Some Apple // hardware questions!

[kelsey@mail.wsu.edu (Michael Kelsey)]

I have been away from my Apple //e for far too long and I have numerous
questions about hardward I have obtained.  These questions involve SCSI
drives, ethernet, and external drives.

Being in the PC world for over 4 years and adapting my computer to SCSI
[for obvious reasons] I have acquired numerous hard drives, all around the
size of 40MB, perfect for an Apple //e.  I already own a [lousy AEC] SCSI
interface that can detect devices on various IDs, however the slot ROM is
limited to only two drives or two partitions.  I have about 6 different
drives that I would like to use with my Apple //e since these drives
truly serve no purpose in my PC system.  I am aware there exists the
RAMFast Rev. C and D, where Rev. D is tailored for the GS.  If I were to
purchase a RAMFast card for my Apple //e would ProDOS recognize more than
two drives?  Are there any SCSI adapters for the //e that will allow for
more than two drives?  I quickly parsed the four part FAQ and I saw no
limitation based on the number of ProDOS devices [ProDOS 8 is assumed]
when using the RAMFast interface.

A Macintosh external 800K drive [in good condition] has also come into my
possession.  I have read documentation and posts about the UniDisk
[different from the external 800K drives] and I realize that this external
drive lacks the processor needed to handle the transfer for the Apple //e. 
Is there an interface that will support this external 800K drive?  Would
it be possible to transfer data between a PC and the Apple //e if I could
interface the drive with the Apple?  Naturally the floppy would need to be
formatted by the PC as 720K.  Would Apple II File Exchange [I forget the
exact name] be able to read the 720K PC disk, or would I have to write my
own driver for ProDOS? 

For purposes of longevity and the advent of excellent Apple II emulators,
I am seeking a means to transfer [and backup] my Apple II software onto a
CD-ROM.  Naturally the CD-ROM would be formatted and "written" in ISO-9660
and a return transfer would be required to restore data.  A convenient
means would be some form of Ethernet adapter. The recently posted FAQ
mentions a propietary Ethernet adapter in the works, but no mention of any
references.  I consider myself to be quite adept at 65C02 assembly,
therefore, coding protocol layers wouldn't be a simple task, but it would
not be an impossibility.  Currently, my only avenue is through RS-232
peaking at a lowly 19200 baud rate.  If I could place the files on disk
[with the external drive mentioned above] through the use of the
accelerated floppy driver with Windows '95 I would have no problems
achieving a read rate of >15K/sec [greater than 115200 baud]. 
Nonetheless, I would still risk barriers in data corruption due to
transferring with physical media.  I would like to know if there are any
avenues besides null-modem and floppy media.

GCR versus MFM.  This does seem to be a "neat" avenue for data transfer,
however, fruitless based on the phyical incompatibilites of the media.  A
while back I formatted an PC diskette, single-sided, single density at
160K.  I wrote an obvious disk pattern, consisting of 0xA0 and a variety
of other disk bytes.  I am aware of the Disk II's inability to realiably
read zero bytes, and with wear and tear I'm sure the accuracy of my drives
[which currently read zero bytes quite well] will fade.  Despite the
incompatibilities of the hardware, would it be possible to write disk data
bytes such that they pattern written to disk could become legible by
either platform?  My idea is to have the Apple II write the proper disk
pattern.  If programmed correctly, the Apple II drives can write virtually
any pattern of disk data, but will the "envelope" of encoding prevent me
from achieving data transfer?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated!

/\/\ichael |<elsey
kelsey@mail.wsu.edu