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I have downloaded the STOS game creator from the STOS download page. I'm trying to copy the software from my computer to a floppy disk formatted on an Atari ST, but I get an error message saying the floppy is full.

Does anyone know how to copy software which is too large for one floppy disk?

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  • You can't really do that unless you have custom floppy-reading software (as used often in Mac software), but you can try putting it on two floppies.
    – wizzwizz4 ♦
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:04
  • Given that STOS is commercial software, and hasn't been (AFAIK) released for free by Mastertronics, this specific question is somewhat borderline — but the general idea is useful...
    – Stephen Kitt
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:51
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    Strictly speaking, yes; the profile page says “to the best of my knowledge they are within the public domain” but AFAIK that's not the case. I don't think anyone particularly cares though; in fact Clickteam released the source code for AMOS and STOS in 2009 (but not the binaries, or any of the other stuff on the original disks).
    – Stephen Kitt
    Aug 30, 2016 at 15:09
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    @StephenKitt I think our best bet is to wait for the DMCA takedown notice, if there is one, and assume it's fine up until then.
    – wizzwizz4 ♦
    Sep 1, 2016 at 7:57
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    If you dare to mix modern and vintage tech, it is possible to make your Atari view an SD card as a drive. See http://hackaday.com/2013/06/12/loading-atari-games-from-an-sd-card/ which is talking about an older machine, but the basics are the same, if you're willing to do the difficult work.
    – Magnus Smith
    Oct 6, 2016 at 14:16

3 Answers 3

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There is a tool called STZip which is a ZIP archive/unarchive utility for the Atari ST computer. Why not zip up the STOS game creator into 300kb chunks on multiple floppies, and join the files on the ST itself?

There is another tool called DC Xtract Plus that may work as well. Both of these applications should fit onto a single floppy.

There is also a tool called Splitter which splits and joins large files. I'm not sure this program supports ZIP files, so you will have to use an emulator to split and join the program.

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  • Reading I have found this software atari-wiki.com/index.php/Transferring_Files specifically in the Splitting large file chapter.. what would it be the process? do you have any experience with it? But I get it .. thank you so much!
    – inane
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:44
  • @inane Ha, I just edited my answer to post about that. It does not appear Splitter works with ZIP files, so you will need to use an Atari ST emulator, split the large file on the emulator, write to to floppies, and join it on the actual ST computer.
    – JAL
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:47
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    This assumes you have a hard drive on the ST. Also, if your ST has a double-sided drive, you can fit 720KB per disk.
    – Stephen Kitt
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:47
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    @StephenKitt yes, you can use a double-density disk. Good point.
    – JAL
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:48
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    @JAL the issue with STs wasn't density, but sides — early STs could only read the second side of floppies, hence the 360KB limit.
    – Stephen Kitt
    Aug 30, 2016 at 13:50
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There is an old utility called Zip Chunker Pro that splits larger zip files into multiple parts, of whatever size you chose.
Then, on the destination system, you can reassemble them with the same utility.

Not sure how this jives with your atari system, as this is a Win32 application, but it is something to consider.

http://jibbensoftware.com/utilities.cfm

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    Welcome to Retrocomputing!
    – JAL
    Sep 9, 2016 at 13:01
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    This answer is very similar to the existing answer, except that it suggests a utility that doesn't exist on the specified platform. You seem to know about DOS-based platforms though; perhaps you could answer some of the questions on ms-dos or windows31.
    – wizzwizz4 ♦
    Sep 11, 2016 at 8:45
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The package you've linked is designed to be copied and run from an ST hard disk. Unfortunately it's just too big to run from any floppy format the ST can handle.

If you have an ST hard disk and want to copy the files across via floppy, you'll need to prepare a special 720KB disk format. There are also several better options for transferring files to the ST - including serial cable, Ethernet, and even SD card. You can find all of this explained here.

If you want to copy a single file larger than a floppy's capacity, you can use ARJ/UnARJ to split it up and copy in smaller chunks.

If you don't have an ST hard disk at all, your best bet is to find an original copy of STOS. It firsst shipped on 3 separate floppy disks and could be run directly from them.

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