-------------Alligator Mix------------- A 4am crack 2015-07-01 --------------------------------------- Name: Alligator Mix Genre: educational Year: 1982 Authors: Bill Maxwell & Jerry Chaffin Publisher: Developmental Learning Materials (DLM) Media: one single-sided 5.25-inch disk OS: Diversi-DOS (T02,S02 has the string "C1982 DSR" backwards) Previous cracks: none (preserved here for the first time) Identical cracks: Home Row (no. 351) ~ Chapter 0 In Which Various Automated Tools Fail In Interesting Ways COPYA immediate disk read error Locksmith Fast Disk Backup unable to read any track EDD 4 bit copy (no sync, no count) works Copy ][+ nibble editor modified address and data epilogues ("DA AA EB" instead of "DE AA EB") Disk Fixer ["O" -> "Input/Output Control"] set Address Epilogue to "DA AA EB" set Data Epilogue to "DA AA EB" all tracks readable T00 -> looks like a DOS 3.3 RWTS T11 -> DOS 3.3 disk catalog T01,S09 -> startup program is "ALLIGATOR MIX" Why didn't COPYA work? modified epilogue bytes (every track) Why didn't Locksmith FDB work? modified epilogue bytes (every track) EDD worked. What does that tell us? no half or quarter tracks almost certainly no nibble check (just structural changes to epilogue) Next steps: 1. capture RWTS with AUTOTRACE 2. convert disk to standard format with Advanced Demuffin 3. patch RWTS to read standard format ~ Chapter 1 In Which We Attempt To Use The Original Disk As A Weapon Against Itself [S6,D1=original disk] [S6,D2=blank disk] [S5,D1=my work disk] ]PR#5 CAPTURING BOOT0 ...reboots slot 6... ...reboots slot 5... SAVING BOOT0 CAPTURING BOOT1 ...reboots slot 6... ...reboots slot 5... SAVING BOOT1 SAVING RWTS ]BRUN ADVANCED DEMUFFIN 1.5 ["5" to switch to slot 5] ["R" to load a new RWTS module] --> At $B8, load "RWTS" from drive 1 ["6" to switch to slot 6] ["C" to convert disk] --v-- ADVANCED DEMUFFIN 1.5 (C) 1983, 2014 ORIGINAL BY THE STACK UPDATES BY 4AM =======PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE======= TRK:................................... +.5: 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF012 SC0:................................... SC1:................................... SC2:................................... SC3:................................... SC4:................................... SC5:................................... SC6:................................... SC7:................................... SC8:................................... SC9:................................... SCA:................................... SCB:................................... SCC:................................... SCD:................................... SCE:................................... SCF:................................... ======================================= 16SC $00,$00-$22,$0F BY1.0 S6,D1->S6,D2 --^-- ]PR#5 ... ]CATALOG,S6,D2 C1983 DSR^C#254 309 FREE A 002 ALLIGATOR MIX B 033 LOGO1 B 034 LOGO2 B 034 LOGO3 *B 017 RUNTIME B 048 ALIG3.OBJ B 009 ASHAPES2 B 010 ASHAPES1 ]RUN ALLIGATOR MIX ...works... [S6,D1=demuffin'd copy] ]PR#6 ...grinds... My copy can't read itself yet. This is not unusual. ~ Chapter 2 In Which We Remove All Traces Of Copy Protection Using An Automated Tool That I Wrote For Just Such An Occasion [S6,D1=demuffin'd copy] [S5,D1=my work disk] ]PR#5 ]BRUN PDP T00,S03,$91 change DA to DE T00,S03,$35 change DA to DE T00,S02,$9E change DA to DE Quod erat liberandum. --------------------------------------- A 4am crack No. 352 ------------------EOF------------------