Re: FDHD on a GS

[David.Empson@bbs.actrix.gen.nz]

In article <1kp75fINNgjl@meaddata.meaddata.com> johnt@meaddata.com (John Townsend) writes:
> I'm interested in getting a 1.44M FDHD floppy drive for my GS, and have a few
> questions.  Can I use a FDHD drive and an 800K drive together from the same
> controller, or will the controller only work with FDHD drives?

The controller supports the SuperDrive (FDHD), Apple 3.5 Drive (800k)
and Unidisk 3.5.  You can connect a maximum of two drives.

> I assume that the 5.25 drives can still chain from the Smartport.

Yep.  If you put the SuperDrive card somewhere other than slot 5, you
can leave your existing 3.5" drive connected to the SmartPort.  I've
found this is most convenient, as some software (particularly FTA
stuff, ZZCopy and Copy II+'s 3.5" bit copier) doesn't work with drives
connected to the SuperDrive card.

Note: if you set slot 5 to "Your Card", you will lose the IIgs RAM
disk (RAM5).

> Is there any difference between external FDHD drives for the Mac and
> for the GS?  Sun Remarketing says they have 'em for the Mac but not
> the GS, which seems odd to me. 

As long as it is a genuine Apple SuperDrive, not a clone.  There have
been reports that the AMR high density 3.5" drive has a problem with
the SuperDrive card: if you don't have a disk in the drive, the
computer will hang if it tries to poll the drive (you can recover from
the hang by inserting a disk).  I don't know how well the Applied
Engineering drive works with the card.

I bought a SuperDrive from my local Apple dealer.  The manual that
comes with it doesn't mention the SuperDrive card specifically (it
does mention "an appropriate" controller card), but does say that you
can connect the SuperDrive to the drive port on the IIgs or IIc+ (but
it is then limited to accessing 800k and 400k disks).
-- 
David Empson

Internet: David.Empson@bbs.actrix.gen.nz    EMPSON_D@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand