Kidnapper's retro computer offers scant clues

[TjLaZer]

This article is funny, check it out.  I guess they did not know of the X1541 cables...

[Homer]

Very odd ! I'm sure there are people here who could get the data without loss  :idea:

[Ilwrath]

Very odd ! I'm sure there are people here who could get the data without loss

Heh... True.  There is a LOT of old-school Commodore knowledge still out there.  

Of course, we don't know what the heck he might have done to that data to obscure it.  Essentially, the C= floppy drives were computers in and of themselves.  Make a custom EPROM for it (a 68764 or 2764 chip, IIRC) and the possibilities for data munging are quite extreme.

[motorollin]

I find it pathetic (and worrying) that the "Federal Criminal Investigations Bureau" couldn't figure this out. Even if he had done something to the drive to make it encode the data in a different way so other drives won't be able to read it, they had his drive! Ummm, how about just turning the C64 on and opening the files??? Or as already mentioned, use an Easy1541 cable???

--
moto

[Plaz]

I read that article at slashdot.org the other day. One of the most enlightend responses told them ... "You're in Europe, to go the nearest demo party and get some help." :-)

Plaz

[Ilwrath]

Even if he had done something to the drive to make it encode the data in a different way so other drives won't be able to read it, they had his drive!

True...  Of course, you might have a few values you poke into the C64's memory to allow you to be able to USE that modified drive...  That would be a very unique take on password encryption!  :-)

The short of it is, we just don't know.  Of course, for ANY government organization to essentially come out and say they don't know how to use a certain type of computer simply because it is old......  That is remarkably disheartening.  They should have contract resources available for knowledge on any technology they may encounter.

[TjLaZer]

I wonder if the FBI or other US angency would be any better at figuring it out.

[maffoo]

From the article:

...it would be difficult to transmit the data from Priklopil's machine to a modern computer "without loss".

I don't get this line, surely it's digital information so they'll either be getting all of it or nothing? :-?

(I know the data could be on old disks that may have degraded, but I would have thought that would be a problem for any computers, not just a C64.)

[jkirk]

I don't get this line, surely it's digital information so they'll either be getting all of it or nothing? :-?

i think what they are referring to is being able to ressurect what he deleted from the disks. if not they are idiots.

[foleyjo]

He may not have put any data on a disk. How do we know he wasnt using it to play Barbarian or some other game to pass the time

[Vincent]

Plaz wrote:
I read that article at slashdot.org the other day. One of the most enlightend responses told them ... "You're in Europe, to go the nearest demo party and get some help." :-)

 :laughing:

Classic!

[steve30]

Good point. He may have no info relating to the crime on his computer. Why would he need to write all about the crime he has commited on his computer?

[cojones]

From the article:

The beige-coloured machine was popular in the 1980s but is now considered an antique, though some electronic dance acts still use it [...]

I can picture it - the police doing an inventory, and someone comes across an old BASF C60 tape. "Hey, he's got a bootleg of the Great Gianna Sisters - I haven't heard them for years! Anybody got a tape player in their car?"