Re: PROFile Drive???

[valthoff@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Victoria M Althoff)]

Howdy!  After looking at just a very few posts here, I've just got to say 
something already!

RE:  Apple profile 5MB hard drive--
At this moment, I am staring at an Apple Lisa II/5, with a very noisy proFile 
sitting on top.  This Lisa was bought used, but it came bundled with a device 
driver for the proFile, for a Priam hard drive, a Priam tape drive, and an 
internal 10Mb hard drive.  Of course, the Lisa Office System is written so 
tightly (back in the days of "if you can't do it in 48k, it isn't worth doing")
that 512k of RAM is plenty to run the forerunner of the Macintosh Finder.

I have heard (unsubstantiated rumor) that I must be very careful with my 
proFile, because it cannot be reformatted on the Lisa or on a ][e/gs.  My 
understanding is that the formatting procedure requires the use of an Apple 
III, and the exchange of one of the PROMS on the ProFile logic board.

I've had the unit open (except for the sealed drive unit itself).  The drive is
manufactured by Seagate, and mine occasionally needs a bit of lubrication 
(Vaseline works really well for about a year) on the anti-static contact on the
bottom of the drive to make it quit screaming.  I'm gonna have to do that this 
weekend, or I will probably go nuts listening to it.

The drive plugs into the parallel port of the Lisa.  It will work plugged into 
the ports of my two-port parallel interface, but I just use the main parallel 
port, and hook the DMP into the card.

(BTW:  There is an Apple ][e (unenhanced) in the next room, but I'm having 
trouble with my SSC, so I use the Lisa whenever I need a modem connection)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.