Re: Apple //e HardDrive

[Phoenyx <quazar@dcnet2000.com>]

> Ok guys, don't get excited... I can't get the card to work in the
> IIGS either... whatever slot I use, the GS keeps beeping at
> startup (though I'm new to the GS, I guess this is some kind of a
> startup alert) and stops on the first startup page. I even tried
> the control panel in GS/OS to specify what slot my card was in,
> but it obviously doesn't keep the settings on the system floppy.
> Does anybody have any idea of the HD system format ? Dos or
> ProDOS ? Or maybe CP/M ? (there's a CP/M-Z80 card in my IIe)
> Thought I doubt it... Somebody rich enough at that time to buy a
> 10MB HD for his IIe would certainly have bought it for IIe-related
> purposes...

First, the GS should hold it's settings no matter what it boots from
as long as the internal battery is ok. If the HD is in slot 7 as is
normal, the computer will try and boot this first. It works from
slot 7 down to 1 looking for a boot device. This device must have
the proper boot code on it's rom. This is a simplistic example. So
try the card in slot 7 and the GS settings should be set to your
card and the boot setting can be either slot 7 or scan. There is no
harm in trying this. As mentioned, if you set the GS this way, it
should keep these settings.

There were very few DOS compatible hard drives. I remember the
Corvus system which I think was a network type of drive. The Nibble
magazine used such a system.

Prodos is probably the OS of choice. If you can get the GS to ID the
hard disk you might be able to put a format on the thing. If this
drive has somehow lost it's format or never had a Prodos format, it
will never boot.

Set the system as mentioned. Place a Prodos boot floppy in what ever
floppy the system tries to boot from normally just in case. If the
system hangs, it's probably trying to boot from the HD without the
Prodos files being there. If the HD is not a bootable rom card, the
GS will skip to 3.5 or 5.25. If the GS hangs, set the boot slot to
the boot floppy (slot 5) and let the GS boot to Prodos. You need
a program called Copy2Plus or perhaps the Prosel utilities. Using
one of these, attempt to read the directories on the slot 7 drive
1 device. If this fails, attempt a format on the slot 7 drive 1
device.

If all of this fails and Copy2Plus or Prosel fails to recognize a
device then this card/drive is either bad or incompatible with a GS.
If it fails on the GS, it might work on a IIe.

-- 

Cheers and best wishes,
Phoenyx

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