peelings-ii-v4n1-1983

Hardware Copy CardsThe war goes on. The scenario is similar to the electronic warfare situation. First there were protected programs on cassette. Thosewere broken. Then came protected diskettes and the nibble copiers. Then more sophisticated protection mechanisms were introducedand more sophisticated copy programs became available. Now we have the hardware copy cards. Each of the three cards reviewed isdesigned to make copies of the program in memory, for archival purposes. All of these hardware copy methods are subject to similarrestrictions. They only easily copy programs which reside entirely in memory; programs requiring multiple disk accesses (except possiblyfor user data files) will most likely remain uncracked. At present these copy cards will not satisfy all of your archival needs. Totalsatisfaction can only be achieved by unlocked software, or software which allows a limited number of back-ups to be made. But forsingle load programs, perhaps one of these cards will be satisfactory. None of the cards is really intended to copy programs runningwith a Z-80 card.DCRACK-SHOTPIRATES HARBORP. 0. Box 8928Boston, MA 02114617-738-5051 (modem)$149.95Machine language48K, DOS 3.3UnlockedReviewed by Edward BurlbawINTRODUCTIONCRACK-SHOT can be installed in any slot, provided there is nocard in slot 0. If you have a RAM card, you will have to remove it. Inorder to run copied programs, CRACK-SHOT must be installed inone of the slots (slot 0 can be occupied) or a RAM card can be used.There are known conflicts with certain other cards, such as theHayes Micromodem II and some video cards. I also had problems usingmy Grappler card with CRACK-SHOT installed, and vice versa.Any conflciting cards must be removed before using CRACK-SHOT.A good rule would be to take everything out, except CRACK-SHOTand the disk controller card.MAKING A COPYThis is a very simple procedure. Once the card is installed, anyprogram can be run as normal. When the program is at the desiredpoint, the CRACK-SHOT copy switch is flipped and a blank disketteplaced in drive one. A copy will be made in fifteen seconds. Theblank diskette then has a copy of the entire 48K of memory, with theexception of the screen display locations. These must be set, onbooting, by a menu within the CRACK-SHOT program. To executeyour copy with the CRACK-SHOT card in place, simply CALL alocation on the card and it takes over from there. You have essentiallycreated an archival copy of the program which requires a hardware"key" (CRACK-SHOT) to run. If you are satisfied, there isnothing more to do. File the original away and use the CRACK­SHOT copy.ADVANCED TOPICSIf you are satisfied with the copy described in the previous paragraph,you will not be interested in the other possibilities of CRACK­SHOT. There are other utilities included on the system disk foranalysis of the copy. The EDIT utility will allow you to read tracksinto a buffer, disassemble the code in the buffer, write the buffer backto disk, or exit to BASIC (for BSA VE operations). The PACKER utilityis perhaps the most powerful of the utilities. For example, if it canbe determined that the entire 48K is not being used by the program,the program areas of memory can be consolidated and automaticallyunfolded once resident in memory. This would allow loading underDOS 3.3 without the CRACK-SHOT card. I would feel more com-Volume 4, Number 1, 1983fortable with an archive copy of this nature. The PACKER utility isalso the most difficult to understand. It is confusing because it requiresone to keep track of physical and logical locations of the codeand the location on the diskette. Other features of PACKER will readand attempt to analyze the various sections of the copied memory tolocate code or ASCII data sections. This can be done manually orautomatically. Packing command files can also be created but, obviously,you have to be able to first do it manually.The language card is supported in several ways. The utility programswill run with the card and use the extra memory to increase thesize of the binary file that is packable. The language card can be usedin place of the CRACK-SHOT card, for running the copy.DOCUMENTATIONThe manual is very extensive and attempts to explain all of thefeatures and possibilities of CRACK-SHOT. The simple copy and rerunprocedures are well covered, but the advanced topics are not adequatelytreated. Perhaps the experienced user will not need any moreexplanation, but a simple tutorial would improve the usability considerably.There are nine Appendixes with some examples, tips, troubleshooting hints, and packing parameters (sound familiar?).SUMMARYIn addition to making archival copies of single-load protected programs,CRACK-SHOT can be used as a gaming tool by makingcopies which start at higher levels. Once understood, the extensiveadvanced features could be useful. If you dislike performing surgeryon your Apple, you may be annoyed with the slot 0 restrictions andthe conflict with other cards.DSNAPSHOTDark Star Systems54, Robin Hood WayGreenford, Mddx. UB6 7QN01-900-0104P. 0. Box 140Amherst, MA 01004413-584-7600$109.95 (plus p&h)Machine languageDos 3.3, 64K (certain RAM cards only)UnlockedReviewed by Edward BurlbawINSTALLATIONSNAPSHOT can be used with only some RAM cards. The morecommon of these are Apple, Microsoft, and Ramex. Also supported45