Create README.md

README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,330 @@
+# Passport
+a verification and copy program for 5.25-inch Apple II 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.
+
+## Usage
+
+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.
+
+## Supported protections
+
+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 Rescue, Charlie
+  Brown's ABCs
+
+- Reader's Digest
+  e.g. Key Lingo, Cogito
+
+- Scholastic
+  e.g. Math Shop, Microzine
+
+- Spinnaker Software
+  e.g. Snooper Troops, KidWriter
+
+- Springboard Software
+  e.g. Early Games for Young Children,
+  Puzzle Master, Mask Parade
+
+- Sunburst Communications
+  e.g. M-ss-ng L-nks, The Incredible
+  Laboratory
+
+- Troll Associates
+  e.g. Dino Dig, Make A Face
+
+- Unicorn Software
+  e.g. Magical Myths, Ten Little Robots
+
+
+The latest version of Passport can also
+recognize and defeat the protection
+used by some game companies. In general
+there was more variation and "one-off"
+protection in games than in educational
+software, so your mileage may vary.
+
+- Activision (patcher by TRex)
+  e.g. Hacker, Rampage
+
+- Atari
+  e.g. Defender, Gremlins
+
+- Border
+  e.g. Arena, Early Bird
+
+- Broderbund
+  e.g. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego
+
+- Data East
+  e.g. Ikari Warriors, Batman
+
+- Electronic Arts (patcher by qkumba)
+  e.g. The Bard's Tale, Skyfox
+
+- Epyx
+  e.g. Summer Games, Deathsword
+
+- Sierra On-Line (patcher by qkumba)
+  e.g. BC's Quest for Tires, Sammy
+  Lightfoot
+
+## License
+
+Passport is open source and is
+distributed under the MIT license.
+
+Passport
+Copyright (c) 2016-7 by 4am
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of
+charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated
+documentation files (the "Software"),
+to deal in the Software without
+restriction, including without
+limitation the rights to use, copy,
+modify, merge, publish, distribute,
+sublicense, and/or sell copies of the
+Software, and to permit persons to whom
+the Software is furnished to do so,
+subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this
+permission notice shall be included in
+all copies or substantial portions of
+the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS",
+WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
+TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
+FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
+CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
+SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS
+IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+## History
+
+2017-05-14
+- NEW: patcher for Activision (by TRex)
+- NEW: patcher for Electronic Arts (by
+  qkumba)
+- NEW: patcher for Sierra On-Line (by
+  qkumba, replaces old patcher)
+- NEW: patcher for Optimum Resource (by
+  qkumba, replaces old patcher)
+- NEW: patcher for Gamco Software
+- NEW: patcher for Border Software
+- NEW: patcher for Blue Chip Software
+- NEW: patcher for Houghton-Mifflin
+- NEW: patcher for Milliken Publishing
+- NEW: patcher for Methods & Solutions
+- NEW: patcher for Laureate Learning
+- NEW: detection of LSR $6A ProDOS RWTS
+- NEW: identification of Pronto-DOS,
+  Diversi-DOS, David DOS, and Quick-DOS
+- IMPROVED: patcher for MECC
+  (fixes Word Munchers v1.1)
+- IMPROVED: patcher for Scholastic
+  (fixes Bank Street Writer II)
+- IMPROVED: patcher for Grolier
+  (fixes Countries of the World)
+- migrated build to ACME assembler and
+  source code to GitHub (by qkumba)
+
+2016-12-30
+- add support for DOS 3.3P
+  e.g. Ernie's Quiz, Instant Zoo
+- improve support for disks created
+  with MECC Database
+- faster detection of 4-and-4 encoding
+  and 5-and-3 encoding (neither is
+  supported)
+- various speed improvements
+
+2016-09-02
+- add support for Protected.DOS
+  e.g. Moebius, Math Blaster
+- add support for "JMP $B660" RWTS
+  e.g. Verb Viper, Master Match
+- add support for Datasoft encrypted
+  bootloader
+  e.g. Tomahawk, Video Title Shop
+- fix bug in boot sector detection that
+  erroneously claimed some disks were
+  unreadable
+- add informational messages about some
+  RWTS variants (LSR $6A, BCS $08)
+- refactor code in /id/ directory
+
+2016-07-12
+- initial release