Re: SuperDrive and the IIgs

[markREMOVE@syndicomm.com (Mark Percival)]

On Sun, 12 Aug 2001, "Anthony G Beckett"
<anthony@nospam.unnamedpcmuseum.com> wrote:

>Hello all!
>
>Curious - I have recieved a SuperDrive and I am curious as to how I connect
>it. According to the Manual, I just connect it to the standard drive
>connector. However, this does not work - well, it does, it just cant
>read/format 1.4 MB disks. Some websites indicate I need a SuperDrive
>controller.
>
>Can anyone clear up this one for me?

In order for your external SuperDrive to work with your IIGS you must
have an Apple II Superdrive controller card.  The official name for
this card is "Apple II 3.5 Disk Controller Card" and was produced by
Apple for only a few years before being discontinued.  It is one of
the rarest, full production, Apple II cards produced and are almost
impossible to come by.  There was one for auction on eBay recently
that went for $150.  It was the first time I had seen one up for
auction in two years.  This auction should have easily fetched twice
that price however the seller was not aware of what the card was and
therefore did not advertise it properly.

Just to confuse matters, Apple did produce another similarly named
card that is -not- a SuperDrive controller.  The "Apple 3.5 Floppy
Disk Drive Interface Card" is an earlier card that was designed to
allow the Apple II/II+/IIe access to the white Unidisk 3.5 drive.  The
Unidisk 3.5 however is only an 800 KB DSDD drive.  This card is easily
identified by the word "Liron" printed on the back of the card.  They
are available for auction fairly frequently and tend to go for the $20
to $40 range.  Over the last month there has been at least 3 of these
cards sold on eBay.

There are other alternatives to accessing HD 1.4MB floppies on a IIGS
but none allow you to use an Apple external SuperDrive.  Most
prominently is the ///SHH Systeme's Bluedisk Controller Card which is
still available new.  It is designed to work with standard PC floppy
drives.

I wrote an article comparing the SuperDrive Controller to the Bluedisk
card and a little about what I went through deciding between them at
http://www.a2central.com/features/2000-11/24-controllers/index.html .

///SHH Systeme's web site is at http://www.wbwip.com/shh/ .

>And while I am at it, I am looking for a PC Transporter for my IIgs (with
>drives) - anyone know where I could get one?

eBay is your best bet and I haven't seen one of those in a long time.

Mark R. Percival - RTC Host - Syndicomm Online Apple II Forum
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