Re: Apple File Exchange problems

[paw@ausom.oz.au (Peter Watson)]

cb408@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jason Reames) writes:

<I'm STILL having problems converting AW files to Microsoft Works.
<My school lab has LC2's.  I've installed Apple File Exchange on the
<hard drive of the LC.  I've formatted a new disk on the GS and then dragged
<the AW files from the 5.25" floppy to the 3.5" disk, formatted with
<GS/OS from System 6.0.
<Then I run Apple File Exchange.  I then put in the  3.5" disk.  I get the
<message that the Mac doesn't recognize the disk, and the question is asked
<if I want to format the disk or eject it.
<I tried formatting with different Sys Disks and re-installing Apple File
<Exchange- I get the same message each time.  I've verified the
<GS/OS formatted disk both with System 6 and with Copy2+ and there seem
<to be no errors.
<I can't figure out what is going on?  Any ideas?  Thanks!!

You would get this symptom if you had used a High Density disk on the GS and
formatted it for 800K. The GS drive (unless you have a 1.4Mb drive and Apple's
controller card) cannot recognise whether a disk is 800K or 1.4Mb, so it
treats all disks as 800K. The Mac, however, can tell the difference, and
complains because it does not allow 1.4Mb disks to be formatted for 800K as
this has reliability problems. Therefore, it asks you to format it!

The easy way to recognise a 1.4Mb drive is that it has TWO holes (the write-
protect hole and a similar hole with no slider on the other side). They often
have HD marked on them as well.

By the way, you may have trouble converting AppleWorks 3.0 files into
Microsoft Works if you plan on using the Works-to-Works translator in Apple
File Exchange. It only works (properly) with AppleWorks 2.0 files.

If you have a copy of ClarisWorks somewhere, you may be able to read the files
directly (ie. without actual _translation_ by AFE, just _copying_) once it
is on a Mac disk. The best solution is to use the Mac package "MacLink/Plus
Translators" which has excellent support for AppleWorks.

<Ron Reames.............reames@sendit.nodak.edu

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