[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Apple II FAQs Diskettes
The comp.sys.apple2 Usenet newsgroup Apple II FAQs originate from
the Ground Apple II archive, 1997-1999. Administrator: Steve Nelson
Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground ref: Csa2DSKETTE.txt rev018 8/27/1999
Diskettes
001- How many tracks can I use on a 5.25" diskette?
002- Can I use high-density 3.5" and 5.25" diskettes on my A2?
003- How can I tell DD from HD diskettes if they are not labeled?
004- Some old 5.25" disks with splotches don't boot. What gives?
005- How can I defragment a diskette and what is the speed gain?
006- Why aren't my old diskettes recognized by GS/OS?
007- Can I read Apple II diskettes on my PC?
008- Where the heck can I buy double density 3.5" & 5.25" diskettes?
009- Where can I find out about different floppy disk formats?
From: Rubywand
001- How many tracks can I use on a 5.25" diskette? So far,
I've heard 35, 36, and 40. What's the actual number?
The standard number of tracks on a 5.25" diskette is set by DOS 3.3 and
ProDOS at 35, numbered 0-34 ($00-$22 in hexadecimal).
The original Disk ][ drive can usually handle 36 tracks with no problem.
Newer 5.25" drives can handle 40 tracks.
Various modified versions of DOS 3.3 allow using 36 tracks and a few
allow using 40 tracks. These mods, especially the 36-track versions, were
fairly popular before the advent of 3.5" diskettes when an extra track made a
noticable difference in capacity. However, unless the extra capacity is vital
for some specific application, it is best to stick with 35 tracks in order to
retain full compatibility with disk utilities (such as Copy II Plus) and
other wares.
----------------------------
002- Can I use high-density 3.5" and 5.25" diskettes on my Apple II?
I did some magnetization tests on Double Density (800kB) and High
Density (1.4MB) diskette surfaces. The tested DD surface produced more than
twice the deflection of the tested HD surface. Clearly, there is a big
difference in signal levels required to reliably store data on HD vs. DD.
In fact, 5.25" HD (1.2MB) diskettes will not work at all on Apple Disk
][ drives. The 3.5" HD's may work fine on your 800k drives; or, they may just
seem to work fine. Either way, there's no question: a drive optimized for DD
will not be optimized for HD. If you'd rather not 'roll the dice' on your
software collection, stick with Double Density diskettes.
----------------------------
003- How can I tell the difference between unlabeled DD and HD diskettes?
3.5" HD (1.4MB) diskettes come with a square notch in the upper left
corner. DD (800kB) 3.5" diskettes do not come with this notch. In the early
days of PC computing, some PC users punched or drilled notch holes in DD
diskettes and used them as HD diskettes. If a 3.5" diskette has a circular
notch in the upper left corner, it is likely to be a DD diskette.
DD 5.25" (360kB) diskettes look very much like HD 5.25" (1.2MB)
diskettes. About the only remotely observable difference is that DD diskette
surfaces often exhibit a more brownish cast whereas HD diskette surfaces are
generally dark grey or black.
The surest test for 5.25" diskettes is to place the diskette into an
Apple II 5.25" drive and try to do a DOS 3.3 format. If it formats with no
problem, it is almost certainly a DD diskette.
----------------------------
004- Recently I found that some of my old 5.25" disks would
not boot. A check showed splotches etched on the surface
of the media. What's going on?
As you may recall, a number of the classier 5.25" diskette brands
employed (still employ?) a lubricant on their jacket liners. While the lube
worked to reduce drag and noise, it also, evidently, served as a growth
medium for a particularly nasty plastic and/or oxide-eating fungus!
It's probably a good idea to check each of your old diskettes.
Immediately backup any diskettes with splotchy discolorations.
----------------------------
005- How can I defragment a diskette and what is the speed gain?
You can defragment a diskette by doing a File Copy of all files to a
blank diskette or blank RAM disk. Files on the copy diskette or RAM disk will
be almost completely unfragmented. A whole-disk copy back to the original
completes the process. Tests show that this method produces much speedier
diskettes than using a utility intended for optimizing hard disks.
For a nearly full 'workhorse' diskette which has seen may deletions and
additions, you can expect the File Copy defragmentation method to yield a 30%
to 40% improvement in access speed.
----------------------------
006- Why aren't my MECC and many other old diskettes recognized
by GS/OS and mounted on the Finder display?
The problem you mention is fairly common. GS/OS via its FSTs has pretty
strict definitions for what qualifies as a valid DOS or ProDOS diskette. For
example, perfectly good 36-track DOS 3.3 diskettes will not be mounted by the
Finder just because the number of tracks is 36 instead of the expected 35.
Naturally, copy-protected diskettes have practically no chance of being
recognized. Almost certainly, this is the reason the Finder will not mount
your MECC disks.
You can, still, run software from most copy-protected diskettes by just
booting them.
____________________________
From: Chris Norley
007- Can I read Apple II diskettes on my PC?
A while back I requested some information regarding the reading of Apple
II floppies by an PC. There was a hugh response both in solutions and
requests for a summary of solutions.
ORIGINAL POST: --------------------
We have some old data from a small NMR spectrometer that was run from an
Apple IIe. The same spectrometer is now run from a DOS machine and we'd like
to be able to access the old data from the PC.
Does anyone know of or possess some utility to allow the data from the 5
1/4" Apple II floppies to be read from the PC? Any hints as to program names,
ftp sites, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
SUMMARY OF RESPONSES:
--------------------
>From uli@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de
Les Ferch
It can't be done with software alone. There is a card called the MatchPoint
PC card that will let you read and write Apple II DOS, ProDOS, and CP/M disks
on a PC 5.25" 360K drive. We used to have one installed in an XT here and it
worked fine.
The other common way of moving the data is to connect an Apple II to a PC
using a null modem cable and using comm programs such as Kermit to transfer
the data.
------------------
Curt Schroeder
It is not possible for a 5.25" PC floppy drive to read Apple II disks. They
use incompatible recording technologies. Your options are to get your data
into an Apple that can write MS-DOS 3.5" disks (Apple IIgs or Macintosh) or
transfer via serial link (either via modem or null-modem cable). The other
possibility is to use an Apple II equipped with a PC Transporter and either
has a 3.5" drive or 5.25" PC floppy drive(s) attached.
-------------------
Michael Hoffberg
About a year ago, I picked up card for my ibm made by TrackStar. It is
basically an apple II that sits inside your IBM. When you enable it, it can
boot off an apple drive, it uses the ibm keyboard and monitor.
When I go home I only use it to play moon patrol (I am too lazy to find my
other games).
In any case, I think that it is possible to transfer files between the ibm
and apple with the card. I have never tried it though.
------------------
Fred R. Opperdoes
Any Apple II (E or GS) owner having an Applied Engineering PC Transporter
card is able to do the job easily. It is maybe not easy to find such a person
in your neighborhood. Another possibility would be that you ask someone with
an Apple IIGS to have your 5 1/4" Dos 3.3 or Prodos disk transcribed to a
3.5" Prodos disk. Every IIGS owner would be able to do so. Files on such
disks can then easily be converted to MsDOS files on an MsDOS disk on a
Macintosh using the Apple File Exchange Utility that comes with every modern
Mac.
-------------------
Leo Connolly
I don't think this is doable. There are limitations in the PC drive hardware
which make it impossible to read Apple II disks. (And the same is true in
reverse, for exactly the same reasons).
I suggest the following.
Transfer the Apple II data to a 3.5" disk. This is easy on a IIGS if you use
a utility such as Copy II Plus.
Use Apple File Convert on a Macintosh to convert the Apple II files to MS-DOS
format. Caution: older versions of this utility cannot handle MS-DOS 3.5"
disks, but the newer ones can.
Or: send your data through a modem from the Apple to the PC.
------------------
Leonard Erickson
It can't be done without extra hardware. The Apple II didn't use a disk
controller chip, it used an odd circuit instead. So, machines using the
industry standard controller chips can't read Apple disks.
You'll need a COPYIIPC deluxe option board or some such. Check with Central
Point software, they used to sell them.
Another approach is to track down one of the add-on boards that was
essentially an Apple II on a PC card. It hooks to the 5.25" drive and plugs
into the bus. And you've got an Apple II in your PC.
-----------------
tomk@crash.cts.com
The cheapest method to get the data would to do a "NULL MODEM" transfer
between the two computers.
____________________________
From: Rubywand
008- I'm having a hell of a time tracking down a place to buy
double density 3-1/2 & 5-1/4 disks. Any suggestions?
Here are places to try ...
Alltech
Alltech (760-724-2404) still advertises DS-DD 5.25" disketts for $15/100
with sleeves + shipping. Their price for DD 3.5" diskettes was pretty good,
too. Alltech has done a major revision of their web page which seems to omit
many favorite items; but, although diskettes are no longer listed, they
still sell them as of a check in February 1999.
Thrift shops
Brian Hammack reports finding packs of used 5.25" diskettes at bargain
prices.
____________________________
From: David Wilson
009- Where can I find out about different floppy disk formats?
Here is a table of floppy disk formats I have built up over the years:
disk speed rate encode trk sector trk/hd size disk
size" rpm kb/s scheme kb cnt*sz count kBytes type
---------------------------------------------------------------------
8 360 500 FM 41.67 26*128 77/1 260 SSSD (8)
8 360 500 FM 41.67 26*128 77/2 520 DSSD (8)
8 360 500 MFM 83.33 26*256 77/1 520 SSDD (9)
8 360 500 MFM 83.33 26*256 77/2 1040 DSDD (9)
5.25 300 250 FM 25.00 8*256 40/1 80 SSSD
5.25 300 250 FM 25.00 8*256 40/2 160 DSSD
5.25 300 245 GCR 49.00 16*256 35/1 140 SSDD (1)
5.25 300 250 MFM 50.00 8*512 40/1 160 SSDD (3)
5.25 300 250 MFM 50.00 9*512 40/1 180 SSDD (3)
5.25 300 250 MFM 50.00 8*512 40/2 320 DSDD (3)
5.25 300 250 MFM 50.00 9*512 40/2 360 DSDD (3)
5.25 300 250 MFM 50.00 9*512 80/2 720 DSDD
5.25 360 300 MFM 50.00 9*512 40/2 360 DSDD (4)
5.25 360 300 MFM 50.00 9*512 80/2 720 DSDD
5.25 360 500 MFM 83.33 15*512 80/2 1200 DSHD (4)
3.5 300 250 MFM 50.00 9*512 80/2 720 DSDD (5)
3.5 300 250 MFM 50.00 5*1024 80/2 800 DSDD (2)
3.5 var var GCR var var*512 80/2 800 DSDD (7)
3.5 300 500 MFM 100.00 18*512 80/2 1440 DSHD (6)
3.5 var var GCR var var*512 80/2 1600 DSHD (A)
3.5 300 1000 MFM 200.00 36*512 80/2 2880 DSED
(1) Apple ][
(2) Applix
(3) IBM PC
(4) IBM PC/AT
(5) IBM PS/2 25,30
(6) IBM PS/2 > 30
(7) Macintosh & Apple //
(8) IBM 3740
(9) IBM System 34
(A) AE 1.6MB drive on Apple //