Re: Apple II 3.5" Controller and SuperDrive problems...

[mkelsey@spam.eecs.wsu.edu]

In article <35009af5.4613895@news.bconnex.net>,
	CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney) writes:
> On 4 Mar 1998 05:08:35 GMT, supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) wrote:
> 
> [snip]
>>If you can't get it to format even with Finder or other GS specific format
>>utilities, just buy pre-formatted Mac or PC floppies and use the Erase
>>option from the Finder.  It takes less than 1 second and gives you an
>>instant 1.44MB ProDOS disk.
> 
> Are you sure about this?  It seems to me that if the disk isn't
> initialized as a ProDOS disk, erasing it should give you an error.
> Especially if you try to erase a 720k MFM disk into an 800k GCR.  It
> just ain't gonna happen.
> 
> I'm just curious as to whether you are indeed erasing an MS-DOS
> formatted disk into a ProDOS disk because, as far as I know, it is
> impossible.

Well, as I stated earlier, I wrote over the first few blocks of the 
720K MS-DOS disk with another ProDOS volume.  This allowed Copy II
Plus to believe the volume was in fact a ProDOS disk.  After that I
used the equivalent of a "quick-format" by erasing the ProDOS disk.
When Copy II+ erases a disk, it appears to query the controller 
about the device size so it can write the proper file block table.

In my case, the Apple II 3.5" Drive controller detects the disk as
being a 720K MFM format and reports to ProDOS the 720K volume size.
Copy II+ Plus receives this information and writes the proper volume
table.  I highly doubt the firmware on the card contains information
about what to write for ProDOS in each circumstance, but perhaps I 
am wrong.


-- 
	-/\/\ichael-

replyto: mkelsey at eecs.wsu.edu