CiderPress II, a specialized software tool tailored for managing disk images and file archives related to vintage Apple computers such as the Apple II series and early Macintoshes, is now available in its v0.3.0-dev1 iteration. This application is designed to run seamlessly on contemporary desktop and embedded systems.
Key Functionalities:
CiderPress II empowers users with a comprehensive suite of file operations for disk images and file archives, including but not limited to: listing, adding, extracting, importing, exporting, copying, renaming, moving, deleting, testing, printing, and setting attributes. Users can generate new disk images in various formats and sizes, retrieve metadata, manipulate metadata, copy blocks or sectors, edit blocks or sectors, and visualize raw tracks.
Current Status:
The command-line tool is presently in alpha quality, with a feature-complete command set for v1.0. However, support for some essential formats is still under development. Refer to the manual for an exhaustive overview of commands and features.
The GUI tool is functional but not yet complete, and is exclusively available for Windows at this time. Additional details can be found in the GUI Tool Development notes.
Video Demonstrations:
Explore the application’s capabilities through the following video demonstrations:
- v0.3 Disk Handling: https://youtu.be/5tE07owhcCc
- v0.2 New GUI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esEHP6Bo8GI
- v0.1 CLI/GUI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jDVdC6-eoA
Pre-Release Development Snapshot:
Please note that this version is a “pre-release” development snapshot, and its stability may be subject to variations.
Changes Since v0.2:
- Added commands: create disk image, create file archive.
- Introduced actions: test files, scan disk, save as disk, replace partition with disk image, import, export, defragment.
- Expanded disk image formats: Trackstar, DiskCopy 4.2.
- Added multi-partition disk formats: MicroDrive, FocusDrive.
- Included filesystems: CP/M, Apple Pascal, Gutenberg (read-only), MFS (read-only), RDOS (read-only).
- Added file archive format: MacBinary (read-only).
- Enabled access to removable media (with Admin privilege escalation).
- Introduced import/export conversion options editor.
- Included metadata editing.
- Updated sector editor.
- Various GUI enhancements.
For detailed installation instructions, refer to the install guide.
Installation:
Pre-built binaries are available for 32-bit Windows, 64-bit Windows, 64-bit Mac OS, and 64-bit Linux. Downloads with “_fd” are framework-dependent, requiring .NET Core 6 or later. Versions with “_sc” in the names are self-contained and do not require a separate runtime download. Simply download the appropriate file and unzip it. On Mac, use xattr -d comp.apple.quarantine * from a Terminal window to authorize execution.
To explore more about CiderPress II or download the latest experimental release, visit the Github page: https://github.com/fadden/CiderPress2
Note from the author, Andy McFadden: This is a Use at Your Own Risk application at this point.
