Re: Can IIe bit-copy a Mac disk?

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

In article <1993Nov28.071710.23668@presby.edu> sebugg@presby.edu (Stephen Buggie) writes:
> 
> CAN AN APPLE IIE BIT COPIER DUPLICATE A MAC 3.5" DISK?
> > 
> Sometimes journals insist on getting manuscripts on disk as well as on paper.
> The disks are easier to edit.  Typically IBM is specified; sometimes Macintosh
> is acceptable.
> 
> I make these disks by transmitting the text file from my ApplIIe or IIc to
> an IBM user or a Mac user here on campus.
> 
> I wish to keep a backup of the disk when mailing.  Can I make a bit-copied
> backup of the Macintosh or IBM disk on my Apple?  I prefer to do the backup
> myself rather than to ask my colleagues to make a duplicate.

I assume you have a 3.5" drive on your IIe.  You don't say what
controller card or which type of drive you have, which may be a problem.

The Macintosh 800k disk format is identical at the track/sector level
to the Apple II 800k disk format.  You can do a straight block copy of
a Macintosh 800k disk, and the copy should work fine on a Mac.  This
should be achievable with any 3.5" drive and controller.

You shouldn't need to do a bit copy.  You could use Copy II+'s 3.5"
bit copy utility to do a sector copy of the disk, which will retain
more information (such as the interleaving of sectors, and the
contents of the tag bytes in each sector).  To do this, you need Copy
II+ 8.0 or later, and an Apple 3.5 Drive (or compatible) on a IIgs or
a IIe with a Universal Disk Controller.  You can't use the Copy II+
3.5" bit copy program with a UniDisk 3.5 or with a SuperDrive
interface card or PC Transporter.

Copying IBM disks in this manner is a different story.  There are two
routes here:

(a) A PC Transporter with an Apple 3.5 Drive.  You must use MS-DOS
based utilities to copy the disk (i.e. DISKCOPY).  IBM-format disks
cannot be read from the Apple with this combination of drive and
controller.

(b) SuperDrive with SuperDrive controller card, or Floptical drive
with SCSI card.  An Apple-based block copy routine should be able to
copy the disk.  Note that the SuperDrive card cannot format 720k
disks, but can read and write them.  1.44MB disks are no problem.
-- 
David Empson                                                               
dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz                                                
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand