Using the KryoFlux
- Sara I Rogers
Developed by the Software Preservation Society, the KryoFlux is a floppy disk controller that can read legacy magnetic media. Using the KryoFlux, we are able to capture raw disk images from legacy floppy disks. While AAA does not currently have a KryoFlux the Harry Ransom Center has given us access to their device. Any disks where we were unable to obtain a disk image using the TD3 Forensic Imager have been subsequently (when possible) imaged using the KryoFlux. Any future use of the KryoFlux should be coordinated between the AAA's curator, the HRC's Head of Digital Collections, and the HRC's Digital Archivist.
If it is decided that disks will need to be imaged using the KryoFlux at the HRC it will be necessary to create an inventory of the items. This inventory must be checked and signed by the AAA Curator before the materials leave the archive and checked and signed by the Digital Archivist at the HRC when the materials enter and leave the archive. See below for an example of how the inventory should be formatted.
The Digital Archivist at HRC will go over all procedures on how to use the KryoFlux upon the initial visit. Please review the resources listed below BEFORE going to the HRC so that there is some familiarity with the software.
Due to some issues with the KryoFlux GUI, for the VOH materials we opted to use the DiskTool Console (DTC) which is the software's command line application. The benefit of using the command line interface was two-fold - since we were capturing stream files it was not necessary to know how the disks were formatted, and because of the number of disks it was more efficient to modify the CLI syntax rather than clicking multiple things in the GUI. Once we had the stream files for all disks, we were able to create disk images using the KryoFlux GUI installed on the Digital Archives Workstation Laptop.
Resources related to using the KryoFlux:
Archivist's Guide to KryoFlux - Google Drive Draft
A great resource developed by archivists for archivists who are using the KryoFlux to capture disk images. The Google Drive document is a draft but the final draft should be available on GitHub soon!
A brief introduction and overview of the Archivist's Guide.
Dr. Gough Lui's Project Kryoflux Series
An excellent resource for learning more about the KryoFlux and for interpreting the GUI visualizations. Dr. Lui does an excellent job of breaking down what it is the KryoFlux is doing (or not doing!).
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