Re: Hard Drive Questions

[david@wraith.cs.uow.edu.au (David E A Wilson)]

moxie@panix.com (Mark Mentovai) writes:
>- I remember reading somewhere that ProDOS can only access two 
>partitions.  Is this correct?

Only for very old versions. v1.2 added the ability to access 4 drives/volumes
in slot 5 (requires a Smartport controller). v2.0 added the ability to use
up to 14 volumes in total by remapping the extra Smartport drives to unused
slot/drive combinations.

>- I also remember that ProDOS places a limit on the maximum size of each 
>partition.  How large does it accept?

32MB max for any ProDOS partition (actually you will find it hard to use the
last 512 bytes so 32767.5 KB is the real limit - less boot blocks and bit map
and root directory).

>- What software will I need to format and partition the drive?  It must 
>be compatible with an Apple //e (enhanced), since that's all I have.

Once you have the low level formatting done (use the s/w that comes with
the SCSI controller) and the partitioning (again, card dependent) all that
is left is the ProDOS formatting (boot blocks & directory) and this can be
done by any disk formatting software since Apple's FILER.

>- What is the best deal on a SCSI card for the //e?

If you want speed - RamFast. If you want compatibility, Apple's High Speed
card. If you can get them cheap, Cirtech's cards work (at least in my //e
and with my drives).

>Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

Get good quality cables. Make sure you understand how the termination of
a SCSI bus is done [and do it]. Read the manuals before plugging it all
together :-).