Re: software for //e workstation card

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

Michael Land Morgan <mlmorgan@icarus.mlmorgan.dyn.ml.org> wrote:

> I recently got a //e workstation card.  The software I got with it came
> on a 3.5" disk, but I only have 5.25" drives.  Can someone either supply
> me with the software on 5.25" disks or tell me how to split up the 3.5"
> disk onto 5.25" disks?  I'll be very appreciative.

It should be possible to split the files across several 5.25" disks
according to your needs.

The main components of the software on the disk are as follows:

1. The ATINIT file that contains the code to hook ProDOS into the
workstation card, and your network settings.  This MUST be on every boot
disk through which you want to use the network.

2. The Chooser.II application, which lets you pick a network printer.
This needs to access and update ATINIT, so it should be on your boot
disk.  You could use it on another disk to set up an ATINIT file that is
then copied to your normal boot disk.

3. The Namer.II application, which lets you assign a name to a network
printer.  This can be moved to another disk and is rarely needed.  (It
isn't needed at all if you also have a Mac.)

4. The file server logon and logoff programs.

5. The folder access modification utility.  This isn't essential, as I
believe you can perform all its operations on the file server.

6. Miscellaneous system software such as BASIC.SYSTEM, System Utilities
and a program selector that is hard-coded to the utilities on this disk.

If you use your own program selector, you should be able to split up the
components as needed.

In total, the software occupies about 394K on the 3.5" disk.  The sizes
of the important components are as follows (to the nearest K):

PRODOS        16K  (you can use any copy of ProDOS-8,
                   but it must be version 1.5 or later)
ATINIT        7K
ACCESS        64K
CHOOSER       93K
NAMER         47K
LOGON         18K
LOGOFF        19K  (why does it take more code to log off?)

Some of these totals may be a touch on the high side, as I don't have an
original disk for the workstation card, and it has "Finder.Data" files
(half a K each) all over it.

Chooser, Namer and Access have their own folders, and consist of several
files including overlays.  I've given the total for the folder in each
case.

> Since I don't have an interface card for a 3.5" drive, it doesn't seem
> likely that I'll be able to read the 3.5" disk with my computer.  The
> card doesn't seem to be available anymore even though the drives themselves
> easily found.

[The following information is no doubt available in Nathan's FAQ.
Anyone who is creating another FAQ is welcome to include an edited
version of the following text, as long as they attribute it to me.]

Apple only sold the newer "Apple II 3.5 Disk Controller Card" (also
known as the "SuperDrive card") for about two years before they stopped
selling most Apple II products.  This means it is rather rare.  Note
that this card requires an enhanced IIe.  It supports the UniDisk 3.5,
Apple 3.5 Drive and SuperDrive.

There is an older card called the "Apple 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive Interface
Card", which is sometimes called "Liron" (which is printed on the back
of the card).  This card only supports the UniDisk 3.5.  

The main types of 3.5" drives made by Apple are:

- Macintosh 400K drive.  This is the internal drive on the Mac 128K and
512K.  It was available as an external model, which is supported by the
Mac Plus (and possibly by some later Mac models).  It is not supported
by the Apple II, except possibly for one controller card - see below.

- Macintosh 800K drive.  This is the internal drive for the Mac Plus.
It was also available as an external model.  It doesn't work on the
Apple II either, except for one controller - see below.

The previous drives are easy to identify because they don't have an
eject button.  All later drives (in their standard external case) do
have one.

- UniDisk 3.5.  This is the first 3.5" drive that Apple released for the
Apple II.  It has the same drive mechanism as the Macintosh 800K drive,
but has different interface hardware, and contains a microprocessor.  It
communicates with the Apple II using a protocol called "SmartPort".
This allows the data to be transferred at a sufficiently slow rate for a
1 MHz Apple II to keep up.  (The native speed of a 3.5" drive is too
fast for an unaccelerated Apple II without hardware buffering or DMA.)

The "Liron" card I mentioned above was specifically designed to go with
this drive, but it also supports other SmartPort devices.  The UniDisk
3.5 also works on the IIc (firmware support was added in the 1985 ROM
revision), IIgs, and with the "SuperDrive card" in an enhanced IIe or
IIgs.  It does not work on a Mac, unless the drive mechanism is moved to
a newer case and interface board.

- Apple 3.5 Drive.  This is the native drive for the IIgs and IIc+.  It
is also used as the internal and external drive for the Mac SE and Mac
II, and is supported by a Mac Plus and most newer models that retain the
external drive connector.  The Apple 3.5 Drive has the same mechanism as
the Macintosh 800K drive.  The only difference is in the interface
circuitry, which is designed to work with an Apple II or Macintosh.

This drive is faster than the UniDisk 3.5, because the computer talks to
the drive mechanism directly, and at twice the bit rate.  The IIgs is
able to achieve this because the processor is faster.  The IIc+ has some
special support hardware to handle the drive.

- SuperDrive.  This is the native drive for the Mac IIx and most later
models until Apple started using cheaper mechanisms some time around
1993.  They still call the more recent drive a "SuperDrive", but it is a
different mechanism and is not able to be used on the Apple II.  It may
still be possible to buy a real "SuperDrive" in an external case.

All versions of the SuperDrive support the older 400K and 800K formats,
and also add support for MFM disks (as used on PCs) in 720K and 1440K
formats - the latter being high density disks.

To use a SuperDrive on an Apple II, you must use the "SuperDrive card" I
mentioned earlier.  Without this card, the SuperDrive will appear to be
an Apple 3.5 Drive, and can be used in any configuration mentioned
earlier for that drive.


As for third party controllers, there are two main options:

- The "Universal Disk Controller", which was sold by Central Point
Software.  This supports the Macintosh 800K drive, Apple 3.5 Drive and
5.25" drives.  It _might_ support the Macintosh 400K drive, but even if
it does, I wouldn't recommend this as practically no-one would be using
400K 3.5" disks on an Apple II.

- The "PC Transporter", which was made by Applied Engineering.  It is
able to support the Apple 3.5 Drive, and some PC 3.5" and 5.25" drives
given the right interface.  (The safest option is to use the special
"TransDrive" drives that Applied Engineering also sold.)  The main
problem with the PC Transporter's support for the Apple 3.5 Drive is
that it is slow (compared to the IIgs or SuperDrive card).  You are also
not able to boot from it, and have to run a patched version of ProDOS
which downloads firmware into the card before being able to access the
drive.

There are other options for 3.5" drives, but none that support Apple's
standard 800K format.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand