Re: Design Apple Drive For PC

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Bryan Parkoff writes ...
> 
> Design Apple Drive For PC
> 
>     I have commented to Joachim Lange from ///SHH Systems (German Company)
> who he created BlueDisk Controller Card for Apple II allowing to read/write
> data to MFM Floppy Drive.
>     I have asked him to design a new PCI Controller Card that allows to
> read/write data to GRC Floppy Drive in your PC!  No need to use modem null
> cable for transferring files nor File Exchange from Macintosh.  You will be
> able to read ProDOS 8 and DOS 3.3 from GRC drive in your PC BEFORE you will
> be able to write them into MFM drive in your PC.  You can use special
> software such as DiskCopy that can copy from GRC disk to MFM disk in your
> PC.  It will work either 486 or Pentium machine that uses PCI slot.  Much
> Better than TrackStar!

     Unclear why. It is pretty easy to move files between PC hard disk and
Trackstar's virtual hard disk or an Apple II diskette. The big advantages of a
new board would be that it would be easier to obtain, could plug into a modern
PC, and would not require executing any MS-DOS programs.

     You do not mention what size diskettes the new board would handle. Could
it R/W both 140k 5.25" and 800k 3.5" diskettes?


>     If you are interested that you want to support Joachim Lange that
> Joachim Lange is probably willing to design for us, I will need all of you
> to email me saying you want to support him for designing PC-GRC Drive.  I
> will collect all your e-mails before I calculate how many people want to
> support.  Then I will forward the number of people to Joachim Lange.  He
> will see if the number of people is high enough before he is willing to
> design for us.
>     Usually, we call PC-GRC Floppy Drive and PC-MFM Floppy Drive.  It is
> what we want PC-GRC Floppy Drive that can be used for Apple Emulator instead
> of using Disk Image!
> 
 ....

     In most cases, running from a disk image is an advantage. If the
controller can deal with copy protected diskettes, running from diskette would
be a nice feature for someone with a collection of Apple II originals.



Rubywand