----------------Passport---------------
A 4am hack 2017-05-14
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Passport is a cracker's tool that can
remove several forms of copy protection
from Apple II 5.25-inch floppy disks.
Minimum system requirements:
- Apple //e, //c, IIgs, or ][+ with 64K
- Two 5.25-inch disk drives(*)
(*) fully compatible with floppy drive
emulators like CFFA3000 and FloppyEMU.
Some fun facts about copy protection:
1. Many companies, especially smaller
ones, outsourced their protection.
I have seen byte-for-byte identical
copy protection on disks from seven
different companies!
2. Even companies that wrote their own
copy protection would try to re-use
it on multiple disks to get the most
"bang for the buck."
3. Not everything has been cracked!
Because there was so much piracy in
the 1980s, some people assume that
everything ever published has been
cracked, digitized, and preserved in
an emulator-friendly format. In
reality, there are hundreds of disks
that have never been cracked. Thirty
years later, these programs are
still trapped on physical media,
literally rotting away.
~
Using Passport is simple. After running
the program, put an original disk in
slot 6, drive 1 and a blank formatted
disk in any other drive. If necessary,
press "S" to cycle through your drives.
Then press "C" to start the cracking.
If all goes well, Passport will read
your original disk and write a copy in
a standard format, then remove any
protection checks from the copy. The
copy will boot and run just as well as
the original disk, but it will be
copyable with COPYA or any full-disk
copy program.
If all does not go well, Passport will
tell you where it all went wrong.
In any case, Passport will NEVER write
to or alter your original disk in any
way. And neither should you! Don't
reduce the number of original disks in
the world; they aren't making any more
of them.
~
Passport targets common protection
schemes that were reused by multiple
companies. These types of protection
were common in educational software.
- Abracadata
e.g. Design Your Own Home
- Apple "Special Delivery"
e.g. Ernie's Quiz, Instant Zoo
- Blue Chip
e.g. Squire, Baron, Tycoon
- DesignWare
e.g. Spellicopter, Crypto Cube
- Developmental Learning Materials
e.g. Curious George in Outer Space,
Alien Addition
- Edu-Ware
e.g. Decimals, Algebra 2
- Ellen Nelson Learning Library
e.g. Science (series), House-a-fire!
- Focus Media
e.g. The Time Tunnel (series),
Travels with Za-Zoom
- Gamco
e.g. Math Leap Frog, Math Football
- Grolier Publishing
e.g. NoteCard Maker, EduCalc
- Hartley Courseware
e.g. Chariots, Cougars, and Kings;
Tim and the Cat and the Big Red Hat
- Hayden
e.g. SAT Score Improvement System
- Heartsoft
e.g. Electric Chalkboard, Tommy the
Time-Telling Turtle
- Houghton-Mifflin
e.g. Game Frame One, Math Masters
- HRM Software
e.g. Gene Machine, Heredity Dog
- Josten Learning Systems
e.g. Building Reading Skills,
Explorations in Science
- Laureate Learning Systems
e.g. Concentrate on Words & Concepts
- The Learning Company
e.g. Bumble Games, Gertrude's Secrets
- Learning Technologies
e.g. Animal Hotel, Bike Hike
- McCarthy-McCormack
e.g. Vowel Corral, Library Magic
- MECC
e.g. Word Munchers, Clock Works
- Media Basics
e.g. Return to Reading (series)
- Methods & Solutions
e.g. Fantasy Land, Behind The Wheel
- Millennium Group
e.g. The Brain Game, Concentration
- Milliken Publishing
e.g. Math Sequences
- MindPlay
e.g. Fraction-oids, Dyno-Quest
- Mindscape
e.g. The Halley Project, Paperboy
- Optimum Resource
e.g. Stickybear Math, Car Builder
- Pelican Software
e.g. Dino Days, Graphics Converter
- Polarware
e.g. The Electric Crayon (series),
The Spy's Adventures (series)
- Quest Learning Systems
e.g. Bingo Bugglebee Presents Home
Alone, Outdoor Safety
- Queue
e.g. Force and Motion, Practical
Grammar
- Random House
e.g. Snoopy to the Res
