Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: morton@wam.umd.edu (Rob Morton) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Nib 2.0 Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.applications Date: 21 Apr 1993 15:33:34 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 171 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <1r3pge$r9n@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: morton@wam.umd.edu (Rob Morton) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: copy protection, copier, commercial PRODUCT NAME Nib version 2.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION A software copier for copy-protected disks. It is described as a "disk nibbler and parameter copier." AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Stellar Systems, Inc. Address: Attn. Software Development P.O. Box 9047 Hampton, VA 23670-0047 Distributed by: Utilities Unlimited, Incorporated 1641 McCulloch Blvd, Suite #25-124 Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403 Telephone: (602) 680-9004 (Distributor) FAX: (602) 680-9006 (Distributor) E-mail: Jim_Drew@cryo.rain.com LIST PRICE I have no idea about price; it came free when I bought my Super Card Ami (see other review of this product). The manual says $44.95 (US). [MODERATOR'S NOTE: Nib 1.0 appeared in 1989 as a freely distributable product. "Registered ownership" of the commercial version 2.0 was offered to users at that time for $16. The expected list price at that time was $38.00. I can't believe I remember this stuff. - Dan] SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS None. COPY PROTECTION None. Hard drive installable. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING A2000, 1 Meg Chip RAM, 2 Meg Fast RAM, AmigaDOS 1.3, 2 internal drives, 1 external drive, 100 Megs of hard drive space. REVIEW The first thing you notice is that Nib talks to you. When you load the program, it speaks, "Nib, disk nibbler and parameter copier" in a low, sampled voice. That's pretty cool and impresses people that see this copier. It speaks quite a lot. It also says "Error", "Long", "Disks", and "Copy complete". This may seem silly, but it helps to not have to watch the screen. The user interface meets no official style guidelines, but it is very easy to use. I have used this program to remove the protection from some games that use "look up in the manual" methods. It does so quite well. It also seems to be able to copy almost any disk that doesn't have a long track on it, even if it is not in the parameter list. You can select individual tracks to copy. After you copy the disk, if there were any errors, you hit a button, and only those tracks will be copied. You can select between several different copy methods and try them out on the tracks that didn't work the first time. Of course, the ideal solution would be to have a parameter for the particular disk. As far as I know, the parameter list has not been updated at all. When you leave the program, it frees the disk drives for normal use again. PROGRAMS SUCCESSFULLY COPIED I usually used the best copier for the task. Raw Copy would copy and remove protections, so it got used for manual-based games the most. Nib got used for most of the first round of copying, and then any long tracks I did individually with Super Card Ami II. If that didn't work, then I just used Super Card Ami. (See my reviews of the other 2 copiers mentioned.) Copied: Marble Madness Menace Rampage Copied and removed "look up in the manual" protection: Battle Chess DOCUMENTATION It is on the disk but is very complete. It tells everything that one would need to know. The author even includes ASCII drawings as pictures which are accurate enough to make it understandable. LIKES AND DISLIKES Likes: The speaking, is great. I love this feature. It is great to be able instantly to pick the tracks that didn't copy the first time. As far as I know, the parameters work perfectly. (They did for me, but my game collection is not really extensive). Dislikes: It can't copy long tracks. I got this program with Super Card Ami (Hardware copier that can copy long tracks), so I would think the two should work together a little. While copying, at times the screen gets messed up temporarily. I am not sure that it is still being supported, at least I have gotten no update information on it. Suggestions: Use Super Card Ami. Update the parameter list. Stop the screen from flashing. Add a bigger vocabulary. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS I have Raw Copy as well, and Nib has a much nicer looking interface and the unique feature of speaking. They are very similar products in that both get rid of manual, dongle, and code wheel protection schemes. Nib wins out in every category except support. With parameter copying programs, support is a must. BUGS None. VENDOR SUPPORT See above. I am not sure if they are even thinking of supporting it. WARRANTY I have no idea. It is not mentioned in the documentation. CONCLUSIONS This is a great program with no support. Because of the lack of support I would have to give this game a ranking of 3 out of 4, but that will go down as time goes on... unless games start being released without copy protection. --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu