Re: Will a 3.5" drive work on my old //e and ProDOS??

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

In article <1994Oct4.170853.1@eagle.wesleyan.edu>,
 <kzimmerman@eagle.wesleyan.edu> wrote:
> 
> After deliberating on the emptiness of my pockets, ive decided that
> for school word-processign im going to ressurect our family's old
> Apple //e. Problem is, i would need to get a 3.5" disk drive in order
> to render the files on it usable into the future (i.e. transferable
> to other platforms).

That isn't a major issue - it is certainly easier to transfer Apple
IIe files to a Macintosh if they are already on 3.5" disks.  It won't
help at all with other platforms.  Even if you stuck to 5.25" disks,
you would only need to find a 3.5" drive (or set up a serial
connection, or some other method) when you needed to transfer the
files to another coputer.

> The Apple //e we have is an enhanced model bought in late 1985, with
> Prodos 1.0.1.  Would I need a newer version in order to support a
> 3.5" disk drive?

The enhanced IIe will work fine with a 3.5" drive.  ProDOS 1.0.1
should work, but I'd definitely recommend getting a newer version.
The latest Apple II System Disk (including the System Utilities
program) works fine on an enhanced IIe, and it available at
ftp.apple.com, under the directory /dts/aii.  If you don't have
communications software (including BinSCII and ShrinkIt) on your IIe,
it may be tricky to get the disk onto your machine using this method.

> Would the disk drive daisy-chain just fine into my existing Unidisks
> and controlloer card?

No.  You need a 3.5" drive controller card.  The most likely option is
to get a SuperDrive controller card (also known as the Apple 3.5 Disk
Controller Card).  Apple have stopped making them, but they may be
available from some of the mail order houses (e.g. Quality Computers).

This card will support all three "standard" types of 3.5" drive
(UniDisk 3.5, Apple 3.5 Drive, SuperDrive).  It is the only card which
supports the SuperDrive (high density drive).

Other options (second-hand only) are the UniDisk 3.5 Controller Card,
which only works with a UniDisk 3.5 Drive, and the Central Point
Universal Disk Controller, which only works with the Apple 3.5 Drive
and Macintosh 800KB drives (and possibly 400KB drives.)

Regarding 3.5" drives: the UniDisk 3.5 is the slowest.  It has a
microprocessor built into the drive, and sends data to the computer at
a lower speed than the other drives.

The UniDisk 3.5 and Apple 3.5 Drive support 400KB and 800KB Apple disk
formats (Apple II, and also Macintosh with appropriate software - you
can read files from Macintosh disks, but not write to them on a IIe).

The SuperDrive (with the SuperDrive Controller) supports Apple 400KB
and 800KB formats, and also MS-DOS and Apple 720KB and 1.44MB formats
(1.44MB requires high density 3.5" disks).  Reading MS-DOS disks
requires appropriate software.


Macintoshes can read Apple II 800KB disk formats (ProDOS file system)
using various methods - Apple File Exchange, ProDOS File System
Extension, or System 7.5's version of PC Exchange.  Macintoshes with a
SuperDrive can also read 720KB and 1.44MB formats (this is basically
all Macintosh models from the IIx onward, about 1988).

MS-DOS machines cannot read Apple 400KB and 800KB disks.  They might be
able to read 720KB and 1.44MB disks, but I'm not aware of any PC-based
software that can read data from ProDOS disks.  These formats are very
rare anyway.  The vast majority of Apple II 3.5" disks will be in
800KB format.

Note that standard DOS 3.3 cannot use 3.5" disks.  There are modified
versions of DOS 3.3 which can treat an 800KB 3.5" disk as a pair of
400KB DOS 3.3 disks, but very little software will work with this.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand