Re: Using 3.5" IDE drive with AIIe

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <975007562.807345@chakotay.ncc74656.org>,
Scott Alfter <salfter@salfter.ncc74656.dyndns.org> wrote:
 
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> In article <8vhjcu$i8c$1@merope.saaf.se>, Paul Schlyter <pausch@saaf.se> wrote:
>>In article <3a1c3490.22155023@news.wi.centurytel.net>,
>>Theusch Family <ntohsepuasmch@centurytel.net> wrote:
>>> Say if I would get an IDE card for my //e... would I be able to
>>> somehow format a 110MB 3.5" hard drive into partitions and use
>>> it with my //e?
>> 
>> If you were familiar enough with your IDE card, you'd probably be
>> able to "somehow" partition and format your harddisk (you partition
>> first, the you format each partition -- you cannot do it the other
>> way around).  But then you'll face another problem: to find an OS for
>> the Apple II which supports your 110MB harddisk.
> 
> What's the problem here?  ProDOS supports partition sizes up to 32 megs. 
> Split your 110-meg hard drive four ways and you're done.  Starting somewhere
> around v1.9 or so (IIRC), ProDOS 8 will even pick up >2 devices per slot if
> needed (not sure about the version number, but the most recent version
> definitely will).
 
The problem is that ProDOS most certainly don't have built-in support
for homemade IDE cards (I interpreted your "somehow" as if you wanted
to build your own IDE adapter for the Apple II).  There's much more
to adapting an OS to a new hardware device than just checking the
supported partition sizes....
 
Also, "partitioning" can be done in many ways -- it's merely a
software convention of splitting up the HD into several logical
areas.  Does ProDOS support the PC conventions for partitioning
harddisks, or does ProDOS use its own conventions?  When the 5 MByte
Corvus harddisks first appeared, it was usually partitioned into
zillions of Apple DOS partitions, each 140 KBytes large, to mimic an
Apple II DOS floppy -- that partitioning was certianly obtained in a
way incompatible with the partitioning of most IDE harddisks today.
 

OTOH if you just intend to use some standard IDE adapter ard for the
Apple II, and if ProDOS already supports that card, there should be
no problem -- just go ahead and use the disk!

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