Re: Write 3.5" disk image in Windows

[Polymorph <polymorph69@hotmail.com>]

On Sep 25, 12:10 pm, bnfmsgeek <bnfmsg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 24, 6:50 pm, Polymorph <polymorp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Sep 25, 8:56 am, bnfmsgeek <bnfmsg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Sep 24, 5:28 pm, Linards Ticmanis <ticma...@gmx.de> wrote:
>
> > > > bnfmsgeek wrote:
> > > > > What do you mean by "variable speed" floppy drive hardware?
>
> > > > To write Apple (or Macintosh) 800 KB floppy disks, you need a either
> > > > drive that can spin the actual disk at five different speeds, such as an
> > > > older Apple floppy drive, or (this is the much less used variant) a very
> > > > special floppy controller card that can send the data to the drive at
> > > > five different speeds - standard controllers can't do that. Only
> > > > pre-iMac floppy drives from Apple can spin in five speeds and those from
> > > > other companies can't do it at all.
>
> > > > Apple/Mac 1440 KB disks don't need that ability as they use the same
> > > > low-level bit structure as MS-DOS 1440 KB floppies, but on the other
> > > > hand the built-in disk port of a IIgs (or IIc) can only deal with 800 KB
> > > > disks. So your 1440 KB capable drive for the Apple will only be doing
> > > > 800 KB if it's connected to the built-in port; it can only do 1440 KB if
> > > > it's hanging off its own special controller card.
>
> > > > > Would my
> > > > > usb external drive work?
>
> > > > For writing 800 KB disks, no, the hardware of your USB drive is
> > > > physically incapable of writing that format. For writing 1440 KB disks,
> > > > yes it would work, if you have a program on your Mac that can handle
> > > > ProDOS floppy disk images (such as CiderPress does on Windows). I have
> > > > no idea if such a program exists for Mac OS X.
>
> > > > --
> > > > Linards Ticmanis
>
> > > So how do I use ciderpress in windows?- Hide quoted text -
>
> > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > Hmmm....I feel that this thread is going nowhere fast. Can you please
> > explain in detail *exactly* what you are trying to do. There are many
> > ways to skin a cat, but first we need to find out exactly what cat
> > we're dealing with.  ;-)
>
> > If you are just trying to get GS/OS 6.0.1 images onto your IIgs, then
> > the easiest option is to transfer them from your Mac to your IIgs
> > using ADTPro. If, as you say, your transfers are taking 15 minutes
> > each, then maybe we need to fix that problem first. In order to do
> > this however, we need to know what you are using to do the transfer.
> > Outline which ADTPro version you have, what serial cables you are
> > using, are you using a SSC or the IIgs serial port, what (if any) mass
> > storage device does your IIgs have, do you have a superdrive
> > controller for your HD drive, etc.... Try and be as detailed as
> > possible. The fixing of this problem will certainly lessen the pain
> > not only for transfering GS/OS, but any other disk images you choose
> > to transfer in future.
>
> > Unless you have a superdrive card, creating *any* 1.44Mb disks under
> > any operating system are going to be useless to you on your IIgs, as
> > you will not be able to read them.
>
> > Thanks,
> > -p
>
> OK Here goes....
>
> I have a IIgs w/ a regular old apple floppy drive, and an Applied
> Engineering one. I looked it up on the internet, and Wikipedia says
> that it can take either 1.44 meg floppies or 800k ones. I have no
> special card to read 1.44m ones so right now I have only 1.44meg (HD)
> ones, that I just format to be 800k. Don't argue about the effects of
> doing it that way, as I've read enough about them, and I plan to use
> them for shorter time periods anyway. Somebody's giving me more
> floppies later this week (including 800k ones) I have no mass storage
> (unfortuneatly) on my GS. I have a laptop (running xp) that I can
> connect to my GS, but I had troubles with that (as schmidtd might
> remember from the sourceforge forums of ADT). I was, however able to
> get a desktop running vista working fine with it (besides the time
> issue). I connect my PC to my II by means of a USB-serial adapter in a
> null-modem configuration. I also happen to have access to any iBook
> (Dual USB) running OSX 3.?.?, which the power cord is broken. I might
> be able to get another cord via my local Mac User's Group. I also have
> a usb external floppy drive I can use on my XP machine and possibly my
> mac. I want to be able to find a way to transfer disk images in a
> reasonable amount of time at a reasonable price (i.e. not more than
> I've already spent, as I'm only 14 and extremely thrifty)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

OK...now we're getting somewhere.  :-)

Firstly, forget about the USB floppy drive - its not going to be any
use to you. Whilst Ciderpress is one of the best tools around, it too
is not going to be much use to you in this case. So file it away for
now.

I would be checking the USB serial device and make sure that it is
configured correctly to allow 115,200 baud transfers. Also double
check that ADTPro is configured correctly for 115,200 transfers and
using the correct port - ie. IIgs modem port. If Vista has any
settings for the serial ports (I'm not familiar with Vista), try and
set those to 115,200 also.

If transfers are still taking around 15 minutes per disk, try and get
your hands on some older hardware with real serial ports (i.e. not a
USB-->Serial adapter) preferrably running Windows XP or older. I don't
know how well Windows Vista has been tested with ADTPro as yet, but
Windows XP has been used extensively. You should have no problems
here. At least this will confirm that your IIgs is correctly
configured to accept 115,200 transfers.

If you can't get your hands on older hardware/software, then post the
details (model #, brand, etc) of your USB serial adapter and see if
anyone else has had any issues using that particular model. I know
that some adapters have had issues with ADTPro in the past. You may be
out of luck if it happens to be one of these particular models.
Alternatively, you may want to ask which adapters are known to work
well, and fork out a few more dollars to get one.

Try out some of the above and let us know how you get on.

cheers,
-p