Re: trying to get an Apple II GS going for fun...

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

wizard@direct.ca (Astro) wrote:

>2] On the subject of formatting [again correct me if I am wrong], if
>an actual 800k 3.5" floppy disk is to be formatted for Apple IIGS in a
>Macintosh, the user must be CERTAIN to format it for ProDOS format as
>opposed to HSF [Mac] format UNLESS the user is running HFS FST [File
>System Translator], a utility that comes with System 6.0.1 [DOES NOT
>come with System 5.0.4] which allows the Apple II to read and write
>Mac format [HFS] floppy disks.

No.  HFS is the ideal 3.5" format for transfer and indeed even for
use on the IIGS.  The HFS FST is not a utility.  It is a module of
the IIGS System Software.  All IIGS programs communicate to
storage devices through FSTs.  Without a ProDOS FST, GS/OS
will not be able to use the ProDOS file system either.

The concept of the FST is foreign to the Macintosh, which must
use hacks like PC Exchange to get around this lack of capability.
Linux and OS/2 have the equivalent of FSTs.  Like GS/OS, these
two OS are file system independent.

You can install the FST from System 6.0.1 into System 5.0.4 and
it will work.  It'll even work from a floppy boot disk of 5.0.4.  I've
tried it before.
 
>1] If this is a plausible method of transferring a system disk, what
>is a plausible method of transferring individual "executable" and
>other files [like games], same way? as or like a "disk image"?

Yes, using .shk archives.  These are made by a program called
Shrinkit GS which is similar to StuffIt for the Mac and WinZip for
Windows.  Much more efficient than disk images, these archives
are compressed.  Disk images are inefficient and are only
tolerated by emulator users.

Ask most real IIGS users how they get the majority of their
software and the answer will be .shk archives.  Until recently,
there was not even any way to run a disk image into a real IIGS
disk on the IIGS!

The main IIGS ftp archive, http://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/ is
full of .shk archives of IIGS freeware and shareware.

>2] What the heck IS a "Disk Image" actually anyways?

A block by block dump of a disk to a file.  This is a non-ideal
way to transfer Apple IIGS programs.

>3] Do all usable files for the Apple IIGS come as "disk images?" or
>can they some in a similar way that say PC files come [with
>extensions]?

Disk images are mainly meant for non-hard drive aware games
and other stuff and thus are used by emulators.  Real IIGS
users don't like disk images much.

Most IIGS programs come in .shk archives, sometimes with
installer programs that copy the right files into the right directories,
just like PC archives that explode the right files into the different
Windows directories.

>4] Is an 800k 3.5" floppy disk described as a piece of hardware as a
>"DSDD" disk?

Yup.  They format to 800k on the IIGS and the Mac, 880k on the
Amiga, and 720k on Win/DOS PCs.