SuperCard Pro - For Disk Imaging and Drive Repair

Disk Imaging

One of my interests in the Retro Computing hobby has been software preservation.  Trying to recover data off some of my wife's old floppy disks from her college days sent me down a path that's gotten me to the point where I own several different Macs and PCs from the 90s that I use as "Bridge Machines" to get data moved off old floppies onto modern hardware.

I'm also interested in a range of different systems and in having the ability to make and restore disks of any format.  I became aware of the Kryoflux disk imaging system when reading on Sonic Purity's blog on this article that I've referred to in several bLog articles before.  I didn't pursue the Kryoflux because this solution was expensive and because I didn't understand floppy disk technology well enough to be comfortable with flux imaging.   Thankfully this knowledge gap can be easily addressed by a great deal of information on the Web, and since then I have put more time into researching this topic.

One of the few benefits of the Pandemic has been that all the Vintage Computer Festivals have been online.  I learned about Jim Drew's SuperCard Pro from watching Craig Ernster's presentation. at VCF Midwest 2020.  This device is significantly less expensive than Kryoflux.  I didn't buy one right away, but when I got my first CP/M machine and didn't know how, or even if I'd be able to make floppy disk copies with the machine I put one on order.

I've paired the SuperCard Pro with the Asus laptop I use as my retro computer engineering PC and set up a couple of floppy drives, both a TEAC 5 1/4" DD drive as well as a newer 3 1/2" 1.44MB floppy drive.  I have stored these items together so it doesn't take long to have the disk imaging solution up and running on the bench...

So far, I have imaged and restored boot disks for my Compaq Portable (360K Floppy with DOS 3.3), and that worked well using a preset in the software.

Also I've imaged and restored boot disks for my Megatel Quark 100 CP/M computer, again, using a CP/M preset in the software.

Drive Repair

The Super Card Pro has also been helpful for drive diagnostics and repair.  It has a separate screen  for Drive / Disk Utilities.  This allows you to control the drive motor and also the track steppers that move the heads back and forth.  As you can see in some of Adrian Black's videos, having separate control over these two drive functions can help when lubricating and troubleshooting drives that haven't run for a long time.  Using these features of SCP, I've been able to troubleshoot these issues:

Drive Motor Speed Adjustment

Index Sensor Good / Bad

Track Stepper Motor Position

Track Zero Sensor Good / Bad (the Disk Media Test will fail if the Track Zero sensor is not working)

When comparing the functions of the Super Card Pro with IMD, I believe that IMD could also be used to diagnose all of these scenarios, but I find the SCP interface a bit easier to navigate.  One gap with SCP, I have not been able to adjust drive alignment with this tool.  I think the IMD program is the only (easy, non oscilloscope) way to do that.

My latest drive repair was getting a pair of Magnetic Peripherals Full Height DS/DD Drives back up and running for my IBM 5150.  Although these drives are now fully functional the alignment of these drives doesn't match up with the other 360K drives that I own.  Drive alignment is still outside of my comfort zone, but I'm hoping to learn more about that soon so I can get the various drives I own back lined up with one another.

My (Current) Favorite Retro Computers

It's been a while since I took a picture of my basement shelf where I store my most frequently used Retro / Vintage Computers.  The ones that are out and get used are my de facto "favorite" retro computers, and there's been a fair amount of change on the wire rack since my last update.  I thought I'd outline which computers are out, and why:

From Top to Bottom, Left to Right, on the file cabinet is the NeXTstation Mono Slab (1990).  This is one of my newer acquisitions from Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2021.  I've still got alot to learn about this machine, and I also have some hardware on order for the machine so I'll be leaving it out for a while.

Next is an original Compaq Portable I (1983).  This was a "project" machine from Free Geek Twin Cities and my first XT class machine.  As one of my first Retro computer "rescues", I really enjoyed the process of getting it working again.  I also really like the design of it and I've used it for disk imaging and a few games that look really cool on the Green Screen. (it has a really long persistence phosphor.)

Next to that in the top right corner is the original non-backlit Macintosh Portable (1989).  Yes, the screen is on, this just shows how you need the lighting just right to see the screen.  I'm fortunate to have one of these that is working as many of them have problems.  Mine has a few dead lines on the screen, but I'll just keep enjoying this while I can. It's probably just a matter of time till the screen dies.  This computer is out on display because I enjoy the fact that it's so different than the laptops of today, a design idea that failed.

On the middle row at the left we have an un-enhanced Apple IIe computer (1983).  I was able to buy this computer monitor and disk drive as a set from a retired school teacher who had bought it new.  It needed quite a bit of repair but since completing those repairs it's been super reliable and super fun.  Total Replay anyone?

To the right of that I have a Power Macintosh 8600 / 200 (1997).  This is a "Bridge Machine" that I have blogged about before.  The main reason this machine is still on the wire rack is utility.  It's easy for me to move files off and on this machine from my modern machine and I have three SD cards setup for Mac OS 7.5.5, 8.6, and 9.1, so it can run the first version that is supported by the hardware all the way up to the last version.  The latest upgrades for this machine include a new Logic board and Processor Card (Still 200 MHz), additional RAM, (288 MB Total), and an ATI Rage 129 video card from 1999.  This machine is running better than it's ever run before.

On the bottom row at the left we have a Macintosh 512K (1984).  Like so many of these machines it started out life as an original Mac 128K but got upgraded fairly early in life.  It has been continuously upgraded to keep it going since then.  It's possible that the only original thing on it is the chassis but I feel very fortunate to have this machine and I enjoy playing some of the classic games and booting Mac OS 1.  It's an absolutely iconic design, and the only system in the display that boots and runs exclusively from floppies.

Last but not least on the wire rack in the bottom right corner is my latest PC Build.  This is a PCI based 486 DX2-80 (1995).  I built this with parts and pieces from a friend and other items I had around.  This is both a Retro Gaming rig with a Sound Blaster in it and a Disk Imaging machine with a 5 1/4" 360 K Floppy drive.  It works great so far, but I just built it, so I'll need to keep it out where I can power it up and keep using it to work out any kinks in the build.

Honorable mention, I also have a Tandy Model 102 (1983) slab top machine that I keep out on display in a different part of my office.  I really appreciate the unique design of this machine.  Another form factor that really didn't last into the modern computer era.  I've recently got a flash based storage solution for this machine, so I'm looking forward to digging in more on this machine, including loading some of the BASIC games onto the machine.

I have more machines but they are all stored in a much less convenient location.  Some of those machines are plugged in and can be run, too, but they get significantly less use than these ones that are out.