Re: 5.25 drive and IIgs

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

In article <32b0j5$7qp@lastactionhero.rs.itd.umich.edu>,
Paul S. Sian <paulsian@umich.edu> wrote:
> I wish to add a 5.25 drive to my current gs system.
> At one time in the past I tried to add it but it didn't work and 
> the drive mangled some of my disks. So I want to know do I have
> to do anything special to hook this drive up in order to read
> software written for the appleII?

If you are using a "UniDisk" style drive, it can be daisy-chained
_after_ any 3.5" drives you have connected to the IIgs disk port.  You
must have slot 6 set to "Disk Port" in the Control Panel to be able to
access the drive.

A Disk ][ can be connected in the same manner, if you have an adaptor
cable to convert the 20-pin IDC connector to a DB-19 plug.

You can also use a Disk ][ or UniDisk 5.25 Controller Card in slot 4,
5, 6 or 7, provided the slot is set to "Your Card" in the Control
Panel.  In this case, the drive (or drives) may be connected to the
controller card, as in a II+ or IIe.

It is not safe to use a Disk ][ or UniDisk 5.25 Controller Card in
slots 1, 2 or 3, unless you set the IIgs to "Normal" speed whenever you
want to access the drives.  The IIgs can autodetect Disk ][ controllers
in slots 4 to 7 and slow down to normal speed while they are being
accessed, but it cannot do this for slots 1 to 3.

> Where is a good place to buy a drive of this sorts?

Try the comp.sys.apple2.marketplace group.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand