Re: Apple HD's?

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

Adam Rumack <tastytoast@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I was wondering...  What type of hard drives do Apple II's use?  I know
> you can get controllers for SCSI, but what kind of drive do they use
> without any adaptors.

With no controller at all, you cannot use any hard drive.  The
motherboard doesn't have a built-in hard drive controller (except for
Smartport drives - see the fourth item below).

External SCSI drives are most common.  Other options that come to mind:

- a couple of models that replace the internal power supply with a
combined power supply and hard drive, plus a controller card.  I think
that both of these use an IDE mechanism.  (Vulcan, Innerdrive.)

- a card which has the drive mechanism mounted on it.  Most of these are
also IDE.  (Focus.)

- a controller card which can be used with an IDE mechanism, though I'm
not sure where the mechanism is supposed to go, as the Apple II doesn't
have drive bays.  In some cases, this card has been used to replace the
original controller for a Vulcan or Innerdrive.  (Turbo IDE.)

- a hard drive that connects via the floppy drive port (SmartPort) on
the Apple //c or IIgs, or with certain cards on the Apple IIe.  These
are SCSI drives with a SmartPort-to-SCSI controller inside the case.
(Chinook/Sequential C-Drive.)

- a wide variety of older hard drive mechanisms which consist of a
controller card and an external drive.  The type of interface varies,
including SASI and proprietary ones.  (Examples: Sider, ProFILE.)

Diverging a little, you can also access the hard drive on a file server
with most Apple II networking systems.

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