Re: Zip Drive on a IIe

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <35578DC2.796E@pdq.net>, Robert Boucher  <boucher1@iname.com> wrote:
>I believe I can connect a Zip Drive to a IIe using a SCSI card and
>format PRODOS partitions on the Zip disk. If this is possible, does
>anyone know if this same disk can be used to copy Appleworks files to a
>Mac similar to what I can do with a floppy drive? 

   First off, thanks to an irrational continued attachment by Macs to
required driver partitions long after the need for them as opposed to
optional drivers, this *will* be a bit more complex than using a
floppy drive. Out of the box Macs refuse to deal with any disk they
didn't format (whining Mac whitewashers will probably speak up soonish
about how some commercial software makes drivers optional and how
great everything is, but that functionality shoulda been in the OS a
long time ago), so you're going to have to try to format and partition
stuff from the Mac side.

   The Apple II side, on the other hand, doesn't have the obseession
with using disks it formatted, and via some programs (A2FX version 8,
possibly) can write HFS (Mac-Formatted) disks without the need to
repartition, etc. Of course, the cleaner and better design doesn't
have the point-and-drool UI and a SmileyOS logo on it, and is
"obsolete" according to those who follow the Apple "Why the heck would
you want to think today" slogan. 

>Is there any thing I should be aware of, or any recommendations on
>which SCSI card I should use?

   Zip drives connected to Apple's SCSI cards with no other HDs around
will fail becasue the Zip drives require SCSI Termination Power (as
opposed to regular termination) to be provided-- Apple's SCSI cards
don't do that without a bit of soldering. If you have other HDs in a
chain, those other HDs are usually nice enough to provide what Apple
didn't and things will work fine. RamFAST cards are 3rd party and work
just fine with Zip drives-- even a SCSI bus consisting of just a
ramfast and a Zip drive.

Nathan Mates

--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
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