Re: //e Card Slot & HD quagmire

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

Christopher D. Heer <cheer@i.hate.spam> wrote:

> In article <Pine.OSF.3.92.970203112734.18986A-100000@jasper.uor.edu>,
> schroede@uor.edu says...
> 
> >I have an Apple //e with a Duodisk (5.25"), a SCSI Hard Drive (with card)
> >and a card for a 3.5" floppy (I haven't gotten the 3.5" floppy drive yet).
> >I'm trying to set the computer up so I can boot off of the Hard Drive, or
> >the 5.25" floppy. What would be the best order to install the cards in
> >their slots? Right now I have the Hard Disk in slot #7, the Duodisk in
> >slot #6, the 3.5" floppy card in slot #5, a mouse in slot #4, and a
> >parallel printer card in (I believe) slot #1. I will mostly just use the
> >computer for storage of files on the Hard Disk so I don't really mind
> >booting off of the 5.25" floppy if necessary, but I would prefer just
> >having the Hard Disk boot up for the sake of convenience. The way I have
> >it hooked up, after I formatted the Hard Drive, the computer will not get
> >past the Hard Drive when booting, unless the Hard Drive is turned off (I
> >also haven't figured out how to load ProDos on the HD). What are some of
> >my options? The Floppys that came from Apple (with the SCSI controller
> >card) have a utility to format and partition, but nothing to make the Hard
> >Disk bootable. I read the FAQ about that "ProBoot" program, but I can only
> >download internet files on my Mac (and I don't have a 3.5" floppy yet to
> >transfer software to my 5.25" floppies). Any suggestions?
> 
> Well if you make the hard drive bootable you'll definitely want it installed
> in the order you specified, as the //e starts at the highest slot looking for
> a boot device and then hunts downward.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to override this on a IIe, as the
5.25" controller will not pass control onto the next slot if there is no
disk in the drive.

The best option is probably to have the SCSI controller in slot 7, and
set it up so that the startup program provides an easy way of booting
from slot 5 or 6 as required.

One possibility is my freeware "QUITTER.SYSTEM" program, which should be
available on either Caltech or Ground (probably called "QUITTER.SHK" or
"QUITTER.BXY").  If this is set up as the first file in the root
directory which has a name ending with ".SYSTEM" then it will be
launched automatically on boot.  It provides you with a simple program
selector (Birds Better Bye) for launching programs on the hard drive, or
you can simply press a number key to boot the corresponding slot.


Setting up a hard drive to boot into ProDOS is very easy:

1. Use the partitioning software to set up the desired number and size
of partitions.  This will also initialize the partitions.  (If you had a
really small hard drive, you could just use a utility program to
initialize the disk as a single partition).

Initializing the hard drive sets up an empty root directory, and the
boot blocks.  If you try to boot the disk after this step, you will get
a message "UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS".

2. Use a file copy utility to copy the appropriate files onto the drive.

You must copy the "PRODOS" file from the system disk to the hard drive.
It can be placed anywhere in the root directory (I find it convenient to
put frequently used items first, and the PRODOS file gets copied on
later).

You also need to pick a startup application.  The best option here is
usually a program selector, since it gives you an easy way of picking
any application.  If you only ever use one application (e.g.
AppleWorks), then you could set that up as the startup application.

At boot time, ProDOS will automatically launch the first file it finds
in the root directory which has a file type of SYS and a name ending in
".SYSTEM".

The easiest way to make sure your program selector will be launched is
to make it the very first file you copy to the hard drive.  After doing
this, you should be able to boot from the hard drive and get into the
program selector.


At this point, it is a good idea to consider how you will organise the
files on the hard drive.  The division of files into partitions and
subdirectories is a personal choice, but be consistent.

For example, I have set up files on my IIgs hard drive so that all
applications are on one partition and all of my own data files on
another partition (this simplifies backups).

On the application partition, I have a subdirectory in the root
directory for each major application (e.g. AppleWorks).  I also have
subdirectories which collect together miscellaneous utilities (with
subdirectories inside for applications that consist of more than one
file) and communications software and utiltiies.


Another method that I've seen quite a few people use is to continue to
save data files on floppies, and only put applications onto the hard
drive.  This means that if you lose the entire contents of the hard
drive you can simply copy everything back onto it.


Once you have worked out how you will organise your files, create
directories as required and copy all the files into the appropriate
places.

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