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Category: Amstrad

DiscSys – XOR

DiscSys was a commonly used Disk Protection format in the 80s for the Amstrad CPC. For a protection system it was very basic, relying on modifying track and sector information to non standard formats to prevent copying with the supplied tools. Though it was very trivial to bypass the protection system and copy the disk anyway. Whilst reminiscing about the past, I discovered a small flaw with implementation in the game XOR, here's what I found...

Speedlock 1987

Speedlock '87 was a prolific Tape Protection System and Turbo Load for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. In this post I look at the protection system and how to hack to it using the same tools available to me in 1987 as a young teenager.

Amstrad CPC Themed 2024 Calendar

Who doesn't like free stuff? How about a free to download PDF 2024 Calendar showcasing some of the best Loading Screens the Amstrad CPC had to offer back in the 80's? Be the envy of every die hard Spectrum and Commodore fan worldwide.

Multi Mark – For Stubborn 3″ Disks

I'd purchased some Three Inch disks from a well known Retro Seller some months ago, but today I was able to take a look and format them for use. Unfortunately due to their age, they had corruption on the media. My usual toolset didn't help, cue... Multi-Mark from Tom and Jerry of GPA

GreaseWeazle 0.24 Update

With the latest update to GreaseWeazle 0.24 comes with a raft of changes and new command line syntax. This article will go through the technical changes and point you to an updated bash script to take advantage of the latest firmware.

GreaseWeazle and XCode 12

Those of us who are using Keir Frasers amazing GreaseWeazle on macOS, may run into some issues from today 17th September 2020, if your macOS has updated to XCode 12. This article shows my solution to resolving the issue.

GreaseWeazle

Via the Retro community I learned of the GreaseWeazle, and at a fundamental level it works by recording the magnetic fluctuations on the disk surface and therefore doesn't rely on a specific disk interface to decode those signals. As such it makes it perfect for making digital forensic copies of disks in the past.

Amstrad CPC Magnum Light Gun

Recently I was asked to provide some information on the Amstrad Magnum Light Gun, and so I fired up the old hardware, loaded up my Assembler and Monitoring Tools and set about reverse engineering this legacy and rare piece of kit.