Re: HD controller and /RAM5

[uerics@mcl.ucsb.edu (Eric Shepherd)]

It's not possible to make ProDOS 8 access a device that has been
switched out in the Control Panel; in particular, /RAM5 is only
available if slot 5 is set to "SmartPort" or "Disk Port" or whatever
it's called in the Control Panel.

Under System 6.0.1, there is a driver that basically creates and fakes
this disk for you; Apple knows how /RAM5 is arranged in memory, so
they can manipulate it directly, without going through the SmartPort
firmware that has been deactivated by setting slot 5 to "Your Card."

Well... it is theoretically possible to create a /RAM5 driver for
ProDOS 8, but I don't think it's a reasonable project.  It would
involve swapping out your SuperDrive Controller Card every time a call
was made to the /RAM5 disk.  This is possible, but may not be entirely
safe -- especially under ProDOS 8, which provides even less support
for such a thing than GS/OS does.

Eric S.

--
sheppy@aol.com            |-------------- Eric Shepherd ----------------
uerics@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu   |Programming Law #21: Never put your faith in
powerpc.pro@genie.geis.com|rules -- breaking them is half the fun!
sheppy@cs.ucsb.edu        |[Apple II Forever]  [PowerPC Programmers' RT]