Syncro Express/Disk Utility/Commercial

From: Marc A. Lombardo (aa400@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 05/07/91-06:15:16 PM Z


From: aa400@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Marc A. Lombardo)
Subject: Syncro Express/Disk Utility/Commercial
Date: Tue May  7 18:15:16 1991


Syncro Express
Written by Scotty Meredith
Copyright 1990


     I have owned an Atari ST for several years now.  When the ST 
first came out, I heard how powerful it was.  This machine can do
it all!  I saw the graphics, sound and all the other features that 
the original eight bit system could not match.  After getting the 
system home, Unpacking it, and putting it all together, I was 
ready to "Unleash the power" of this fantastic machine.  After 
buying some software to take advantage of the features, I ran in 
to a problem.  There was no real disk copier that would back up 
these valued gems.  How could this be??!!  The eight bit line has 
a happy drive to copy ANY disk, and this new machine with all it's 
power does not?  "It will only be a matter of time" I said to 
myself.  "Surely with all that memory and power they will have 
something"!

     Finally, a program called ProCopy came along.  
ProCopy was fine, but with new software titles came new 
protection, witch lead to new ProCopy's.  Soon there were a dozen 
versions of ProCopy. Another problem was, when you bought an older 
title (Don't laugh, I just bought Infocomm's The Witness last 
week!!) you would have to try each version of ProCopy until you 
found which version copied it.  Contrary to popular belief, the 
latest version of ProCopy will not copy every title that older 
versions would.  Micro League Baseball is another problem.  I am 
not giving a course on how to pirate software, but Micro League 
Sport's Association has a really good method of copy protection.  
Before you ask, YES, I OWN THE ORIGINAL!  I still have not sent my 
warranty card in.....  But I do have a store-bought original.  If 
you copy the disk, and load the copy, it works!  or does it?  
Sometimes you can make it through a complete game with no 
way through the game, the scoreboard will say "WXYZZZ DOES NOT 
WORK!" and the players will run out of the stadium, out in to left 
field.  It is disappointing to be throwing a no-hitter in the 
bottom of the ninth, and never know what would have happened.

     Then a friend introduced me to SEX.  No, not the kind that 
teenage girls are discovering at a younger age, but SEX on the 
computer.  How can you have Sex on a computer?  The average male 
weighs 200 lbs. and the average female 120.  That is 320 lbs!!  
                                                                                
        Can the ST support all that weight??!!  The fact is, I
have had SEX on my computer for a couple of month's now, and it
has never ran better!  Even a backup copy of Micro League
Baseball works! Ok, before I get the parent's of America sending
me nasty letters, let me explain.  SEX is short for Synchro
EXpress. A new disk copier from Coast to Coast Technologies.  The
package comes with a disk, and a over-sized printer connector
with a disk drive socket and a tail with a disk drive plug on
it.  I have heard of a similar device called the BLITZ cable,
that you can make yourself.  I cant bring myself around to believe
that a disk copier that claims to copy it all, would be free
(except for parts).  I have had bad dreams about BLITZ, actually
being a hardware virus.   THIS IS NOT A FACT OR AN OPINION, IT
IS ONLY A DREAM.  I am not saying it is or is not, I just can't
figure out, why someone would develop a product as wonderful as
this, and release it for free.  Getting back to SEX (sorry), 
Synchro Express.

     This is the disk copier I have been waiting for.  I have
only ran across one program that it would not backup.  That
being GUNSHIP.  I don't know why, but I could not copy it.  I
even tried twice.  But it DID copy dozens of other
programs.  The real advantage to SEX, is it does it FAST!  A
single sided disk is copied in 22 seconds.  A double sided in 44.  
The destination disk does not even have to be formatted!  I have 
two Indus disk drive's on my system, and it was something to see 
both track indicator meters displaying the same number all the way 
through the entire copy.  As i Said, Synchro Express plugs in to 
both the printer and disk drive port of your ST.  If you are one 
of the poor souls (like myself) that have the old 520, there is a 
problem.  You plug Synchro in to the printer port, but the drive 
connector plugs in to the back of your second disk drive.  In 
other words, you leave drive A plugged in to the back of your ST, 
Synchro plugs in to the back of drive A, and drive B plugs in to 
the back of Synchro.  You have to set drive A on top of your 
computer (by the function keys).  Since I do not make daily back-
ups, I can live with this small inconvenience.  If you have any 
other model ST, you have a relatively easy setup.  The one problem 
I was disappointed to find out is, You can not leave Synchro 
connected.  You will not be able to access drive B.  If you do not 
use drive B for anything, you can leave it connected, but I have 
other uses for my second drive.  All in all, Synchro is a great 
product.  It works as advertised.  Also included on the disk is a 
program to format your disk's to load quicker.  I personally have 
not tested it.  I am happy with the standard TOS format.  If you 
have any questions on Synchro Express, you can write me at 

Internet: AA519@Cleveland.Freenet.edu.


-- 
Marc A. Lombardo           User Address:aa400@cleveland.freenet.edu   ~ ~ ~
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Atari ST, MIDI, Music                                                ~~ ~ ~~
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