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LIBDSK page

LIBDSK is a library for accessing floppy discs and disc image files. It is intended for use in:

Linux floppy support

In 2022, it was announced that Linux kernel support for raw floppy commands (FDRAWCMD) would be deprecated in Linux 5.18+ and removed altogether in a future release. If you want to use LIBDSK to access the floppy drive under Linux, you will need to do one of:

New in 1.4.x

New in 1.5.x

Data loss warning: If you use the 'rcpmfs' driver with files that exceed 16k in size and are not an exact multiple of 128 bytes, you must update LibDsk to v1.5.18 or later, as earlier versions have been known to corrupt such files.

Older changes

Disc types supported

LIBDSK has drivers for:

Download

Stable Version

[TAR] Stable version: libdsk-1.4.2.tar.gz

[ZIP] LibDsk 1.4.2 executables for Windows

[ZIP] LibDsk 1.4.0 executables for DOS

Development Version

[TAR] Development version: libdsk-1.5.19.tar.gz

[ZIP] LibDsk 1.5.19 executables for Windows

[ZIP] LibDsk 1.5.19 executables for DOS

Packages

Debian packages by Darren Salt.

Packages for Fedora Core 2 and Redhat 9 by Ian Chapman.

Packages for Gentoo

LIB765

Lib765 is the floppy controller emulation from JOYCE, separately packaged. It is (in some sense) the reverse of LibDsk; it converts uPD765a commands into LibDsk API calls. It should come in handy if you're writing a PCW, CPC or Spectrum+3 emulator; if you want to use it in a PC emulator, you'll need to add features such as DMA.

New in v0.4.x

[TAR] lib765-0.4.2.tar.gz

Diskette Tools

The Diskette Tools program is a GUI front-end to LibDsk. It doesn't do any more than the provided sample utilities, but it looks nicer.

[Screenshot of
Diskette Tools under Linux]

[TAR] dsktool-1.0.5.tar.gz (38k): Source code - suitable for Linux, Windows and probably other platforms. Requires wxWidgets to compile.

[ZIP] dsktool103.zip (1473k): Compiled version for Windows, including source code.

Serial Port Server

AUXD is a server for CP/M, allowing drives from CP/M systems to be made available to LibDsk over a serial link. Two versions are included - a generic CP/M server, and one for Amstrad PCW/CPC/Spectrum +3 CP/M.

[ZIP] auxd.zip (62k) - source code and compiled programs.


John Elliott 2023-07-21