Re: IIe SCSI Card Question

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <Dn840t.HF7.0.queen@torfree.net>,
David Arnett <bo144@torfree.net> wrote:
> I may buy a SCSI card for my IIe if I find one cheap before I get a Mac.  
> Can anyone please tell me what markings are on both versions so I will 
> recognize it if I see it?

Which ones are you referring to?  There are at least three: the
original Apple SCSI, the Apple High-Speed SCSI, and the RamFast (of
which there are at least two major revisions).

I haven't had a close look at a RamFast, so I can't help there.

The two models of Apple SCSI card are quite different in appearance.

The original card has a 40-pin dual-in-line SCSI controller chip, an
EPROM, a RAM, several miscellaneous logic chips, and a row of eight
jumpers at the front of the board.

If you do get an opportunity of buying one of these, make sure it has
the Revision C ROM (341-0437-A).

The high-speed card has two socketed PLCC (square) chips (the SCSI
controller and general logic), an EPROM and a RAM, and a set of four
DIP switches near the front of the board.

> Also, is any external software required?

Not with a RamFast - everything is in the ROM.  With an Apple SCSI
card, you need the software supplied with the card to partition or
verify a hard drive (it also includes a backup utility).  The
partitioning software is very limited.

Without the disk, you can still access a SCSI hard drive that has been
partitioned elsewhere, including booting from it.

> Can it be downloaded from the web?

Not likely.  The software for the High-speed card _might_ be available
from ftp.support.apple.com, but the original one certainly won't be.

> Can Appleworks 2.0 read/write to a HD?  Can Zlink?

Yes to both.  In general, any ProDOS program will work on/with a hard
drive.  Some programs may be fussy about the location of their files
(e.g. they must go on a disk/directory of a particular name, or must
be in the root directory).  This is rather rare.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand