> breaking a sweat.
>>
>> But what happens when the Greaseweazle reports data that is heavily
>> corrupted and unreadable? Are we out of luck? What if the unreadable
>> disc contains some historic treasure, such as source code for an iconic
>> game? Do we have to shed a tear and move on?
>>
>> I recently found myself, along with Phil Pemberton, in this situation.
>> Given the unique nature of source code discs, and the potential for
>> historical interest, we were determined to succeed...
>>
>> ...

Assuming the data isn't corrupted, I can put a 3.5" floppy into my
internal drive in my main desktop computer to pull data right now. If
it's on a 5.25 disk, I have a DOS 6.2/Windows 3.11 computer lived hooked
up next to it with a dual 5.25/3.5 floppy drive. I also have an IBM
Data-master System 23 in the cellar with dual 8" floppy drives.

In comp.misc, Michael Trew <mt999999@ymail.com> wrote:
> On 5/17/2021 6:33 PM, Rich wrote:
> > <URL:https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/05/recovering-lost-tre
> > asure-filled-floppy.html>
> >> But what happens when the Greaseweazle reports data that is heavily
> >> corrupted and unreadable? Are we out of luck? What if the unreadable
> >> disc contains some historic treasure, such as source code for an iconic
> >> game? Do we have to shed a tear and move on?
> Assuming the data isn't corrupted, I can put a 3.5" floppy into my

And if the disk is damaged? Then what? That page discusses how they had
a disk with a pit in it, and experimented with recording the track via
oscilloscope from the head on various drives to see what which gave
cleanest signal. Most or all were salvagable with the high res
oscilloscope read. They share advice for others who might want to do the
same.

Elijah
------
modern equipment is much better

Michael Trew <mt999999@ymail.com> wrote:
> On 5/17/2021 6:33 PM, Rich wrote:
>> ####################################################################
>> # ATTENTION: This post is a reference to a website. The poster of #
>> # this Usenet article is not the author of the referenced website. #
>> ####################################################################
>>
>> <URL:https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/05/recovering-lost-tre
>> asure-filled-floppy.html>
>>
>> The text below is a quotation from the URL above:
>>>
>>> There are many good, modern solutions for reading data off old floppy
>>> discs and drives. Perhaps the best is the Greaseweazle: it's capable,
>>> open source, open hardware, inexpensive and has a vibrant and friendly
>>> community behind it. It connects directly to a floppy drive, replacing
>>> the floppy disc controller, and reads the disc in great detail. It can
>>> handle regular discs or any known copy protection without really
>>> breaking a sweat.
>>>
>>> But what happens when the Greaseweazle reports data that is heavily
>>> corrupted and unreadable? Are we out of luck? What if the unreadable
>>> disc contains some historic treasure, such as source code for an iconic
>>> game? Do we have to shed a tear and move on?
>>>
>>> I recently found myself, along with Phil Pemberton, in this situation.
>>> Given the unique nature of source code discs, and the potential for
>>> historical interest, we were determined to succeed...
>>>
>>> ...
>
> Assuming the data isn't corrupted, I can put a 3.5" floppy into my
> internal drive in my main desktop computer to pull data right now.

In the full context of the linked article, the disks were corrupted.
The one which formed the basis of most of the article had a small
crease in the actual disk mylar that resulted several corrupted sectors.
The bulk of the article was about recovering this corrupted data that
the on-board drive electronics was unable to decode.

On 5/18/2021 2:29 AM, Eli the Bearded wrote:
> In comp.misc, Michael Trew<mt999999@ymail.com> wrote:
>> On 5/17/2021 6:33 PM, Rich wrote:
>>> <URL:https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/05/recovering-lost-tre
>>> asure-filled-floppy.html>
>>>> But what happens when the Greaseweazle reports data that is heavily
>>>> corrupted and unreadable? Are we out of luck? What if the unreadable
>>>> disc contains some historic treasure, such as source code for an iconic
>>>> game? Do we have to shed a tear and move on?
>> Assuming the data isn't corrupted, I can put a 3.5" floppy into my
>
> And if the disk is damaged? Then what? That page discusses how they had
> a disk with a pit in it, and experimented with recording the track via
> oscilloscope from the head on various drives to see what which gave
> cleanest signal. Most or all were salvagable with the high res
> oscilloscope read. They share advice for others who might want to do the
> same.
>
> Elijah
> ------
> modern equipment is much better

I'm aware that the article was about recovering damaged data, hence my
mentioning about data that isn't corrupted. Sorry for the subject drift.

On Mon, 17 May 2021 22:33:41 +0000 (UTC), Rich wrote:

> ####################################################################
> # ATTENTION: This post is a reference to a website. The poster of #
> # this Usenet article is not the author of the referenced website. #
> ####################################################################
>
> <URL:https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/05/recovering-lost-tre
> asure-filled-floppy.html>
>

THANKS for your post!