Just Solve the File Format Problem - User contributions [en]

Disk Image Formats

2012-11-01T07:25:38Z

Pidge:

[[File Formats]] > [[Electronic File Formats]] > [[Disk Image Formats]]

File systems and other file formats described on this page's parent page describe entities that exist on disks as they would normally used.

However, there are also file formats that allow a physical disk to be "imaged" into a file, either to re-copied onto a physical disk later, or else used by an *emulator* of the computer system that would have originally.

These file formats represent a data image of one of the physical floppy disk formats. In addition to the raw data from the disk, these formats may contain metadata that the corresponding emulator environment uses to correctly access the data.

Typically, when archiving a physical disk for later use, a physical disk will be imaged into one of these file formats. Sub-pages of this page should contain information on the format itself as well as instructions on how to extract a physical disk into that disk image format, including information about what physical drives are required, what software to use and how and what OS that is run under.

* raw IMG (ie, created with dd)
* [[CloneCD Control File]] (.ccd, .img, .sub)
* [[CUE and BIN]]
* [[ISZ]]
* [[MDF and MDS]]
* [[NRG]]

Apple formats:

* [[Disk Copy 4.2]]
* [[DART]]
* [[Disk Copy 6]]
* [[DMG]]

Forensics formats:
* Expert Witness (i.e. EnCase)
* Advanced Forensics Format (AFF)

Tools:
* [[The Sleuth Kit and Autopsy]] can can read raw, Expert Witness, and AFF formats

Sources

2012-11-01T07:18:50Z

Pidge: Added Forensics Wiki

__NOTOC__
If you're looking for places to pull either file format information, or to verify stuff you've found, or to go that extra mile to track down variations, here's some similar endeavors and items.

==List of Places Keeping Track of Formats==

* [http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/Category:File_Formats Forensics Wiki]
* http://archivematica.org/preservation
* http://www.fileformat.info/
* http://www.ace.net.nz/tech/TechFileFormat.html
* http://wotsit.org/ - their download page is broken. need to ping webmaster about that.
* Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats_%28alphabetical%29
** Also [[wikipedia:Template:Infobox file format]] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AWhatLinksHere&limit=500&target=Template%3AInfobox+file+format&namespace=0 pages using this template])
* http://unarchiver.c3.cx/formats
* [[Sources/PRONOM|The PRONOM format registry]].
* http://wiki.multimedia.cx/
* http://archive.org/download/file-format-encyclopedia/fileformat.zip/
* http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/descriptions.shtml
* http://www.udfr.org/, see also http://gdfr.info/.
* http://gitorious.org/re-lab Tools & specs from re-lab- graphics formats, and office formats
* http://www-mmsp.ece.mcgill.ca/documents/AudioFormats/index.html - Documentation, details, specs, and samples for a handful of audio formats
* http://wiki.xentax.com/index.php/Game_File_Format_Central This wiki is the home of the most game (archive) file format knowledge in the world.
* http://rewiki.regengedanken.de has some more game related reverse engineering
* http://mark0.net/soft-trid-e.html Home to TrID, which can identify a vast number of file formats using an updateable database
* http://mark0.net/soft-trid-deflist.html Online searchable version of the TrID database file
* http://file-extension.net/seeker/ Metasearch engine for file extensions - Find info about unknown file extensions or filetypes
* http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page - the Videogame Music Preservation Foundation Wiki has information on a number of formats used to play back videogame music
* http://hackipedia.org/File%20formats/ - loads of info on various formats here
* http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_formats - detailed information on eBook formats.
* http://mediapedia.nla.gov.au/ - "The Mediapedia resource is intended to enable the identification of various physical media carrier types for assisting with collection planning, assessment, documentation, infrastructure and preservation planning for the content they hold. These could include media across various genres such as cine, video, photo, audio, data, paper carriers, microfilm, etc."
* http://wiki.opf-labs.org/display/TR/Formats - Small list of formats with detailed descriptions of some known access/preservation problems.
* [http://registry.dcc.ac.uk:8080/RegistryWeb/Registry/ CASPAR/DCC Representation Information Repository]
* [http://theswo.sourceforge.net/ The Software Ontology]
* [http://keep-totem.co.uk/ KEEP Totem] also covers software, hardware etc.
* [http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Main_Page Dead Media Archives]
* [http://www.forensicinnovations.com/formats.html The >4000 formats known to FI Tools], [http://www.forensicinnovations.com/formats-ext1.html by extension], [http://www.forensicinnovations.com/formats-mime.html by MIME type]

==Emulation==

* http://nonmess.retrogames.com/ - Emulator listing for various computer formats, including MESS and single-machine emulators.
* [http://emuframework.sourceforge.net/ The Emulation Framework] is software developed by the international KEEP project, co-funded by the European Union's 7th Framework Programme.

==Books==

* [http://www.amazon.com/Compressed-Image-File-Formats-JPEG/dp/0201604434/ Compressed Image File Formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, XBM, BMP] by John Miano (1999)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Graphics-File-Formats-Reference/dp/1565921615/ Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats: The Complete Reference on CD-ROM with Links to Internet Resources] by James D. Murray and William VanRyper (1996) '''Copy Acquired!'''
* The CD-ROM for the above book is located [http://archive.org/details/EncyclopediaOfGraphicsFileFormatsCompanionCd-rom here].
* [http://www.amazon.com/Graphics-File-Formats-David-Kay/dp/0070340250/ Graphics File Formats] by David C. Kay and John R. Levine (1994)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Graphics-File-Formats-Reference-Guide/dp/0133034054/ Graphics File Formats: Reference and Guide] by C. Wayne Brown, Barry J. Shepherd (1994)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Formats-Popular-Personal-Computer-Software/dp/0471836710/ File Formats for Popular Personal Computer Software: A Programmer's Reference (Self-teaching Guides)] by Jeff Walden (1986) '''Copy Acquired!'''
* [http://www.amazon.com/File-Formats-Internet-Guide-Users/dp/0871114410 File Formats on the Internet: A Guide for PC Users] by Allison B. Zhang (1996) '''Copy Acquired!'''
* [http://www.amazon.com/Graphics-File-Formats-Programmers-Reference/dp/0201488353/ 3D Graphics File Formats: A Programmer's Reference] by Keith Rule (1996)
* [http://www.amazon.com/More-File-Formats-Popular-Software/dp/0471850772/ More File Formats for Popular PC Software: A Programmer's Reference] by Jeff Walden (1987) '''Copy Acquired!'''
* [http://www.amazon.com/Lotus-File-Formats-1-2-3-Symphony/dp/0201168243/ Lotus File Formats for 1-2-3 Symphony & Jazz: File Structure Descriptions for Developers] from Lotus, Inc. (1986)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Windows-File-Formats-Swan/dp/0672303388/ Inside Windows File Formats] by Tom Swan (Nov 1993)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Internet-File-Formats-Complete-Receiving/dp/188357756X/ Internet File Formats: Your Complete Resource for Sending, Receiving, and Using Internet Files] by Tim Kientzle (Oct 15, 1995)
* [http://www.amazon.com/File-Formats-Popular-PC-Software/dp/0471528064/ File Formats for Popular PC Software] by Jeff Walden (Nov 1992)
* [http://www.amazon.com/File-Formats-Conversions-Book-Developers/dp/155755059X/ PC File Formats and Conversions/Book and Disk (Developers Series)] by Ralf Kussmann (Mar 1990)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Undocumented-Formats-Working-Inside/dp/0879304375/ Windows Undocumented File Formats; Working Inside 16- and 32- bit Windows] by Pete Davis (Jan 23, 1997)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Graphics-File-Formats-Complete-Reference/dp/0070375321/ Graphics File Formats: The Complete Reference] by John R. Levine and David C. Kay (May 1992)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Using-Pcx-Graphics-Files-Programmers/dp/0879304324/ Using Pcx Graphics Files: The Programmer's Definitive Guide to Pcx File Formats] by Roger T. Stevens (Apr 1, 1996)
* [http://www.amazon.com/File-Formats-Handbook-Gunter-Born/dp/1850321175/ The File Formats Handbook] by Gunter Born (Sep 1995)
* [http://www.amazon.com/Window-System-Formats-Application-Conventions/dp/1872630154/ X Window System File Formats and Application Conventions (X11R4)] by The Open Group (Jul 17, 1991)

==Other Useful Materials and Services==

* http://www.nsrl.nist.gov/ National Software Reference Library (see also http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/05/life-saving-the-national-software-reference-library/)
* http://www.openplanetsfoundation.org/software/fido Format Identification for Digital Objects
* https://github.com/usnationalarchives/File-Analyzer File Analyzer
* http://sk1project.org/modules.php?name=products&product=uniconvertor UniConvertor is a universal vector graphics translator. It is a command line tool which uses sK1 object model to convert one format to another
* http://www.textfiles.com/programming/FORMATS/
* http://wiki.opf-labs.org/display/SPR/Digital+Preservation+Tools Wiki list of digital preservation tool lists
* http://wiki.opf-labs.org/display/REQ/Digital+Preservation+and+Data+Curation+Requirements+and+Solutions Digital Preservation and Data Curation Requirements and Solutions. Not classified by formats, but by datasets, issues and solutions.
* http://fileformats.wordpress.com/ - The File Formats Blog
* http://www.archive.org/details/cdbbsarchive - The Internet Archive has over 1,500 CD-ROMs loaded with shareware, and with that comes converters, documentation and other vital works related to file formats.
* [http://wiki.opf-labs.org/display/SPR/Crowd+sourced+Representation+Information+for+Supporting+Preservation+(cRIsp) Crowd sourced Representation Information for Supporting Preservation (cRIsp)]
* [http://www.nsrl.nist.gov/ National Software Reference Library]
* [http://mediatypes.appspot.com/ Linked Data URIs for MIME Types]

Disk Image Formats

2012-11-01T07:12:29Z

Pidge:

[[File Formats]] > [[Electronic File Formats]] > [[Disk Image Formats]]

File systems and other file formats described on this page's parent page describe entities that exist on disks as they would normally used.

However, there are also file formats that allow a physical disk to be "imaged" into a file, either to re-copied onto a physical disk later, or else used by an *emulator* of the computer system that would have originally.

These file formats represent a data image of one of the physical floppy disk formats. In addition to the raw data from the disk, these formats may contain metadata that the corresponding emulator environment uses to correctly access the data.

Typically, when archiving a physical disk for later use, a physical disk will be imaged into one of these file formats. Sub-pages of this page should contain information on the format itself as well as instructions on how to extract a physical disk into that disk image format, including information about what physical drives are required, what software to use and how and what OS that is run under.

* raw (ie, created with dd)
* [[CloneCD Control File]] (.ccd, .img, .sub)
* [[CUE and BIN]]
* [[ISZ]]
* [[MDF and MDS]]
* [[NRG]]

Apple formats:

* [[Disk Copy 4.2]]
* [[DART]]
* [[Disk Copy 6]]
* [[DMG]]

Forensics formats:
* Expert Witness (i.e. EnCase)
* Advanced Forensics Format (AFF)

Tools:
* [[The Sleuth Kit and Autopsy]] can can read raw, Expert Witness, and AFF formats

Disk Image Formats

2012-11-01T07:11:52Z

Pidge: added forensics formats and Tools category

[[File Formats]] > [[Electronic File Formats]] > [[Disk Image Formats]]

File systems and other file formats described on this page's parent page describe entities that exist on disks as they would normally used.

However, there are also file formats that allow a physical disk to be "imaged" into a file, either to re-copied onto a physical disk later, or else used by an *emulator* of the computer system that would have originally.

These file formats represent a data image of one of the physical floppy disk formats. In addition to the raw data from the disk, these formats may contain metadata that the corresponding emulator environment uses to correctly access the data.

Typically, when archiving a physical disk for later use, a physical disk will be imaged into one of these file formats. Sub-pages of this page should contain information on the format itself as well as instructions on how to extract a physical disk into that disk image format, including information about what physical drives are required, what software to use and how and what OS that is run under.

* raw (ie, created with dd)
* [[CloneCD Control File]] (.ccd, .img, .sub)
* [[CUE and BIN]]
* [[ISZ]]
* [[MDF and MDS]]
* [[NRG]]

Apple formats:

* [[Disk Copy 4.2]]
* [[DART]]
* [[Disk Copy 6]]
* [[DMG]]

Forensics formats:
* Expert Witness (i.e. EnCase)
* Advanced Forensics Format (AFF)

Tools:
* [[The_Sleuth_Kit_and_Autopsy]] can can read raw, Expert Witness, and AFF formats

The Sleuth Kit and Autopsy

2012-11-01T07:03:14Z

Pidge: Created page with "[http://www.sleuthkit.org/sleuthkit/ The Sleuth Kit] (TSK) is a C library and a set of command line tools for forensic analysis of filesystems and disk images. [http://www.sle..."

[http://www.sleuthkit.org/sleuthkit/ The Sleuth Kit] (TSK) is a C library and a set of command line tools for forensic analysis of filesystems and disk images. [http://www.sleuthkit.org/autopsy/ Autopsy] is a graphical front end for TSK and provides some additional features on top of it, including extracting and searching the text contents from multiple file formats over an entire image.

Supported disk and file system image formats
* raw (i.e. dd)
* Expert Witness (i.e. EnCase)
* AFF

Supported file systems:
* [[NTFS]]
* [[FAT]]
* [[UFS 1]]
* [[UFS 2]]
* [[EXT2]]
* [[EXT3]]
* [[HFS]]
* [[ISO 9660]] / CDFS (Compact Disc File System)

Magnetic stripe card

2012-11-01T06:32:34Z

Pidge: /* Binary encoding */

{|
|[[File Formats]]
| >
|[[Physical File Formats]]
| >
|Magnetic stripe card
|}

Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, [http://cansecwest.com/slides06/csw06-malfunction.pdf hotel key cards], gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized material, usually located next to the long edge of the card. They most commonly appear in the approximate size and shape of a credit-card, though airline boarding passes, mass-transit fare cards, and many other varied forms exist. The underlying technology is the same, though: a sequence of alternately-polarized magnetic stripes which are read with a magnetic head similar to that found in any cassette player.

Data formats:
* [[ISO/IEC_7813]]
* [[ANSI/ISO ALPHA Data Format]]
* [[ANSI/ISO BCD Data Format]]

== Making a reader ==

Magnetic card readers capable of decoding the data formats used for credit cards are available pretty cheaply on the Internet, but for arbitrary formats you might need the raw data on the card. It's pretty easy to build a reader that uses a soundcard's DAC to capture the signal, by wiring a tape-head from a cassette player to an audio plug, and using a ruler to line up the tape head as you run it along the desired track. ([http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/soundtrack.html more detailed instructions])

== Binary encoding ==

Modern cards are usually [[Aiken Biphase]] (aka F2F).

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dab.py Python script to decode Aiken Biphase from a WAV file]

[http://www.phrack.org/archives/37/p37_0x06_Card-O-Rama:%20Magnetic%20Stripe%20Technology%20and%20Beyond_by_Count%20Zero.txt Count Zero's canonical walkthrough of magstripe technology from Phrack 37]

== More sources ==

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card Wikipedia page] has good details
* [http://www.abacus21.com/Magnetic-Strip-Encoding-1586.html Magnetic Strip Encoding Standards]
* [http://www.hhhh.org/~joeboy/resources/magcards/ ALPHA and BCD format info]
* [http://www.ded.co.uk/magnetic-stripe-card-standards/ Card standards]
* [http://www.quora.com/When-was-the-first-credit-card-with-a-magnetic-stripe-issued/answer/Brian-Roemmele history of the magstripe card]
* [http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/stripe.html collection of resources]
* [http://www.textfiles.com/anarchy/CARDING/ Textfile.com things related to cloning cards]

Magnetic stripe card

2012-11-01T06:31:11Z

Pidge:

{|
|[[File Formats]]
| >
|[[Physical File Formats]]
| >
|Magnetic stripe card
|}

Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, [http://cansecwest.com/slides06/csw06-malfunction.pdf hotel key cards], gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized material, usually located next to the long edge of the card. They most commonly appear in the approximate size and shape of a credit-card, though airline boarding passes, mass-transit fare cards, and many other varied forms exist. The underlying technology is the same, though: a sequence of alternately-polarized magnetic stripes which are read with a magnetic head similar to that found in any cassette player.

Data formats:
* [[ISO/IEC_7813]]
* [[ANSI/ISO ALPHA Data Format]]
* [[ANSI/ISO BCD Data Format]]

== Making a reader ==

Magnetic card readers capable of decoding the data formats used for credit cards are available pretty cheaply on the Internet, but for arbitrary formats you might need the raw data on the card. It's pretty easy to build a reader that uses a soundcard's DAC to capture the signal, by wiring a tape-head from a cassette player to an audio plug, and using a ruler to line up the tape head as you run it along the desired track. ([http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/soundtrack.html more detailed instructions])

== Binary encoding ==

Modern cards are usually [[Aiken Biphase] (aka F2F)].

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dab.py Python script to decode Aiken Biphase from a WAV file]

[http://www.phrack.org/archives/37/p37_0x06_Card-O-Rama:%20Magnetic%20Stripe%20Technology%20and%20Beyond_by_Count%20Zero.txt Count Zero's canonical walkthrough of magstripe technology from Phrack 37]

== More sources ==

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card Wikipedia page] has good details
* [http://www.abacus21.com/Magnetic-Strip-Encoding-1586.html Magnetic Strip Encoding Standards]
* [http://www.hhhh.org/~joeboy/resources/magcards/ ALPHA and BCD format info]
* [http://www.ded.co.uk/magnetic-stripe-card-standards/ Card standards]
* [http://www.quora.com/When-was-the-first-credit-card-with-a-magnetic-stripe-issued/answer/Brian-Roemmele history of the magstripe card]
* [http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/stripe.html collection of resources]
* [http://www.textfiles.com/anarchy/CARDING/ Textfile.com things related to cloning cards]

Magnetic stripe card

2012-11-01T06:26:03Z

Pidge:

{|
|[[File Formats]]
| >
|[[Physical File Formats]]
| >
|Magnetic stripe card
|}

Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, [http://cansecwest.com/slides06/csw06-malfunction.pdf hotel key cards], gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized material, usually located next to the long edge of the card. They most commonly appear in the approximate size and shape of a credit-card, though airline boarding passes, mass-transit fare cards, and many other varied forms exist. The underlying technology is the same, though: a sequence of alternately-polarized magnetic stripes which are read with a magnetic head similar to that found in any cassette player.

Data formats:
* [[ISO/IEC_7813]]
* [[ANSI/ISO ALPHA Data Format]]
* [[ANSI/ISO BCD Data Format]]

== Making a reader ==

Magnetic card readers capable of decoding the data formats used for credit cards are available pretty cheaply on the Internet, but for arbitrary formats you might need the raw data on the card. It's pretty easy to build a reader that uses a soundcard's DAC to capture the signal, by wiring a tape-head from a cassette player to an audio plug, and using a ruler to line up the tape head as you run it along the desired track. ([http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/soundtrack.html more detailed instructions])

== Binary encoding ==

Modern cards are usually [[Aiken Biphase]].

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dab.py Python script to decode Aiken Biphase from a WAV file]

[http://www.phrack.org/archives/37/p37_0x06_Card-O-Rama:%20Magnetic%20Stripe%20Technology%20and%20Beyond_by_Count%20Zero.txt Count Zero's canonical walkthrough of magstripe technology from Phrack 37]

== More sources ==

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card Wikipedia page] has good details
* [http://www.abacus21.com/Magnetic-Strip-Encoding-1586.html Magnetic Strip Encoding Standards]
* [http://www.hhhh.org/~joeboy/resources/magcards/ ALPHA and BCD format info]
* [http://www.ded.co.uk/magnetic-stripe-card-standards/ Card standards]
* [http://www.quora.com/When-was-the-first-credit-card-with-a-magnetic-stripe-issued/answer/Brian-Roemmele history of the magstripe card]
* [http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/stripe.html collection of resources]
* [http://www.textfiles.com/anarchy/CARDING/ Textfile.com things related to cloning cards]

Magnetic stripe card

2012-11-01T06:24:40Z

Pidge: /* More sources */

{|
|[[File Formats]]
| >
|[[Physical File Formats]]
| >
|Magnetic stripe card
|}

Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, [http://cansecwest.com/slides06/csw06-malfunction.pdf hotel key cards], gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized material, usually located next to the long edge of the card. They most commonly appear in the approximate size and shape of a credit-card, though airline boarding passes, mass-transit fare cards, and many other varied forms exist. The underlying technology is the same, though: a sequence of alternately-polarized magnetic stripes which are read with a magnetic head similar to that found in any cassette player.

Data formats:
* [[ISO/IEC_7813]]
* [[ANSI/ISO ALPHA Data Format]]
* [[ANSI/ISO BCD Data Format]]

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dmsb.py python script to decod

== Making a reader ==

Magnetic card readers capable of decoding the data formats used for credit cards are available pretty cheaply on the Internet, but for arbitrary formats you might need the raw data on the card. It's pretty easy to build a reader that uses a soundcard's DAC to capture the signal, by wiring a tape-head from a cassette player to an audio plug, and using a ruler to line up the tape head as you run it along the desired track. ([http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/soundtrack.html more detailed instructions])

== Binary encoding ==

Modern cards are usually [[Aiken Biphase]].

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dab.py Python script to decode Aiken Biphase from a WAV file]

[http://www.phrack.org/archives/37/p37_0x06_Card-O-Rama:%20Magnetic%20Stripe%20Technology%20and%20Beyond_by_Count%20Zero.txt Count Zero's canonical walkthrough of magstripe technology from Phrack 37]

== More sources ==

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card Wikipedia page] has good details
* [http://www.abacus21.com/Magnetic-Strip-Encoding-1586.html Magnetic Strip Encoding Standards]
* [http://www.hhhh.org/~joeboy/resources/magcards/ ALPHA and BCD format info]
* [http://www.ded.co.uk/magnetic-stripe-card-standards/ Card standards]
* [http://www.quora.com/When-was-the-first-credit-card-with-a-magnetic-stripe-issued/answer/Brian-Roemmele history of the magstripe card]
* [http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/stripe.html collection of resources]
* [http://www.textfiles.com/anarchy/CARDING/ Textfile.com things related to cloning cards]

Magnetic stripe card

2012-11-01T06:23:37Z

Pidge:

Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, [http://cansecwest.com/slides06/csw06-malfunction.pdf hotel key cards], gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized material, usually located next to the long edge of the card. They most commonly appear in the approximate size and shape of a credit-card, though airline boarding passes, mass-transit fare cards, and many other varied forms exist. The underlying technology is the same, though: a sequence of alternately-polarized magnetic stripes which are read with a magnetic head similar to that found in any cassette player.

Data formats:
* [[ISO/IEC_7813]]
* [[ANSI/ISO ALPHA Data Format]]
* [[ANSI/ISO BCD Data Format]]

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dmsb.py python script to decod

== Making a reader ==

Magnetic card readers capable of decoding the data formats used for credit cards are available pretty cheaply on the Internet, but for arbitrary formats you might need the raw data on the card. It's pretty easy to build a reader that uses a soundcard's DAC to capture the signal, by wiring a tape-head from a cassette player to an audio plug, and using a ruler to line up the tape head as you run it along the desired track. ([http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/soundtrack.html more detailed instructions])

== Binary encoding ==

Modern cards are usually [[Aiken Biphase]].

[http://www.alcrypto.co.uk/magstripe/dab.py Python script to decode Aiken Biphase from a WAV file]

[http://www.phrack.org/archives/37/p37_0x06_Card-O-Rama:%20Magnetic%20Stripe%20Technology%20and%20Beyond_by_Count%20Zero.txt Count Zero's canonical walkthrough of magstripe technology from Phrack 37]

== More sources ==

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card Wikipedia page] has good details
* [http://www.abacus21.com/Magnetic-Strip-Encoding-1586.html Magnetic Strip Encoding Standards]
* [http://www.hhhh.org/~joeboy/resources/magcards/]
* [http://www.ded.co.uk/magnetic-stripe-card-standards/]
* [http://www.quora.com/When-was-the-first-credit-card-with-a-magnetic-stripe-issued/answer/Brian-Roemmele history of the magstripe card]
* [http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/stripe.html collection of resources]
* [http://www.textfiles.com/anarchy/CARDING/ Textfile.com things related to cloning cards]

Magnetic stripe card

2012-11-01T05:51:25Z

Pidge: Created page with " Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, hotel cards, gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized ma..."

Magstripe (magnetic-stripe) cards are everywhere: bank cards, hotel cards, gift cards, transit ticket, id cards. They encode machine-readable data in a strip of magnetized material, usually located next to the long edge of the card. They most commonly appear in the approximate size and shape of a credit-card, though airline boarding passes, mass-transit fare cards, and many other varied forms exist. The underlying technology is the same, though: a sequence of alternately-polarized magnetic stripes which are read with a magnetic head similar to that found in any cassette player.

Encoding of data varies, possibilites include:
* [[ISO/IEC_7813]]
* [[ANSI/ISO ALPHA Data Format]]
* [[ANSI/ISO BCD Data Format]]

== Making a reader ==

Magnetic card readers capable of decoding the data formats used for credit cards are available pretty cheaply on the Internet, but for arbitrary formats you might need the raw data on the card. It's pretty easy to build a reader that uses a soundcard's DAC to capture the signal, by wiring a tape-head from a cassette player to an audio plug, and using a ruler to line up the tape head as you run it along the desired track. ([http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/soundtrack.html more detailed instructions])

== More sources ==

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card Wikipedia page] has good details
* [http://www.abacus21.com/Magnetic-Strip-Encoding-1586.html Magnetic Strip Encoding Standards]

ISO/IEC 7813

2012-11-01T05:33:36Z

Pidge: Created page with "Standard for financial cards, specifying physical characteristics and data track formats. [http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=43..."

Standard for financial cards, specifying physical characteristics and data track formats.

[http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=43317 ISO catalog entry]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_7813 Wikipedia page]