Found! 1997 CD-R full of Atari ST menu disks from Alien (Pompey Pirates)

[matt]

So, I just found a CD-R of Atari ST menu disks and stuff that Alien (Pompey Pirates) sent me back in 1997!

https://archive.org/details/atari-st-co ... ey-pirates

link above contains:
* text file of contents
* ISO disc image
* disc contains further text files with per-directory contents

I was at Uni between 1995 and 1998, during which time I created a bunch of websites about my interests to learn web development. One of these sites was a Pompey Pirates Menu Disks tribute page (archive: https://web.archive.org/web/19990210060 ... ndex.shtml) which caused various members of the Pompey Pirates to get in touch. Alien was kind enough to send me a CD-R of all Pompey Pirates menus, and more, and I kept it all this time. Having a clear out today and I found the disk.

I hope this CD-R fills some holes in various collections and provides some entertainment to all the ST lovers out there.

Please post on the thread if you find anything cool.

Stay safe, wear a mask, and have fun!

matt

[junosix]

What a treasure trove! Incredible that a 23-year-old CD still works, hats off for successfully ripping it and many thanks for sticking it up online.

[matt]

I was a bit anxious given that my Mac would not read the CD-R, but Windows had no problem using the same USB CD/DVD drive. Thanks Bill Gates!

I ripped the CD-R to ISO 3 times and each were byte for byte identical, which is a great advertisement for TDK media.

Excited to hear what's in these files, as I do not have time to go through them.

[AtariCrypt]

Wow!!! A real bonified time capsule!!!

[Mug UK]

Nice one. Grabbed it and did a quick list for those that are interested in what's on the CD.

Atari ST CD by Alien of PP.txt

[matt]

Such a text file list is already included on the download page, but another one won't hurt. Thanks!

You can also browse the ISO on the website and download individual files from it if you wish.

[Mug UK]

Such a text file list is already included on the download page, but another one won't hurt. Thanks!

Hastiness mixed with excitement

[rich]

Thanks for the upload

This looks identical to the Pompey CD except it's missing the Deviant docs for some reason! and some folder names are different (MEDWAY instead of MEDWAY.B). But great to have for completeness anyway. I found my original Pompey CD the other day - doubt it still works, but it does have the original photocopied inlay cover which might be worth a scan?!

I remember Alien used to run an ST emulator site... pretty sure it was called "Solar Jetman's". Long gone now, though.

[matt]

I wasn't aware of an existing Pompey Pirates CD! D'oh. What are the file dates on that one? Which is older? Definitely scan the cover.

I did think the empty Deviant folder was strange, but it's definitely empty I checked with multiple CD ripping apps.

[rich]

Just checked and the file dates are 7th December 1995 on the CD I've got. So the one sent to you was burned a couple of years later.

[matt]

Cheers Rich! Interested to hear if there are any file-level changes.

Could you please do a diff?

[simonsunnyboy]

Hehe, I remember you PP site as one of the first Atari related ones I ever browsed when i first got internet access in 1997.
The URL certainly rings a bell.

Do the disks have the original bootsectors on? As most versions I know have the LGD patched Medway Boys Protector II on which sometimes spoils the experience.

PP menus were the best in their time due to quality and docs/manuals being supplied!

[matt]

Yes it does have all the original boot sectors, it's unmodified and exactly what I received from Alien in 1997.

[Mug UK]

Yes it does have all the original boot sectors, it's unmodified and exactly what I received from Alien in 1997.

One thing that I've noticed preserving some 850 disks (~400 were on 5.25" disks) was that one that Anti-Virus was in memory that wrote itself to other disks, a few menus or their own anti-virus bootsectors after a reboot, would always complain that it was in memory. Thankfully I kept all of the disks write protected so that I didn't spread the damn thing any futher.

Some of the PP disks I imaged up looked odd without the (I think) Medway II / Medway III bootsector on.

[LynXX]

Here's a quick diff I made, if that helps:

Code: Select all

Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DD_PROGS.TXT
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_01.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_02.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_03.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_04.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_05.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_06.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_07.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_08.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_09.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_10.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_11.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_12.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_13.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_14.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DDDOC_4B.MSA
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS/DEVIANT: DOCS1_14.TXT
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/docs: sewer
Only in Pompey CD/DOCS: SEWER.DO
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/menus: medway
Only in Pompey CD/MENUS: MEDWAY.B
Only in Pompey CD/MENUS/POMPEY: pp_047.zip
Binary files Pompey CD/MSAFILES/L_NINJA3.MSA and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/msafiles/l_ninja3.msa differ
Binary files Pompey CD/MSAFILES/LNINJA_D.MSA and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/msafiles/lninja_d.msa differ
Binary files Pompey CD/MSAFILES/LOOM_A.MSA and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/msafiles/loom_a.msa differ
Binary files Pompey CD/MSAFILES/LOOM_B.MSA and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/msafiles/loom_b.msa differ
Binary files Pompey CD/MSAFILES/LOOM_C.MSA and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/msafiles/loom_c.msa differ
Binary files Pompey CD/MSAFILES/MAGICIAN.MSA and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/msafiles/magician.msa differ
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/progams/st: cruise
Only in Pompey CD/PROGAMS/ST: CRUISE.F
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/progams/st: espana
Only in Pompey CD/PROGAMS/ST: ESPANA.9
Only in Pompey CD/PROGAMS/STE/OBSESSIO: --!!RB!!.---
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/progams/ste/obsessio: ____rb__.___
Only in Pompey CD/PROGAMS/STE/OBSESSIO: RISKY-.BIZ
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/progams/ste/obsessio: risky_.biz
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/progams/ste: substati
Only in Pompey CD/PROGAMS/STE: SUBSTATI.ON
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD: README.txt
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/falcon: bckwrd28
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/FALCON: BCKWRD28.REG
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st: archiver
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/ST: ARCHIVER.S
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/cd_rom: extendos
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/CD_ROM: EXTENDOS.PRO
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/cd_rom: extndos
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/CD_ROM: EXTNDOS.122
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/copiers: ecopy1_7
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/COPIERS: ECOPY1_7.ENG
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/copiers: fcopypro
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/COPIERS: FCOPYPRO.12
Only in Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/copiers: kobold25
Only in Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/COPIERS: KOBOLD25.ENG
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/FINDERS/FSEARCH7/FSEARCH.HYP and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/finders/fsearch7/fsearch.hyp differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/FINDERS/FSEARCH7/FSEARCH.PRG and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/finders/fsearch7/fsearch.prg differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/FINDERS/FSEARCH7/FSEARCH.REF and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/finders/fsearch7/fsearch.ref differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/FINDERS/FSEARCH7/FSEARCH.RSC and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/finders/fsearch7/fsearch.rsc differ
Files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/FINDERS/FSEARCH7/FSEARCH.TXT and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/finders/fsearch7/fsearch.txt differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/HD_PLUS/CACHE.PRG and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/hd_plus/cache.prg differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/HD_PLUS/FORMAT.TBL and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/hd_plus/format.tbl differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/HD_PLUS/HDD.TOS and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/hd_plus/hdd.tos differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/HD_PLUS/HDPLUS.APP and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/hd_plus/hdplus.app differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/HD_PLUS/HDPLUS.HRD and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/hd_plus/hdplus.hrd differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/HD_PLUS/HDPLUS.RSC and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/hd_plus/hdplus.rsc differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/MSA/NEW/MSA.PRG and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/msa/new/msa.prg differ
Binary files Pompey CD/UTILS/ST/MSA/OLD/MSA.PRG and Pompey Pirates Alien CD/utils/st/msa/old/msa.prg differ

[matt]

Thanks! Looks largely the same.

I'm wondering about the files said to differ, do they both run/verify OK or is one or the other corrupt?

[LynXX]

They look corrupted on your CD actually. In msafiles the files just contain zeroes (i.e. they are not empty, but are filled with zeroes). The utils/st/* ones are empty (size = 0)...

[junosix]

I've checked a few random files in those two folders and they appear to be okay?

[matt]

@LynXX thanks for the report

You can browse the ISO online here:
https://ia801406.us.archive.org/view_ar ... ARI_ST.ISO

I just tested a few MSA and they seemed fine, which ones did you have issue with?

I can see the zero length files from KOBOLD folder to end of disc.

So I'll do a new rip to confirm!

[matt]

@LynXX I cannot reproduce what you are seeing regarding the MSA files. I do not see any files full of zeroes out of the ones that are said to differ. How are you mounting the ISO? A byte level diff would be great, rather than just a file/directory diff. I don't have the LGD Pompey CD or I would do it myself.

The 0-byte sized files I cannot help. Successive rips give the same result - an ISO with the same hash - every time. I have done 5 rips to date, all the same.

So, I guess this could be age-related, or it could be just the way the CD was burned? I can do more rips if there turns out to be an issue and/or different ISO software will get different results.

I tried LOOM and MAGICIAN, both said to differ, neither filled with zeroes, and the games load and play fine.

[LynXX]

I'll have another look. I just mounted the CD on Linux as usual (just the mount command without specifying the FS type which is detected as iso9660). I checked the files content with hexdump -C which just showed zeroes. Maybe I did something wrong.

[LynXX]

I re-did the diff and indeed these MSAFILES are not seen as different anymore, not sure what I did wrong the first time around! Thanks for double-checking.