Re: Help! 5.25 Apple II diskettes + PC = ?

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <tassa-0210962331580001@news.huji.ac.il>,
 <tassa@vms.huji.ac.il> wrote:
>I have read all the FAQs I could find but none seemed to help with
>this problem:

   You appear to have missed the comp.sys.apple2 FAQ, which
specifically says in several places that what you're trying to do is
IMpossible without rare addon hardware. Yes, you might consider that
no help at all, but this problem DOES exist, and you're not going to
find a software-only solution.

>Does anyone know how to read 5.25' apple II diskettes *on a PC*???

   From the comp.sys.apple2 FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html  :

--- Begin quoting from FAQ
Q#40 How do I read/write Apple II files from an IBM PC?

Once again, IBM PC drives operate differently from Apple II drives at
a hardware level; there is NO software to overcome that. End of
story. Deal with it.

If you have a Macintosh and access to an Apple II with 3.5" disks
(such as most GSs), you can copy the files to a ProDOS disk and let
the Mac read that disk. It can then copy them to a MS-DOS disk with
the same software that read the ProDOS disks; see above for Mac
specifics.

Null modem is probably the best method; as noted above, the Crossworks
product from Sequential Systems is a good product that lets you
transfer and translate certain Apple II and IBM PC file formats.

There's supposedly a program that reads 1.44MB ProDOS disks on a PC
(which the PC does support), but you need the ability to write such
disks from the Apple II side anyhow.

There are a few rare hardware boards that you can plug into a PC and
get it to access Apple II disks; the Trackstar Plus and Quadram boards
are reported to be usable in IBM PCs. (Quadram's Quadlink reportedly
only supports the IBM PC XT and older; the Trackstar Plus works well
in any PC with space for a very full-sized ISA board and VGA
capabilities) Neither is available new anymore, and can command a
premium now on the used market, as IBM PCers who sold off their Apple
IIs realize the follies of their ways. :)

--- End quoting

Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places?  -R.A. Heinlein