comp.sys.apple2 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) part 2/4

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

Archive-name: apple2/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: Jan 1 1997
Version: 5.1.1

This part 2 of 4 of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting of the
comp.sys.apple2 newsgroup. Copyright (c) 1997 by Nathan Mates
(nathan@visi.com) This document can be freely copied so long as 1) it
is not sold, 2) any sections reposted elsewhere from it are credited
back to this FAQ with the FAQ's copyright info and official WWW
location left in place.
 
This FAQ is posted on the WWW for 24 hour a day (barring system and/or
internet malfunctions) availability from
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html. Please do NOT make a
copy of this FAQ and post it on the web; I'm continually updating and
fixing sections of it. A html link is fine.
                             
--- Begin part 2 of 4
                                   
Adding Hardware:

 4.1 Can the Apple II connect to 3.5" drives or flopticals for other
 platforms?
 
 A: For 400K or 800K Mac 3.5" drives, in general, no. Apple's 3.5"
 drive that was sold with Apple IIGSs has logic to sense which machine
 it is hooked up to (Apple II or Macintosh) and it works accordingly.
 Most 3rd party drives don't bother to put in Apple II support in their
 drives. Some may work if you hook them up to a UDC instead of an Apple
 3.5" inch card. Old style Mac 800k drives are very slow.
 
 Mac 1.44MB (High Density) 3.5" drives can be used if you have both
 both the High Density 3.5" drive and the new Apple 3.5" superdrive
 controller card. If you don't have both, you will only be able to do
 regular density (800K). Of course, you will also need High Density
 Disks. ProDOS 8 programs not only recognize the 1.44MB disks, but most
 programs format and recognize HD disks just fine. You can even boot
 off of a HD disk, allowing plenty of room for GS/OS Desk Accessories
 and such. There are a few drawbacks: you cannot boot copy-protected
 software or some FTA demos. Also, you can't daisy-chain a 5.25" off a
 HD card. Also, it takes up a slot, even on the GS.
 
 Unfortunately, Apple never seemed to have sold very many of the
 Superdrive controller card, while used superdrives are apparently
 plentiful, so you may have a hard time getting your hands on a
 superdrive controller card.
 
 The SCSI Floptical drive (also rare, but may be a bit easier to find)
 can also read and write 1.44MB and 720K disks, as well as its special
 21MB disks, but not 400K or 800K Apple II disks. You'd need a SCSI
 controller card, and special drivers with an Apple High Speed SCSI
 board or a recent ROM version with the RamFAST board. For more
 information, please see the Apple II & Floptical FAQ at
 http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/floptical.html, and this FAQ's
 section on SCSI.
 
 IBM PC 3.5" drives (as well as all sorts of low and high density 5.25"
 drives) can be connected only with the (discontinued) Applied
 Engineering PC Transporter card, or the Bluedisk card from SHH Systems
 (See the section on dealers and hardware addons of this FAQ for their
 address and WWW page).
 
 There are also reports that the "CTI Drive" allows you to hook up IBM
 3.5" and 5.25" disk drives (no High Density support yet) to your Apple
 II. [IBM drives are cheaper] Some software is included to read MS/DOS
 disks on your Apple. Otherwise, ProDOS and GS/OS recognize them like
 normal drives. Unfortunately, information on this "CTI drive" is
 minimal at best, and nobody's responded to my requests for more
 information on them.
 
 4.2 Can the Apple II connect to keyboards, mice, etc. from other
 platforms?
 
 A: IBM PC keyboards are almost impossible to connect to any Apple II;
 the only possibility is to buy a device used to connect such a
 keyboard to a Macintosh, and try that with your GS.
 
 IBM PC Serial Mice (usually have 9-pin serial connectors) can be
 connected to Apple //es with Sequential System's board. Although the
 connector is shaped identically, the //c, //e, and GS's 9-pin joystick
 port in back is not a serial port; serial mice just won't work if
 connected to it. (If you have a GS, just buy a Mac ADB mouse and use
 that)
 
 Most Macintosh (except for the ones with the phone jack connector,
 such as the original Mac and Mac 512) keyboards and mice are Apple
 Desktop Bus (ADB) devices. ADB made its debut on the Apple IIGS; it
 was later adopted by the Mac SE and other computers in the line. This
 means that most Mac ADB mice and keyboards will work on the GS. There
 are no reported incompatabilities with Mac mice that I've heard about,
 though multibutton mice may only have one button work on the GS.
 
 Macintosh keyboards may not work; here is a list of ones known to work
 and not, compiled by Bradley P. Von Haden (bpvh@primenet.com)

Work:
Apple ADB Keyboards I and II
AppleDesign Keyboard ($85 - MacMall(66s), Mac Zone(47b))
+Apple Extended Keyboard (original)
Apple Extended Keyboard II ($155 - MacMall(66s), Mac Zone(47b))
Adesso 105 Extended Keyboard ($80 - Mac's Place, Mac Zone, Tiger SW)
Adesso 102 Wxtended Keyboard w/ Trackball [Trackball does NOT work]
   ($100 - Mac's Place, Mac Zone, Tiger Software)
Arriva Extended ($40 - MacMall(66s))
Interex 105 Extended ($55 - MacMall, Syex Express; $34 - Computer
   City)
Key Tronic MacPro Plus ($130 - Mac Zone, APS Tech.)
OptiMac Extended Keyboard (???)
PowerUser 105E Extended Keyboard ($50 - MacWarehouse(59))
SIIG, Inc MacTouch Model 1905 (~$100.00)
Sun OmniMac Ultra [extended, ADB type] (???)
Suntouch ADB Extended Keyboard ($75 - Syex Express)
VividKey Extended Keyboard ($60 - MacMall)

Do not work:

Apple Adjustable Keyboard
MacALLY Peripherals Extended Keyboard
MicroSpeed Keyboard Deluxe MAC

???:

+Adesso Easy Touch ext kb ($44 - Mac Zone(47b))
+Adesso ProPoint ext kb w/ thinkpad ($60 - MacMall(66s))
+Alps GlidePoint kb ($110 - Mac Zone(47b))
ClubMac Extended Keyboard ($39 - ClubMac(13))
Datadesk MAC 101 E ($100 - MacWarehouse, Mac Zone)
Datadesk TrackBoard ($100 - MacWarehouse, Mac Zone)
Key Tronic Trak Pro Plus ($230 - APS Tech.)
Performance Soft Touch Extended Keyboard ($49 - Mac Zone(47b))
Spring Sun Tech MacPride 97 ($90 - MacMall)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride 105 ($59 - MacMall)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride 110 ($80 - MacMall) [MAC/IBM switchable]
Spring Sun Tech MacPride KidBoard ($100 - MacMall)

????:

+Adesso NUForm Ergonomic ext kb ($60 - MacMall(66s))
+Adesso NUForm Ergomomic ext kb w/ pointer ($70 - MacMall (66s))
+Adesso NUForm Ergonomic ext kb w/ touch pad ($90 - MacMall (66s),
   Mac Zone (47B))
Adesso Tru-From Ergonomic ext kb ($79 - Mac Zone(47b))
Adesso Tru-Form Ergonomic ext kb w/ pointer ($90 - MacMall(66s))

 Some have noted that the Adesso NUForm keyboard works only on a ROM 3
 system, but not a ROM 00/01.
 
 4.3 Can I use Macintosh RGB or IBM VGA/SVGA Monitors with my ][?
 
 A: Not normally. Even with the GS's RGB monitor connector, the GS puts
 out a 15Khz horizontal refresh signal. Most modern monitors (notable
 exceptions are the old NEC Multisync 1 and 2 monitors) require the
 signal to be at least 30Khz, and thus won't display the picture. If
 you have a question on whether a given monitor will work, check the
 manual for it or contact the manufacturer to see if it'll support
 15Khz horizontal syncs. Older Apple II RGB cards (such as those to
 extend AE Ramworks cards) should have the same problem.
 
 The one way to bridge the "use Apple II monitors with Apple IIs" rule
 of thumb is to purchase the Second Sight (tm) VGA display board from
 Sequential Systems. (See the dealers section of this FAQ for their
 address and WWW page). The Second Sight mirrors Apple II video modes
 fairly well onto the VGA display, as well as supplying some VGA modes
 that programmers have begun to tap into. With it, you can connect
 VGA/SVGA monitors to your //e or GS
 
 If you are desperate for a monitor, the Apple II line puts out a video
 signal from the back port that can be hooked into the 'line in' port
 of a NTSC VCR or modern TVs-- just use a male-male RCA phono jack,
 which electronics shops should carry. Alternatively, a 'RF Converter'
 (try your local Radio Shack or the equivalent) can be used to connect
 that signal to a TV without a 'line in' connector.
 
 4.4 Can I hook up a modem to my Apple II?
 
 A: Yes, most external serial modems should work great with an Apple
 II. Models such as the //c, IIc+ and IIGS have a serial port built in;
 the ][, ][+ and //e do not and will need to have one added.
 
 An Apple ][, ][+ or //e with Apple's Super Serial Card and an external
 modem that's fast enough can connect at 9600 baud fine; 19200 may be
 iffy. (Past 19200 pretty much requires an accelerated Apple II). There
 is an addon to the Super Serial Card called the Turbo ASP that has a
 theoretical maximum of 230,400; see the entry for Lightning Systems in
 the dealer's section of this FAQ.
 
 The very first revision of the //c motherboard had a faulty serial
 setup that prevented most machines from reliable serial communications
 faster than 2400 baud. See the section on the //c in this FAQ for
 information on how to determine if a system is likely to be affected.
 Various companies sell cables for the Apple //c's more oddball 5-pin
 serial ports; check out Atlaz Computer Supply (516-239-1854) or LYBEN
 Computer Systems at (800) 493-5777.
 
 The GS (and probably the IIc+) and the appropriate software (such as
 ProTERM, Spectrum or ANSITerm) can connect at up to 57600 baud. (Once
 again, an accelerator is recommended for the higher speeds).
 
 For any Apple II, speeds past 9600 pretty much require you to get a
 'Hardware Handshaking' modem cable. This is a cable with connections
 between the handshaking pins (cheapo cables may only have the 3 wires
 necessary to do simple serial) and thus allows the computer to tell
 the modem that it is temporarily too busy to receive data, so the
 modem doesn't send more data until the computer's ready.
 
 Internal modems for Apple IIs only seem to have gone up to 2400 baud,
 which was fast for the time the boards were made, but is now fairly
 outdated. You cannot use internal PC modems in Apple IIs.
 
 4.5 Can I hook up a LaserWriter, DeskJet, etc to my Apple //e?
 
 A: A number of them. The best bet is probably the HP DeskJet series.
 
 Most supported printers have either regular serial or parallel
 connections. The tricky part is getting the software to do what you
 want. The DeskJet, for example will print very nice-looking text with
 regular old "PR#1". But if you want to change the font or print
 graphics, you may have to purchase some software. One excellent
 program for these types of printers is PublishIt 4.
 
 For AppleWorks fans, there is the program called SuperPatch. Among
 it's patches is a cool DeskJet 500 (most DeskJet 6xx printers should
 be compatible, but check the documentation) printer driver. You can
 print sideways, and change fonts with normal AppleWorks commands. The
 DeskJet driver is built in to AW 4.0 and later.
 
 The Apple Stylewriter family is not supported by any //e program to my
 knowledge.
 
 4.6 Can I hook up a Laser printer, ink jet, or bubble jet printer to
 my Apple IIGS?
 
 A:In short: a number of them, but not all. Please look through the
 following list to check if a particular model you're looking at is
 supported. Also, the following applies to all programs which support
 the GS system toolbox methods for talking to printers through drivers.
 Most GS programs support this; Print Shop GS is an exception-- it'll
 pretty much only work with the printers listed in the program, and
 then only at its printing resolutions.
 
 On the GS, you can hook up most LaserWriters made by Apple via
 AppleTalk-- if it supports Postscript and Appletalk, it should work.
 [Apple's Quickdraw printers are not usable.] A GS program can
 typically print to a LaserWriter if it's connected to the GS via
 AppleTalk; just install the LaserWriter drivers from the System 6
 disks. Note that some LaserWriters from Apple may be 'Quickdraw,' not
 true Postscript printers, so they won't work from the GS. The
 Laserwriter, Laserwriter II, LW IINT, LW IINTX are all known to work
 fine.
 
 Of the Apple Stylewriter family, ONLY the original Stylewriter will
 work on the GS, and then only from GS/OS with the System 6 drivers. As
 Apple has not written drivers or released the specifications so that
 drivers could be written by third parties, none of the rest of the
 Stylewriter models works when connected to a GS.
 
 The HP DeskWriter family is mostly only for Macintoshes; the DeskJet
 3xx, 5xx or 6xx (xx= any 2 numbers, plus some optional letters)
 printer families is much more friendly to all models of the Apple II.
 If you get a DeskJet, or PaintJet, etc, you can hook them up via a
 parallel printer card or serial cable depending on what ports the
 printer has. The exceptions to this are HP's recent 'Windows Only'
 printers, such as the HP DJ 820C models, which don't work at all with
 Apple IIs.
 
 But, in order to use pretty much any inkjet or bubblejet printer that
 the GS can talk to effectively, you will need Harmonie from Vitesse
 (better-- supports color printing on HP inkjets that have such support
 built in) or Independence (cheaper, but only black & white printing)
 from Seven Hills. They are new printer drivers for GS/OS programs
 only. These two programs extend the ranges of printers supported by
 the GS. If you want to print from an 8-bit program, see the previous
 question.
 
 Harmonie's drivers also support a number of printer modes that other
 printers can handle. Apparently the Canon BJ-200e works well with
 Harmonie 2.1's Epson LQ or Epson LQ 4000 drivers.
 
 As provided by Richard Der, here is a list of printers and such
 supported by Harmonie; there may be other printers that are compaible
 with such models listed here, but are not listed. Nobody's gotten a
 list of printers supported by Independence to me yet, unfortunately.
 
Printers supported by Harmonie:
--Canon Dot Matrix--
Canon 1080

--HP DeskJet (or DeskWriter) Ink-Jet--
DeskJet        (Manual states all DeskJet and DeskJet 5xx drivers
DeskJet 500C    work with DeskWriter series of the same number
DeskJet 520     using the high speed Printer 57.6 serial port
DeskJet 550C    driver included with on the disk)
DeskJet 560C *560C driver is compatible with DJ/DW 600C and 660C
            printers. The DJ 400 is like th DJ 600C. The DJ 560C
            driver is listed as a 600x300dpi one whereas all the
            rest are 300x300dpi. [Other models like the 680C/682C
            should work also.]

--Epson LQ 24-pin Dot Matrix (or Canon Ink-Jet)--
Epson LQ        (Epson LQ drivers work with Canon BJ models for
Epson LQ 4000    hi-res 360dpi printing. Some older models have
Epson LQ 800     dip switches that must be set to enable automatic
               Epson emulation -> for example, the BJ-200e
               requires DIP switch 12 to be set to ON. The printer
               manual should say what to do for the specific model.
               BJ-10e, BJ 100, BJ-200, BJ-210, BJ-4100, and BJ-600
               models also list Epson LQ emulation and should work
               with one or more of these drivers.)

--Epson 9-pin Dot Matrix--
Epson MX 80

--HP LaserJet laser Printers--
LaserJet
LaserJetIIP
LaserJet III    (Newer LaserJet models also work with these drivers
               as are any HP compatible laser printers)

--Misc. Dot Matrix Printers--
Okimate 20
Panasonic 1124
Pinwriter

--Misc. Ink-Jet--
HP PaintJet
QuadJet

 Gareth Jones adds the following from his list on his Harmonie 2.11
 disk:

-- Apple Dot Matrix Printers--
ImageWriter LQII
ImageWriter II

 I'd like to get a list of all printers that are 1) officially
 supported by Harmonie/Independence, 2) not officially listed, but a
 driver exists that works well with them and 3) don't work at all with
 Apple IIs. Given that I have neither the time nor the money to test
 every printer on the market, I'd appreciate feedback sent to me at
 nathan@visi.com.
 
 4.7 Can I add more memory to my Apple II?
 
 A: Yes. The hard part is getting machines before the GS to recognize
 all of it. The Apple ][ and ][+ have a practical limit of about 64K,
 which is accomplished by the 16K language card in slot 0. [Some
 accelerators provided 128K, as well as some very old ram cards, but I
 don't have any real info on that.]
 
 The //e had the widest variety of memory expansion options. The AUX
 slot used for 80-column cards could also handle memory expansion--
 Apple's own Extended 80-column card provided an extra 64K of memory.
 Other cards in that slot could reportedly add several megs of memory.
 There were also RAM cards for slots 1-7, the so-called 'slinky' cards,
 also capable of adding a meg or more. Most of these cards are only
 available used, but Sequential Systems is still making and selling a
 1MB //e RAM card.
 
 Later models of the Apple //c had an internal memory expansion port,
 which RAM 'cards' could be added internally-- see the section on Apple
 //cs for how to determine if a //c could have RAM added. Such RAM
 cards are only available used; Sequential used to make one, but it's
 not listed anymore on their WWW page.
 
 The problem with adding extra RAM to Apple IIs (before the GS) is that
 not much software would take advantage of it at all. Only a few
 programs like Appleworks had any form of support-- versions 1.x or 2.x
 needed to be patched to recognize more memory, 3.0 and up could use an
 externally supplied file. [To get the patch or the file, see the disks
 that came with the RAM card.] Applesoft and Integer Basic, most games,
 and the like don't care about any RAM beyond the 48-128K they require
 to run.
 
 The GS, due to its processor design, can directly address up to 16MB
 of memory (about 2MB is reserved in the GS's design for ROM), though
 RAM cards only go up to 8MB in a ROM 01 and 7MB in a ROM 3. [The 1MB
 on the ROM 3's motherboard reduces the RAM card's range] Sequential
 Systems and Alltech Electronics still sell 2-8MB RAM boards for the
 GS; there were also lots of other manufacturers. Although SIMMs are
 now dirt cheap, there are only a few SIMM based GS RAM boards-- you'll
 probably have to buy a card using some other form of RAM.
 
 Going to 7 or 8 MB of RAM on a GS is not always recommended. A number
 of devices cannot handle DMA (Direct Memory Access, used to speed Hard
 Drive cards and accelerators) past the first 4MB of RAM, so you may
 take a performance hit.
 
 The GS can also have //e 'slinky' cards plugged in, but aside from
 Appleworks and ramdisk support, the memory on these boards is NOT
 available to GS programs. This is because they are accessed via slots
 1-7 manually, one byte at a time in sequential order, while the 65816
 wants program RAM to be directly accessible in random order. It would
 require rewriting a program to address slinky cards from a GS, and as
 the numbers of those are extremely limited, no real support for them
 was ever widespread.
 
 4.8 Can I accelerate my Apple II?
 
 A: Yes. Over the years, many accelerators were produced for the varios
 models in the Apple II series. Most of these were slot-based cards,
 though the ZipChip (4 and 8 Mhz models) and RocketChip (5 and 10 Mhz
 models) were drop-in processor replacements. For the GS, the Transwarp
 GS and the Zip GS were the only options; Ego Systems still sells 8Mhz
 Zip GSs. [I don't know of anyplace selling non-GS accelerators new;
 you'll probably have to look for one used.] A separate FAQ for
 upgrading ZIP GS or TransWarp GS accelerators is available at
 http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/zip.html.
 
 For only a few dollars, you can buy a faster 65C02/65816 from an
 electronics parts catalog. However, this most likely won't do you a
 bit of good without an ungradeable accelerator card. This is because
 the Apple II's system bus runs at 1Mhz, and provides a 1Mhz signal to
 the processor socket. The processor derives its timing off that
 signal; running it at a speed under what it's rated at is perfectly
 safe and legal. Accelerator cards or chips provide their own
 oscillator at a faster speed, plus the logic necessary for a chip to
 interface with the slower 1Mhz bus.
 
 4.9 What are the pinouts for all the various Apple II connectors?
 
 A: While these pinouts are a little too big to include in this FAQ
 outright, you can still find them in the same place on the WWW as this
 FAQ, in Nathan Mates's set of Apple II Resources. The pinouts page is
 available at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/pinouts.html.
 
 4.10 Can I hook up a scanner up to my //e or IIGS? Can it do OCR?
 
 A: Yes and Yes. (OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition -- the
 ability to convert a scan into text) Just pick up a Quickie scanner
 (by Vitesse) and InWords (by WestCode Software). You can scan 4"
 columns (you must have 512K to 1 Meg) and can even paste them together
 to make 8" scans. Then you can use InWords to "read" text and put it
 into a text file or AppleWorks Word Processor file.
 
 Apple put partially completed support for a few Apple flatbed scanners
 onto the System 6.0 Golden Master CD, but the test program for it
 could not save a scan to a file. No programs support various popular
 TWAIN-compliant scanners such as those from HP.
 
 4.11 Can a Disk ][ be used on a GS smartport?
 
 A: Yes. Contact Jameco Electronics (http://www.jameco.com, phone:
 1-800-831-4242) S20 PIN HEADER TO DB19-PIN CONNECTOR MODULE ADAPTS
 II/II+ DRIVES FOR APPLE IIC. PART NO: 10022 PRODUCT NO.: AAM APPLE IIC
 ADAPTER $3.95
 
 If you don't mind some soldering, you can make this cable up yourself.
 Take a look at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/diskiicable.html
 
 4.12 I want a Y-adapter for my GS keyboard.
 
 A: Redmond Cable has an ADB Y-connector cable for separating your
 mouse from the side of your keyboard (also can be used to work around
 a failing ADB port on the keyboard). See the 'Resources' section of
 this FAQ.
 
 4.13 How about hooking up cheap IDE Hard Drives?
 
 A: There's a card called the Turbo IDE, does DMA, and is apparently as
 fast as a RamFAST SCSI card. See
 http://users.ids.net/~kerwood/shh.html, or contact jlange@tasha.muc.de
 for details like technical specs, pricing, and S/H procedure.
 
 The first revisions of the Turbo IDE controller's ROM supported only
 256MB of capacity on a single drive. With IDE HDs now being sold at
 ten times that capacity, you may have to do some hunting to find
 drives that small.
 
4.14 Can an Apple II connect to a SCSI device?

 SCSI is a protocol (method of transmitting data) that lets you hook up
 to 8 SCSI devices on a SCSI bus (SCSI devices connected together).
 There are Hard Drives, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, scanners, and more
 available as SCSI devices.
 
 To get SCSI on an Apple II, you need to buy and install a SCSI card.
 (//cs and IIc+s have no native SCSI cards, but Chinook (later bought
 out by Sequential) made a Smartport capable drive as your only choice
 for HDs). At first, there was the Apple Rev 'C' SCSI card (named after
 the final ROM version--all previous versions MUST be upgraded to work
 with current software). There were several clones from the likes of
 CMS and Chinook. Then Apple came out with it's High Speed DMA SCSI
 card. This has the ability to do Direct Memory Access to the RAM in
 your computer, which speeds things up. This created a lot of problems
 with cards that were not DMA compatible.
 
 CV Technologies (bought out by Sequential Systems) also has a DMA SCSI
 card called the RamFast. This card has 256K or 1MB of on-board RAM to
 make it even faster than Apple's card. It can also supply terminator
 power if you drive does not supply it. Both of the new cards support
 things like SCSI tape backup units, removable SCSI drives, SCSI
 CD-ROM, and of course SCSI hard drives. Both the new cards also
 require an Enhanced //e. RamFasts have had their ROM upgraded many
 times; you may want to look into getting the latest if you have
 removable devices such as Flopticals, CD-Roms, Zip Disks, and tape
 drives.
 
 Most fixed and removable SCSI disks can be connected to Apple IIs with
 the addition of a SCSI card. People have used Zip, Syquests,
 Bernoulli, CD-ROMs, Floptical devices. With older revisions of the
 SCSI cards, they may NOT recognize them as removable devices, leading
 to crashes and/or data corruption if you switch removable disks with
 the computer on. Most SCSI HDs can also be used, but certain SCSI II
 devices that insist that the SCSI card have a SCSI ID (the Quantum
 Fireball seems to be one of the main culprits) won't work with at
 least the RamFAST 3.01f ROM version and possibly others.
 
 There are separate mini-FAQs for connecting Floptical and CD-ROM
 devices; you may view them at
 http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/floptical.html and
 http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/cdrom.html
 
 You must manually give each device it's own unique ID number from 0-7.
 The SCSI card is usually set to 7. On a SCSI chain, there must be a
 Terminator (a bunch of resistors) at each end. Some drives have
 internal terminators (3 small yellow-orange packs) that can be
 switched on and off, and some drives come with an external terminator
 (a "plug" to put on the back of the drive). Nothing other than the
 ends of the chain should be terminated.
 
 Also, somebody on the bus must supply terminator power (one of the
 SCSI lines). If There are any problems (multiple things with the same
 ID, too much termination or not enough, or no terminator power), you
 may be able to use the drive, but your data will get corrupted. Most
 of the time, the computer will refuse to recognize the drive.
 
 There are two types of SCSI cables: the 50 pin Centronics-type (like
 on parallel printers) or the 25-pin "D" connector. The 50-pin is the
 SCSI standard, the 25-pin is the Apple standard. There are also cables
 with the 50-pin centronics connector on one side and the 25 pin "D"
 connector on the other.
 
4.15 Tips on setting up a SCSI system:

   * You can have multiple drives on one SCSI card, just make sure you
     remove the termination on all the drives but the last one. This is
     because the newer SCSI cards are terminated (and they count as a
     SCSI device).
   * Always check that the cords are plugged in properly. Never
     connect/disconnect anything when the computer is on.
   * SCSI ID numbers 0 and 7 tend to have special meanings; the Apple
     High Speed SCSI displays multiple copies of partitions online if a
     drive has that ID. Use 1-6 instead.
   * The computer will boot the hard drive with the highest SCSI ID,
     which should be ID 6.
   * Try letting the drive 'warm up' for 15 seconds before turning the
     computer on. The SCSI cards look for drives only at startup, and
     may ignore any drives that are not ready.
   * Try turning off DMA. If this helps, you may have a non-DMA
     compatible card, such as the early versions of the TransWarp,
     early versions of the GS RAM, or any 8-bit accelerator.
     Alternately, try setting up a RAM disk for all but 4 MB. Some RAM
     cards can only do DMA in the first bank.
   * Check that each device has a unique ID. Most drives have a
     thumbwheel on the back to set the ID. Your SCSI card (yes, it
     counts too) is probably ID 7. Number your drives from 6 downwards
     for best compatibility. The IDs have nothing to do with what slot
     the card is in.
   * Is there a terminator at each end of the SCSI bus? (the DMA cards
     are terminated, and some drives are internally terminated.)
   * Try the software that came with the card. It may give helpful
     diagnostic messages (I.E. the Apple DMA SCSI utilities-- Does it
     say "No Apple SCSI card found" or "No SCSI devices found"?)
   * RamFast boards have gone through many ROM revisions. The latest is
     3.01f; if you want to use any removable disks (Zip/Syquest disks,
     CD-Roms, Flopticals, tape backups), you should contact Sequential
     Systems (see above for address) to purchase a ROM upgrade for your
     board.
   * Do you get the message "Unable to Load ProDOS"? If so, it's
     booting your drive but you have no system software on it. Try
     hitting Control-Reset, then PR#5 (or PR#6) to boot a floppy. Then
     install the system software (i.e. ProDOS or GS/OS).
   * In extreme cases, try reformatting the drive, repartitioning, and
     re-installing the System software.
   * If the drive access light blinks in a regular pattern before the
     computer is turned on, it is telling you that it has a hardware
     malfunction. It needs to be serviced.
   * Did you try re-installing the System software? Many times, the
     data on a drive will get corrupted if you run the drive with
     improper terminators or conflicting SCSI ID's. Sometimes you will
     not notice the corrupted data until after you fix the problem. If
     re-installing the System software helps, it was probably a
     software problem, not a hardware problem.
   * The Apple HS DMA SCSI card requires an Enhanced //e. It will not
     work on the older //e without an Enhancement Kit.
   * To really put a drive through it's paces, copy a LOT of stuff from
     one partition to another (copy the entire partition if you can).
     If there is a problem with DMA or SCSI ID's, it will probably show
     up as a strange GS/OS error. (GS only)
   * Make sure you do not have the Apple SCSI drivers installed if you
     have a RamFast. It may cause random problems (they leave an
     interrupt handler dangling if they can't find their card.) (GS
     only)
   * Make sure you are booting the right slot. If the card is in slot
     7, you can set the startup slot to Scan or 7. (GS only)
   * If you boot up and only 1 partition shows up, you need to install
     the SCSI drivers. (GS only)
   * If you boot up and it says "Drive XXX is already on the desktop"
     over and over: Probably a SCSI ID problem. (GS only)
   * If you add a CD-ROM, drivers are availiable from Trantor Systems
     LTD, 5415 Randall Place, Fremont, CA 94538 (415)770-1400 (GS only)
   * At least one device must supply terminator power to the bus (Pin
     26). The Apple Cards do not supply this, and some drives don't
     either. Result: The drive won't be seen by any software.
   * Some CMS Platinum drives had pin 40 disconnected for obscure Mac
     compatibility reasons. This can cause problems with the Apple IIs.
   * Make sure you use the drivers from GS/OS, and not the ones that
     ship with the Apple HS SCSI card. (Doesn't apply to RamFast).
   * To low-level format an AE Vulcan drive, go into PART.MANAGER, move
     the highlight to "format" and type "AE". Then say yes to all the
     prompts.
     
4.16 What about internal Hard Drives?

 There were a few models of internal HDs made for Apple IIs over the
 years. Applied Engineering's Vulcan and Applied Ingenuity's InnerDrive
 were both power supply replacements that had the HD in the power
 supply and a cable running off to a card in one of the slots. These
 tended to fail a lot; to low-level format an AE Vulcan drive, go into
 PART.MANAGER, move the highlight to "format" and type "AE". Then say
 yes to all the prompts.
 
 Alltech Electronics is currently manufacturing their 'Focus' line of
 internal hard drive cards, which is a HD (20, 120, 200MB sizes appear
 to be available) on a card will all of the necessary interface on the
 card. Contact them for drive sizes and pricing.
 
 _________________________________________________________________
                                
 Email suggestions to nathan@visi.com. As always, let me know of any
 mistakes, updates, corrections, additions, etc.
 
 There are a lot more questions with answers not included directly in
 this FAQ; please see http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq for more of
 them.
 
 Copyright 1997 by Nathan Mates ( Nathan Mates)

--- End Part 2 of 4
--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places?  -R.A. Heinlein