Re: Need to Read/Write Apple2 (Ascii Text) floppy on DOS PC

[h9104374@hkuxa.hku.hk (William)]

Tom Boyko (tboyko@teleport.com) wrote:
:  
: I need to read and transfer some ascii text files from AppleII
: (5") to Mac (3-1/2") disks. I already have the capability to read
: and write ascii text files to/from Mac disks from a DOS PC, so if
: there was a utility to do the same for AppleII disks (from a DOS PC)
: then I could do the conversion all on a PC. Actually, this would be the
: best method for me, since I'm already able to do the MAC to/from DOS PC
: conversions, and the only machines I have _both_ types of drives on
: are DOS machines. 
:      There are a number of DOS programs to allow reading and writing
: MAC files on a PC: MAC-ette,  MacSEE,  and  Mac-in-DOS are a few, but
: I couldn't find any similar programs to allow read/write to AppleII disks
: in my usual sources (like Compu$erve). Of course, I realize that the 
: format and file structure of the AppleII 5-1/4" floppies are totally
: different than the PC's, but this is also true of the 3-1/2" MAC disks
: so I suspect this is possible. In case I haven't made it clear enough,
: I am talking about strictly ascii text files; (I'm trying to avoid
: responses of "You can't run AppleII programs on a PC, Bonehead...".
:  

The physical limitations of the apple 5-1/4" floppy drive and that of the
PC 5-1/4" floppy drive making them totally incompatiable. If you want to
transfer data (text/binary/diskimage) between the apple and the PC, you
need extra hardware. A serial card for the apple is the simplest solution.
You may try to find a discontinued product from Central Point .... "Option
Board" (I think), it can be plugged into a PC and connect an apple floppy
drive to it. If you cannot find any of them (both are rare now), someone
in Taiwan has successfully programmed the game I/O port of the apple to
communicate with the PC. The extra hardware is just some wiring between a
16 pin IC socket and a DB 25-pin one. The supporting software and the
details of the wiring is zipped in a file called "ap2222pc.zip". It lets
you transfer the disk image of an apple standard 16-sector disk to PC as 
a diskimage file. You may then use a utility named "aftp" to get the file 
from the file if it is a DOS 3.3 disk.

Hope this help.
  
--
 _       ___ _____               
| |     / (_) / (_)___ _____ ___
| | /| / / / / / / __ `/ __ `__ \  Email : h9104374@hkuxa.hku.hk
| |/ |/ / / / / / /_/ / / / / / /          h9104374@hkusub.hku.hk
|__/|__/_/_/_/_/\__,_/_/ /_/ /_/