Spanned Disc Set

[james_hardin]

Early versions of V6 had a Hex glitch in the Spanned Disc Set created by Classic.

 

Whenever the discs exceeded 9, Hex was used in the $OVRSPAN$.INF file instead of an integer. Thus discs 10, 11, …, 16 were listed as A, B, …, 10.

 

Problem is when trying to use Retrieve.exe, it is looking for disc A, B, etc. but the discs are numbered 10, 11, etc.

 

This only applies to disc sets of 10 or more discs!

 

The only way to recover from this is to correct the $OVRSPN$.INF files and re-write the disc set.

 

This is a little tedious so follow closely.

 

Start by checking in Windows Explorer to make sure are set to show all file types. Tools – Folder Options – View tab, Hidden files and folders – Show hidden files and folders.

 

Create a New folder to contain the corrected $0VRSPN$.INF files.

 

Put in Disc 1 and copy the $OVRSPN$.INF file to your HD.

 

Open this file with NotePad. Do not use WordPad, Word or any other word processor, only use NotePad.

 

The first three lines under "[OverSpanInfo]" are the lines of interest.

• VolumeLabel=xxxxxx_xxx_x
  
• Disc=x
  
• Disc Count=x
  

 

You will need to replace any Hex number with the Integer equivalent.

 

(Hex Math: 15 is the largest single digit in hex, so 10 through 16 would be A, B, C, D, E, F and 10.

 

17 = 11, 18=12, until 25=19. Then the letters are used for 26 through 32 – 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F and 20.)

 

In these 3 lines, replace any Hex number with the correct Integer equivalent and save the file. – Leave NotePad open, you will need it in a moment.

 

Open Classic and add the entire contents of first disc of the Set. Move to the preview pane and delete the $OVRSPAN$.INF file.

 

Navigate to your HD folder and add the corrected $OVRSPN$.INF you made.

 

Back to NotePad for the VolumeLabel. I prefer copy and paste. Highlight the number following the 'VolumeLabel=' and paste it into Classic at the Disc Name.

 

Burn a new disc.

 

Repeat this for every disc in your Set. I did say it would be tedious but it is the only way you will be able to use Retrieve.exe to recovery your data.