Re: Mac Recognizing a ProDos volume

[shack@deimos.frii.com (Randy Shackelford)]

In article <60ustl$11n$1@nixon.area.com>,
Matt Ackeret <mattack@area.com> wrote:

[snip]

>Since the Mac sucks in that it requires a "driver partition" on every 
>device (how incredibly lame), it's a pain in the butt to get the Mac to 
>recognize volumes that were formatted on any other machine (including HFS
>volumes formatted on the GS).

Not so. There just needs to be a device driver resident in memory at 
startup to get a device to work. Storing the driver in the APPLE_DRIVER
partition is merely the most common way to get it there. Contrast that with
GS/OS' placing the drivers in the system folder.

For CDs, there is an extension called Apple CD ROM which supplies the driver
for that device. There are also companies which supply software for removeable
drives like my magneto optical. I use APS' Powertools control panel and MO
disks mount just as if they were floppies when I put 'em in the drive.

>Solution: Install PC Exchange, reboot.  Make sure the device you're trying to
>read is hooked up and turned on.  Open the PC Exchange control panel.
>click on the Options button.  Put a checkmark next to the device that isn't
>mounting.  Now you have to reboot again I think.
>
>Your device will *finally* show up on the desktop.

I never use the ProDOS volume on my IIgs' hard disk on Macs so hafta take
your word here. I can say for sure that the most recent versions of Apple's
formatter can make ProDOS volumes and do mount them at startup, making the
above rigmarole unnecessary. But there is the problem with the IIgs finder's
gagging when it sees the APPLE_DRIVER43 partition on a disk you format with
the new versions. Doesn't crash or anything, it just makes you "eject" the
driver partition since it doesn't think it's the driver partition due to
the name change, and of course it looks like an invalid disk volume.
-- 
Randy Shackelford                                 
shack@frii.com