Re: Booting from ProFile on IIe possible?

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

In article <3hduj7$r1t@cello.gina.calstate.edu>,
Greg R. Achenbach <lacoss@cello.gina.calstate.edu> wrote:
> 
> Yes, it is enhanced.  It is one of the latest IIe's (platinum, keypad, 
> 128k, etc.).  Another thought that I had was that maybe the 5.25 
> controller card that the DuoDisk is hooked to might be the problem.  When 
> I cold boot or warm boot with no disk in drive one, then drive one just 
> spins until I either power down or do a 3-finger salute.

Perfectly normal behaviour - the Disk ][ controller (and the UniDisk
5.25 and DuoDisk controllers) will sit there are spin forever if you
try to boot them with no disk in the drive.

The IIc and IIgs have extended 5.25" firmware which times out and
continues booting from the next slot if several attempts to read track
0 sector 0 have failed.

They can only manage this because they have more than 256 bytes
available for the 5.25" boot ROM (the IIc can use extra space in
another slot, the IIgs can jump out to native mode code in another
bank).  Without a redesign, the Disk ][ card and equivalents only
support 256 bytes of ROM.

In your case, as your IIe is enhanced, the ProFile _should_ boot as
long as it is in slot 7 and the drive is ready before you turn on the
computer.  The ProFile takes anything from one to three minutes to get
ready for use when you power it up.  You have to wait until the READY
light comes on (you should be able to hear when it is ready, because
it stops making seeking noises).

If the ProFile controller is in slot 5 or lower, you will never get a
chance to boot it, as the DuoDisk in slot 6 will wait for you to put a
disk in the drive.

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