Re: Repost: Is this a PC Floppy Interface Card?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Stingray writes ...
> 
> I hope this what I think it is. The cable will plug into a PC floppy
> drive. The card is blue in color, and says Chatsworth Data Corporation.
> Is this a PC floppy drive interface card? If so, does anyone have the
> drivers? How do I get power to the drive? I have a PC power suppy, but
> it is huge and would seem to be overkill for one floppy drive. Can
> anyone positively identify this thing?
> 
 ....

     Don't recognize the card. It does seem to be an Apple II card. If it is
a floppy disk controller, you would not need to add any power supplies; the
power would come from your Apple II via the Slot.

     If the card plugs into a PC drive it may be intended as a way to use
5.25" PC drives on an Apple II. That is, you still boot Apple II diskettes
but you can boot them from a PC drive. Such a card would have had some appeal
back in olden times when new Apple Disk ][ drives cost hundreds of dollars.

     One way to check the above is to plug in an old PC drive and plug the
card into Slot 4. Turn ON the computer and boot as usual. If your Apple II is
a IIgs, go to the Control Panel and make sure the Slot with the new card is
set to Your Card.

     Stick a bootable diskette in the new drive (one you have backed up). Get
to the Applesoft prompt and enter  PR#4  . If the disk in the new drive
boots, you know what the card is for.

     It seems unlikely that the card is intended to permit access to MS-DOS
formatted diskettes on an Apple II or that it can support 1.2MB HD drives.
The hardware on the card looks too simple. (It may support two-sided access
to regular 5.25" DD diskettes.)



Rubywand