Re: unable to load prodos

[Greg Buchner <apple22@mn.rr.com>]

In article <p14r8es3x2b.fsf@panini.cling.gu.se>,
 MagerValp <MagerValp@cling.gu.se> wrote:

> Thanks Greg/Ruud, I'll try to find an older mac.

You're welcome.

The problem came about because Apple was using nice expensive feature 
laden drives from Sony and being a device with moving parts and access 
to dust, they broke down a lot.  People complained about the high cost 
of replacing them so Apple, when they went PowerPC replaced them with 
cheaper drives that did the 'features' in software instead of hardware 
on the drive.  The main feature that causes problems with the Apple II's 
is the variable speed.  Apple II and Mac 800K disks put more blocks on a 
3.5" disk on the outside tracks than they do on the inside tracks.  The 
was done pretty much transparently by the early Sony drives but the 
newer cheaper drives wouldn't vary the speed.  So they tricked it out 
through software and as such, it doesn't tend to write 800K disks 
correctly and the Apple II's seem to be much more susceptible to the 
problem than Macs with 800K disks.

Now, I do have a PowerPC machine that can write 800K disks quite well 
via two different methods.  I have a Duo 2300 with a full dock and a 
mini-floppy dock.  Both floppy drives with the docks are older drives, 
both dating from the 68000/68030 Mac era.

I hope I was clear enough to help you understand why it didn't work...

Greg
-- 
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