Re: Humor a new user and answer these Apple //e card questions.

[mmunson@animal.es.com (Mark Munson)]

In article: <1993Feb10.204229.29626@samba.oit.unc.edu> David White writes:

DW> That said, here's the problem:  My mom just got an LCII with an Apple
DW> //e card so she can run her school's Apple //e stuff (Sticky Bear, Apple
DW> Writer, etc.) at home.  For now, she's just been bringing home a 5.25
DW> drive (unhelpfully labelled "Apple 5.25 drive" on the bottom) from school 
DW> to plug into a 19-pin port on the Y-cable which came and plugs into the //e
DW> card.

DW> Now she's trying to buy a (used) 5.25 drive so she doesn't have to bring
DW> one home every night, but she (and I) don't know what to look for.


When Apple first created the Disk ][ for the Apple ][ computer system, they
connected it using an interface card and a ribbon cable.  The interface card
would allow up to two drives to be connected at the same time.

Most users needed two drives, so Apple created the DuoDrive (beige color)
unit that contained two 5.25" floppy drives.  The old connector style was
still used.

When the Apple //c was released Apple introduced a new drive port that
allowed multiple drives to be "daisy chained" together in a long string.
Drives of different sizes could be put together on the string, so you
could have both a 3.5" and a 5.25" drive on the same string.  The first
3.5" Sony floppy drive unit was released under the name UniDisk 3.5.

The UniDisk was a pearl white color, and it contained an internal 65C02
that allowed it to work with the original //c.  The 5.25" drives still
worked the same as the older models, but the connector was changed to the
D-sub Male connector that is easier to connect.  You could purchase
converter plugs that would allow old style drives to connect to the
new cabling scheme.

With the release of the IIgs, Apple introduced a new 3.5" drive that
no longer required the built in 65C02 that the UniDisk required.  The
new drive was designated the Apple 3.5" drive (platinum colored).  

The Apple 5.25" drive name was used to allow for a consistent naming
across the products being sold.  Older Apple 5.25" drives are beige
colored, newer models have the platinum case.  Both should work OK
with the LC's //e card.

If you run across a Disk //c 5.25" drive, you will find that it is 
plug compatible with the Apple 5.25" drive.  Only the exterior plastic
case is different, since it was designed to match the //c case.

Summary:

Purchase either an <Apple 5.25"> drive or an <Apple Disk //c>.

Avoid any Disk ][ units that don't have the new style connectors.
(but remember that you can get a plug converter that will allow
you to use the old ribbon connector with the new shielded D-sub
male connectors).

[MGM]