Re: Identify 3.5" interal drives

[shack@onyx.southwind.net (Randy Shackelford)]

J. L. Walters (bird@MCS.COM) wrote:
: I just acquired two Sony 3.5" internal disk drives. Model MP-F51W-03.

[snip]

: I'd like to ID these drives and if they are 1.44 meg drives then an
: additional question is, "Can I use them on my IIgs and how?"

The way to tell if they are 800K or 1.4 mb is to look for the high density
detect switch. It looks like the write protect switch but is on the opposite
side. Whichever capacity they are, they'll work if you scare up an empty 3.5
drive enclosure. To get 1.4 drives to work as such takes a superdrive card.

: Finally, I was given a 512K Mac. When powered up a sad faced icon
: appears on the screen. The manual says that the problem is probably
: hardware and I should see my Apple dealer. I'm not too interested in
: fixing this for myself, however, I'd like to give it to some
: organization (old folks, school, etc.), where it could be used.

: The questions I have are:

: 1. Is a 512K Mac useable by anyone?
: 2. Any tests I can do to narrow down what the problem is?

An original 512 with 400K floppy drives is of very little modern day use.
If it's a 512e, meaning it has Mac Plus ROMs and an 800K floppy, it could be
of some use running minimal system software and primitive apps. It ain't
gonna run Netscape for sure. I'd give it to anyone interested as is, parts
for these boxes are cheaper than dirt nowadays.
--
Randy Shackelford                                 US Air Force officer
shack@southwind.net                               and Apple aficionado