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    From Duhast@duhast@123gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Friday, June 05, 2026 22:56:22
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level? I think I'm experiencing some bit rot and wonder if there's something out there....

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Speccie@someone@somewhere.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, June 06, 2026 08:25:03
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    On 6 Jun 2026, Duhast wrote

    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level? I think I'm experiencing some bit rot and wonder if there's something out there....

    Which platform? II+, //e, IIgs or /// ?

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From David LaRue@huey.dll@tampabay.rr.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, June 06, 2026 11:27:54
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    Duhast <duhast@123gmail.com> wrote in news:110029g$1iufs$1@dont-email.me:

    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level? I think I'm experiencing some bit rot and wonder if there's something out there....

    IIRC it was something like the 'comp' program/command. There were several options available.

    Later versions, not in the original OS, could do a decent job of comapring text files and resynching after finding different length differences. I
    don't recall the utukuty package that was very common to have.
    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Steve Nickolas@usotsuki@buric.co to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, June 06, 2026 08:19:14
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2



    On Sat, 6 Jun 2026, David LaRue wrote:

    Duhast <duhast@123gmail.com> wrote in news:110029g$1iufs$1@dont-email.me:

    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level? I think I'm
    experiencing some bit rot and wonder if there's something out there....

    IIRC it was something like the 'comp' program/command. There were several options available.

    Later versions, not in the original OS, could do a decent job of comapring text files and resynching after finding different length differences. I don't recall the utukuty package that was very common to have.


    On MS-DOS you had two options, depending on the licensee. Microsoft themselves offered FC, and IBM offered COMP. I think modern Windows at
    least still has FC.

    I think on Linux your main checker would be cmp, or you could combine
    hexdump or od with diff -u...

    -uso.
    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Hugh Hood@hughhood@earthlink.net to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, June 06, 2026 10:27:36
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    I'll vote for Ewen's 'ChewBagger' on the IIgs (or emulator).

    <https://speccie.uk/software/chewbagger/>


    BTW, good to 'see' you here, Ewen. :-)


    OTOH, if you're looking for something to use on the MacOS or Windows command line, Chris Madsen's 'vbindiff' does a nice job.

    <https://www.cjmweb.net/vbindiff/>






    Hugh Hood

    On 6/6/2026 2:25 AM, Speccie wrote:
    On 6 Jun 2026, Duhast wrote

    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level? I think I'm
    experiencing some bit rot and wonder if there's something out there....

    Which platform? II+, //e, IIgs or /// ?


    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Duhast@duhast@123gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, June 06, 2026 22:18:04
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    On 6/6/2026 3:25 AM, Speccie wrote:
    On 6 Jun 2026, Duhast wrote

    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level? I think I'm
    experiencing some bit rot and wonder if there's something out there....

    Which platform? II+, //e, IIgs or /// ?


    IIe or //gs. I've had files on my hard drive(not necessarily the actual
    same physical hard drive) for over 30 years. Recently I had a problem,
    and then recopied the files and things worked again.

    These are binaries or sys files, and I would like something that did a
    bit by bit comparison and automatically find the differences....

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Speccie@someone@somewhere.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Sunday, June 07, 2026 08:47:42
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    Hugh,:

    I'll vote for Ewen's 'ChewBagger' on the IIgs (or emulator).

    <https://speccie.uk/software/chewbagger/>

    I knew I had written something that would do the trick, but just could not remember which one it was yesterday!

    BTW, good to 'see' you here, Ewen. :-)

    I am still here, and do check the groups daily, and it is good to see you are still here too Hugh!

    Ewen (Speccie)

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Speccie@someone@somewhere.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Sunday, June 07, 2026 08:56:43
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    On 7 Jun 2026, Duhast wrote
    (in article <1102kdm$28378$1@dont-email.me>):

    IIe or //gs. I've had files on my hard drive(not necessarily the actual
    same physical hard drive) for over 30 years. Recently I had a problem,
    and then recopied the files and things worked again.

    These are binaries or sys files, and I would like something that did a
    bit by bit comparison and automatically find the differences....

    Then my ChewBagger IIgs utility is exactly what you want. It compares two files, stops at each difference, and allows you to edit them if necessary.

    See Page 21 of the ChewBagger manual:

    http://speccie.uk/speccie/downloads/chewbagger_manual.pdf

    Ewen (Speccie)

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Duhast@duhast@123gmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Monday, June 08, 2026 20:18:08
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    On 6/7/2026 3:56 AM, Speccie wrote:
    On 7 Jun 2026, Duhast wrote
    (in article <1102kdm$28378$1@dont-email.me>):

    IIe or //gs. I've had files on my hard drive(not necessarily the actual
    same physical hard drive) for over 30 years. Recently I had a problem,
    and then recopied the files and things worked again.

    These are binaries or sys files, and I would like something that did a
    bit by bit comparison and automatically find the differences....

    Then my ChewBagger IIgs utility is exactly what you want. It compares two files, stops at each difference, and allows you to edit them if necessary.

    See Page 21 of the ChewBagger manual:

    http://speccie.uk/speccie/downloads/chewbagger_manual.pdf

    Ewen (Speccie)


    Great, I'll check it out!

    --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2
  • From Brian Patrie@bpatrie@bellsouth.spamisicky.net to comp.sys.apple2 on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 19:53:56
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    Duhast wrote:
    Is there a utility to compare two files on a byte level?

    I'm partial to vim -d (aka vimdiff); but i doubt that there's a II implimentation. I don't know if A2osX, or any of the other unixoid
    shell environments have cmp; GNO/ME probably does, and maybe the Orca stuff. --- Synchronet 3.21e-Win32 NewsLink 1.2