ADFSlib is a Python tool that reads ADFS floppy disk images for use with Acorn 8-bit microcomputer emulators.
ADFSlib is a Python module and tool that allows for the reading of ADFS floppy disc images, designed explicitly to be used alongside emulators of Acorn 8 bit microcomputers. This particular tool replaces the one that was included in the T2Tools distribution.
ADFS, also known as the Advanced Disc Filing System, was the original native filing system used in RISC OS machines when it was first introduced by Acorn computers. It quickly became a replacement for their previous Disc Filing System (DFS), which was used in microcomputers like Electron and Master Compact. Since these machines used different disc formats, with varying storage capacities, but share common structures, emulators could create, read, and write "images" of such discs.
With emulators, modern users could have access to applications, data, and games without having the need to configure and maintain older hardware. These emulators allow the original filing system software to be used, providing some abstraction at the emulated hardware level, which means images rather than actual discs are manipulated.
However, if users want to extract data for other purposes, tools like ADF2INF are required to decode such images and recover files and the directory structure where possible. Other tools can be found through the Stairway To Hell website.
The ADFSlib module provides a class with the minimum functionality necessary to read and interpret various ADFS disc image formats. Since detailed documentation isn't readily available for many formats and there's a scarcity of disc images for some, provision for reading older formats is still untested. That being said, the module aims to read the following formats: 160K (S format), 320K (M format), 640K (L format), 800K (D format), 800K (E format), and 1600K (E format).
ADFS, also known as the Advanced Disc Filing System, was the original native filing system used in RISC OS machines when it was first introduced by Acorn computers. It quickly became a replacement for their previous Disc Filing System (DFS), which was used in microcomputers like Electron and Master Compact. Since these machines used different disc formats, with varying storage capacities, but share common structures, emulators could create, read, and write "images" of such discs.
With emulators, modern users could have access to applications, data, and games without having the need to configure and maintain older hardware. These emulators allow the original filing system software to be used, providing some abstraction at the emulated hardware level, which means images rather than actual discs are manipulated.
However, if users want to extract data for other purposes, tools like ADF2INF are required to decode such images and recover files and the directory structure where possible. Other tools can be found through the Stairway To Hell website.
The ADFSlib module provides a class with the minimum functionality necessary to read and interpret various ADFS disc image formats. Since detailed documentation isn't readily available for many formats and there's a scarcity of disc images for some, provision for reading older formats is still untested. That being said, the module aims to read the following formats: 160K (S format), 320K (M format), 640K (L format), 800K (D format), 800K (E format), and 1600K (E format).
What's New
Version 0.22: N/A