Re: Profile drive question

["Paul Grammens" <grammens@svn.net>]

David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote in message
1ey5loj.1bv8kdumhmzr4N%dempson@actrix.gen.nz">news:1ey5loj.1bv8kdumhmzr4N%dempson@actrix.gen.nz...
> Ernest <ernestls@home.com> wrote:
>
> > What kind of hard drive did the Profile 5mg  use?
>

This is interesting stuff. Is it in the faq? If not, it belongs there.
-Paul


> The 5 MB version used a genuine Seagate ST-506 mechanism (MFM, with the
> same physical interface as used by an IBM XT, now generally called the
> "ST-506" interface).  I expect that the 10 MB version used the
> equivalent 10 MB Seagate model.
>
> > If I have one with a dead HD, what could I replace it with?
>
> Not much except the original mehcanism.  In theory, you could change
> between 5 MB and 10 MB, but I've never heard of anything larger being
> used, unless you rip the guts out of the case and basically use it as a
> power supply for a drive with a different interface.
>
> The big problem is that if you replace the mechanism you will need to
> reformat the drive, and that requires an Apple III with an Apple III
> Profile controller card, special partitioning software, and a special
> CPU/PROM which needs to be installed in the drive's controller card.
> The partitioning software and the CPU/PROM must match each other and are
> tied to a specific drive capacity.
>
> The CPU/PROM is typically a prototyping version of the Z8 single-chip
> microprocessor which supports a piggyback 2716 EPROM.