Since Linux kernel version 6.0 exchanging data between Linux and TOS with TOS/Windows compatible partitions has become quite inconvenient. The solution to this and other problems is a platform-independent UEFI GUID partition table (GPT), which also offers benefits for the Atari. GPTs have been standard on the Mac for a long time and have been supported by most platforms for almost 20 years.
HDDRUTIL will support creating a GPT in a future update for HDDRIVER 12, which is currently in the test phase.

• HDDRIVER: The GUID partition type "Atari TOS raw data (XHDI)" is supported and mapped to the XHDI "RAW" type.
• HDDRIVER/HDDRUTIL: Improvements related to the analysis of UEFI GUID Partition Tables (GPT).
• HDDRUTIL: The option "Map unknown GUID types to RAW type" is not needed anymore and has been removed.
• HDDRUTIL: Fixed Windows-compatible partitioning of media that before partitioning were in GPT format.
• HDDRUTIL: Fixed a device check crash when no SCSI Driver was installed.

There is an updated version of the DISKUS mass storage tool. DISKUS (German only) is a powerful tool for maintaining mass storage devices (error analysis, data recovery, sector editor and much more).

The internal host adapter of the MegaSTE cannot use the DaynaPort emulation of SCSI2Pi, PiSCSI or BlueSCSI together with a bootable emulated hard drive: The DaynaPort drivers expect the DaynaPort uses LUN 0, but LUN 0 is required for a bootable drive. The authors of these drivers (both still active developers for the Atari) are aware of this problem. Only a driver update can cleanly resolve it.
The initial makeshift from February, a modified HDDRIVER, I have not released because of the maintenance overhead. Instead there is a beta version of a program for the AUTO folder now, which maps ACSI ID 6 to LUN 6 of ACSI device 0. That way the emulated DaynaPort can use ID 0 LUN 6, but the drivers see the device as ID 6 LUN 0.
Users of HDDRIVER 12 who would like to test this beta version please send me an email.

SCSI2Pi improves the performance of the PiSCSI/RaSCSI board and extends the functionality. For the installation/update highly optimized, compact binary packages are available, i.e. in contrast to PiSCSI no time-consuming compilation is required. With the SCSI2Pi client tools the Atari can control SCSI2Pi via the SCSI or ACSI bus. In addition, the tools support SCSI2Pi as a realtime clock and as a network printer for the Atari.

• Manual: The download includes the up to date English and German manual as PDF.
• HDDRIVER: The SCSI emulation for IDE/SATA drives/memory cards supports all mandatory commands of the SBC-4 specification (SCSI Block Commands).
• HDDRIVER: With TT and Falcon SCSI the SCSI Driver supports 32 LUNs (sub-units) according to the SCSI specification. This SCSI Driver extension is backwards compatible.
• HDDRIVER: The code for initializing the PMMU of the Afterburner040 was extracted into an external program for the AUTO folder and an HDDRIVER module, resp. The README file in the FIXES/AB040MMU folder provides more information.
• HDDRIVER: AB040FIX (FIXES folder) was renamed to ALTRAMFX. It is required for Falcons with Alternate RAM (Afterburner040, DFB1, CT*) in order to use SCSI peripherals. The README file in the FIXES/ALTRAMFX folder provides more information.
• HDDRIVER: The Medusa Txx hardware is no longer supported. The Hades is not affected.
• HDDRIVER: Fixed a bug in the LBA-48 access mode, which is used with IDE/SATA drives > 128 GiB.
• HDDRIVER/HDDRUTIL: With the standard settings HDDRUTIL now installs HDDRIVER without support for the SCSI Driver target interface. This saves about 3 KiB of memory.
• HDDRIVER/HDDRUTIL: Numerous optimizations.
• HDDRUTIL: The device check uses an improved/optimized query of LUNs and now also detects non-consecutive LUNs.
• HDDRUTIL: The new function "Drive->Clear Data" clears the FATs and the root directory of a partition. This is equivalent to deleting all files, but is much faster.
• HDDRUTIL: "Edit Partitions" supports changing the boot mask bit. Together with an explicit boot preference (TOS or TT SVR4) this mask determines which operating system is booted by default. Only the values $00 (not bootable, $80 (bootable TOS) and $40 (bootable TT SVR4) were specified by Atari.
• HDDRUTIL: When copying sectors the current sector number and the total sector count are displayed.
• HDDRUTIL: The "Device Check" dialog now has a scrollbar.
• HDDRUTIL: The sector test after formatting is now optional.
• HDDRUTIL: The HDDRIVER configuration export also lists the HDDRIVER version and the path of the HDDRIVER file.
• HDDRUTIL: The bus information displays whether a SCSI Driver supports 32 LUNs for a bus.
• HDDRUTIL: Various user interface improvements.
• HDDRUTIL: Depending on the bus features the device check now checks for up to 32 LUNs.
• HDDRUTIL: The function "Test Sectors" was renamed to "Read Test" because there is now also a write test for the data of a medium. This test first reads the sectors and then writes them back. Nevertheless it is recommended to save the data before a write test.
• HDDRUTIL: The list of explicitly displayed partition types in the partitioning dialog has been extended.