Re: Help ID odd card..

[valthoff@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Victoria M Althoff)]

In article <2kj05a$3kk@carroll1.cc.edu>,
Ron Kneusel <rkneusel@carroll1.cc.edu> wrote:
> We recently acquired and old Apple IIe and the card sitting in
> slot seven presently defies identification.
>
> It is a long card made by Apple Computer. It has a cable running
> to a female RS-232 25-pin connector.  There are no markings on
> the card (other than that it was assembled in Singapore) that
> indicate it's purpose.  There are many small chips, a larger chip
> with "Apple Copr 1989" on it, and two square chips in sockets
> with many pins each.
>
> Could this be a hard disk interface? SCSI perhaps?  With it in
> the machine there is a _long_ pause between turning it on and
> when the old Disk ][ drives kick in.  There is no pause with it
> out of the machine.

Tell me, is the hole for one pin (I believe #14) blocked off in the long row on
the connector?  You might have an Apple ProFile interface.  The ProFile was the
Apple /// hard-drive, and I now have one connected to my Lisa.  It's a 
sub-standard communications format (naturally) using a two-way parallel port.  
Definately NOT SCSI.  But if you can stand the noise and can get hold of a 
ProFile, it's an okay-little 5-meg hard drive!
(ProFiles are noisy)

That would also explain the start-up delay.  The Apple ][ boot process begins 
by scanning all of the slots, beginning with Slot #7, in search of a disk 
controller card.  If your card is what I think it is, the system is identifying
the controller as a potential startup device.  It tries to communicate with the
(non-existent) drive.  When communication fails, the card is smart enough 
(unlike the Disk II controller) to pass control on to the next slot (6, in your
case).  Since your Disk ][ controller is in Slot 6, the floppy boot process 
begins.

Remember, this is only a guess.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.