Subject: Re: Copy MUSIC WRITER (long)
From: Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>
Date: Sat, Jan 2, 1999 15Ç50 
Message-id: <368EA2C3.624D84C6@swbell.net>



Jim Pittman writes ...
> 
> Can anyone suggest how to get a backup 5.25" copy of Pyware's
> MUSIC WRITER boot disk? This is an Apple IIe music program.
> 
> One of our club members uses Pyware's MUSIC WRITER with her
> Apple IIe. It is a program that uses a copy-protected boot disk,
> then everything else loads/saves to copyable disks.
> 
> The problem: when she bought this program years ago, she never got
> a backup disk (I know, I know... big mistake) and now she fears that
> sooner or later disaster will strike and the original boot disk will
> fail. She really likes the program and wants to continue using it!
> 
> As one might expect, at this late date the company, while still in
> existence, will provide NO SUPPORT WHATSOEVER. They have no more
> copies of the program, they apparently didn't port the program to
> MS-DOS or Windoze or Mac, and they claim they no longer have any
> technical knowledge of the program at all.
> 
> If you can tell us how to copy the boot disk, or if you happen to
> have this program gathering dust and would be willing to give/sell
> her your copy, please let me know.
> 
> (( Quit _now_ if you don't care about the gory details! ))
> 
> What I have done and learned so far in trying to make a copy:
> 
> First, it appears this program is essentially Apple Pascal (or maybe
> UCSD Pascal) because the disks show up as "Pascal" on an Apple IIgs
> running GS/OS.
> 
> Second, the program gives an option to copy the program disk (but
> obviously not the boot disk) and data files to a hard drive or a 3.5"
> disk (the hard drive or 3.5" disks must be formatted as Apple Pascal
> to be able to do that, though).
>
> Third, the program is a 128-k program; it will run on a non-enhanced
> or an enhanced Apple IIe, but not on a IIe with only 64-k of memory.
> 
> Fourth, I can find no entry for MUSIC WRITER or PYWARE in any of my
> versions of Copy II Plus (I have 'em all).
> 
> Fifth, I was confident that I could use my Wildcard-2 copy card to
> make a BRUNable binary copy that could then be copied to make a new,
> copyable boot disk. I tried doing this as follows:
>
 ....

     Are you sure that the boot disk is copy protected? Try a whole-disk
copier like Disk Muncher. Or, try Copy II+'s bit copy-- using the
default Manual Copy parms (e.g. Tracks $00-$22, no Preserve Track
Length, no Sync). It's a good idea to put a write-protect tab on the
source diskette when experimenting with copiers.  



Rubywand