It’s less regular because records containing data that I haven’t encountered yet are rare (and expensive), but from time to time, I’ll add more. This week, another record from the duo of Mainframe, Radio (Will Bring Me Home).
Instead of repeating all the previous articles each time, I’ll refer you to the dedicated page, which explains what I do with vinyl records and lists all the pages containing programs, explanations, etc.
So, I bought the record without the cover (this is important for what follows) but it wouldn’t have indicated anyway that there is data. However, on the disc itself, there is a reference to a second track (The Message). It’s a data track for Apple II, recorded at a fairly low level. Usually, for data, I record using the microphone input of an external sound card, but this time the data part, even in this case, was too weak. I had to resort to the Mac’s microphone input, which amplifies more.
Recovery was more challenging. In my last Apple II program (from the same group), I had used an emulator that only accepts AIFF files. By normalizing and amplifying, the audio part (without conversion) worked directly in the emulator. Here, after many attempts, it was impossible. At best, I got an error. So, I tried another approach. I launched CiderPress on Windows.
The operation is a bit peculiar: you have to create an empty disk image, then import a WAV file. Then, you have to test the different options and check if any code is readable. By importing it as BASIC code, I got part of the BASIC code (and I could confirm the presence of code for Apple II, by the way) but couldn’t execute it. Whether saving it or using an Applesoft BASIC interpreter… nothing. So, I persisted, cleaned the disk, checked the cell, etc. And after quite a few tries (I have about forty intermediate files, more or less processed), it worked. The program is thus a message, in Applesoft BASIC.
It displays a message, here is the text.
CONGRATULATIONS !!!
WHO’S THE CLEVER COMPUTER BUFF WITH THE DISCERNING EAR FOR BRILLIANT MUSIC THEN?
THE MAINFRAME PROJECT WELCOMES YOU TO THE START OF A NEW QUEST
BE PATIENT…
YOU ARE ALREADY AHEAD OF THE PACK.
A REWARD WILL COME YOUR WAY.
THE FIRST FIFTY QUESTORS WHO RETURN THE TRIANGLE TO –
MC2 RECORDS
24 MISSDEN DRIVE
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
HERTSWILL RECIEVE THE NEXT MAINFRAME SINGLE FREE AND BEFORE THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.
DON’T FORGET SEND YOUR ADDRESS AND THE TRIANGLE
SEE YOU SOON
MAINFRAME…
When I read the message, I wondered why they were talking about a triangle. Then I looked for an image of the cover (I got my record without it) and it clicked: at the top of the back cover, there is a triangle with an inside. I didn’t send a letter because I don’t have the triangle, and apparently the address is no longer linked to the company in question.
A copy found on the Net
The back, with the mentioned triangle
