Re: trying to get an Apple II GS going for fun...

[wizard@direct.ca (Astro)]

Excellent!

I believe we have established a couple of things.
[Although as I am waiting on mail-order system disks, I have yet to
verify anything.]

1] Re: 800k 3.5" Floppies, Jimmy-Format. Despite a spectrum of overall
opinion, the cautious bottom line would seem to indicate that although
1.44meg 3.5" floppy disks, "Jimmied" with sticky labels over their
upper left hole MAY indeed be formatted to 800k ProDOS for use with an
old-school 3.5" floppy drive [such as the Apple IIGS uses], this is
NOT however recommended due to suggestions that disks formatted in
this manner are unstable and will [in probability] spontaneously
crash.

2] On the subject of formatting [again correct me if I am wrong], if
an actual 800k 3.5" floppy disk is to be formatted for Apple IIGS in a
Macintosh, the user must be CERTAIN to format it for ProDOS format as
opposed to HSF [Mac] format UNLESS the user is running HFS FST [File
System Translator], a utility that comes with System 6.0.1 [DOES NOT
come with System 5.0.4] which allows the Apple II to read and write
Mac format [HFS] floppy disks.
 
3] Obtaining "disk image" files on the internet with a PC, processing
them on a Mac and writing them to an 800k floppy disk mounted in a Mac
then transferring to an Apple IIGS... Although the definition of "disk
image" is still to me somewhat vague, consider the following
hypothetical scenario [please correct me if I am wrong]: I log on to
the Apple Web Site using my PC and download a file called
"Disk_2_of_7-System Disk_sea.bin" [which is a coded BinHex file. this
kind of file is encoded either using BinHex encoding or MacBinary
encoding to preserve it's integrity in passing through foreign
systems: the internet, PC's, UNIX, etc. of course the encoded file
itself may be then compressed using Stuffit, Zip or similar
archiving...] ~~~then I save the file to a regular old 1.44meg 3.5"
Floppy. I take this floppy and an actual 800k 3.5" floppy to a Power
Mac. I mount the 1.44 meg floppy and copy the BinHex file onto the
desktop. I eject the 1.44meg floppy and insert the 800k floppy. I then
use Alladin Stuffit to decode the BinHex file. It then becomes a "disk
image" item. I then use a program called CopyDisk to place the "disk
image" file onto the 800k floppy, which I can then use the floppy as a
boot disk on the Apple IIGS, since "Disk_2_of_7-System Disk_sea.bin"
is the file representing the System Disk for Apple System 6.0.1 [as
obtained from the Apple Web Site].

Given this, these are my questions:

1] If this is a plausible method of transferring a system disk, what
is a plausible method of transferring individual "executable" and
other files [like games], same way? as or like a "disk image"?
2] What the heck IS a "Disk Image" actually anyways?
3] Do all usable files for the Apple IIGS come as "disk images?" or
can they some in a similar way that say PC files come [with
extensions]? 
4] Is an 800k 3.5" floppy disk described as a piece of hardware as a
"DSDD" disk?
5] Where in Vancouver can you get 800k 3.5" floppies?!?!?!?!?!? [I
have tried Future Shop, 2 Grand and Toy's, a Radio Shack, Staples,
London Drugs, Office Depot, a couple of Mac stores, and even lifting
up and looking under rocks in the garden to no avail!!! I resorted to
ordering some mail-order from Buy.com, practically the only place I
could find them on the internet even!!!
Everywhere you look... it's all science...
Astro aka Lord Wizard
R. Priestley
Vancouver, BC
http://persweb.direct.ca/wizard/arcana/default.htm