Re: New info needed for A2 FAQ

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates) wrote:
>>While thumbing through the hundreds of kilobytes of Nate's FAQ,
>>I was impressed with the attention to detail.  However, I caught
>>an error that's probably due to dated information.  
>
>   And I believe your correction is in error due to looking at an
>outdated version of the FAQ. I do revise it constantly, so if you've
>got a problem, I encourage you to check the current version to see if
>I've already fixed it.

Great!  Here are some things I saw in the version just posted.

The Focus hard disk card is available in a 500MB version, sold
at $269, as well as the other sizes mentioned.

The Focus controller is really an Enhanced IDE device.  As such,
it is not bound by the 256MB/drive limitation of the Turbo IDE
or the MicroDrive card.  The Turbo IDE and MicroDrive have two
connectors, though, which boosts their capacities to 500MB over
two drives.  I don't know if the Focus will support more than
one drive (with a MicroDrive's 2.5" mounting kit, it is easy
to connect 3.5" IDE drives to the Focus in place of the standard
2.5" drive, but I haven't had the chance to get a cable with
two connectors and the drives to test them).

The MicroDrive by SHH Systeme is the other IDE controller.  It
was not mentioned in the FAQ.  The card sells for around $70 and
can work as a hard disk on a card OR a controller for two IDE
drives.  This is probably the least expensive hard drive
controller available new, especially for overseas II/IIgs users.

In the section on internal hard disk drives, maybe you could
make mention of the RoadRunner SCSI hard drive card as well.
This card, sold by Memory Plus Distributors and Charlie's
Appleseeds, is a mounting platform for a 2.5" SCSI hard drive.
You connect use it in conjunction with your existing SCSI card.
The card has built in termination that can be turned on and
off via DIP switches or you can use an optional pass through
cable to make it the first device in an SCSI chain.

You asked for information about 8-bit II programs that support
Postscript output.  GEOS for the Apple II was an operating
system that supported just that.  Specifically, you can install
a Postscript printer driver into its system disk's system folder
and then all GEOS software can print to such printers.  GEOS
programs include GeoWrite, GeoCalc, GeoFile, GeoPaint, and
GeoPublish (the only Apple II DTP software that supports
printing watermarks and real 90 degree rotated text frames).
There may have been other GEOS based software also.

Nathan, many thanks for a fine FAQ.  It has helped me out a
lot.  I discovered that the "critical size" for HFS volumes
without the FST patch was 96MB, which is stable for this 800MB
drive (the FST patch is not).  It also helped me find many
A2 vendors.

-Scott G.