Re: PCT Help?

[rder@pro-palmtree.cts.com (Richard Der)]

dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
>cvotter@prairienet.org (Gary Sutton) wrote:
>>I'm running on an Apple IIGS:  1.25 Meg, 800K 3.5" disk drive, and
>>GS OS 5.04.  Can the PCT actually be used (no matter how complicated
>>the process) under this particular configuration?)
 
You are right in that he can't get the 800K drive that is connected
to the IIGS smartport to read MFM PC disks.
 
>From an email conversation I had with Mr. Sutton, here is his
situation. He does not have one of those special drives you mentioned
connected to the PCT to read PC disks, but he does have a startup
disk image. This disk image is a small 500K file that contains
a bootable MS-DOS 5 startup with some utilities including a
special transfer program that is supposed to move files between
ProDOS and MS-DOS. This disk image is a file that sits on a
startup disk that contains the PCT software. When this disk is
booted on another system, the disk image on it is started and is
mapped as the C:\ drive.
 
What he wanted to do was use a modem to transfer PC software to
ProDOS, then use the special transfer program to move it to the
disk image, format new disk images, etc. I agreed with him that
this should work because it is the same principle that other
emulators work on.
 
The problem: although the disk image is bootable, it would not
boot on his particular system. He said it would dump him back
to ProDOS or the Finder. Since I didn't have a PCT, I could
not help him solve the problem.
 
That was before he posted that he had only 256K on his PCT.
I had thought that the PCT used the IIGS system RAM. Apparently,
it uses its own memory. I don't think 256K is enough to boot
MS-DOS 5. If this is the problem, what type of memory chips
does he need to plug in to make the card useful? What do you
think?


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