Re: Apple ][ using PC floppy

[Tristan Mumford <mydotname@geemail.com>]

On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:06:25 -0800, vladitx wrote:


> One feature I put is converting Apple's half-tracks to real tracks, so
> the PC diskette can hold up-to 80 tracks. Anyone to know a quick patch
> of DOS / ProDOS to use them? It will result in 280KB (70 tracks) or
> 320KB (80 tracks) capacity if there isn't any internal OS limitation.
> 

It was last year or the year before that I was working on something 
vaguely like this. It uses a PC 3.5" floppy drive, and a board that plugs 
into the end of an apple floppy ribbon cable. So it does inline 
conversions.

It was having some trippy problems, which were eventually compounded by 
accidentally frying a gate on a chip on the floppy controller that 
controls writing.
Even though it was an incomplete development I added a few modes for fun.
There was:
* Half(or was it quarter) track mode for easy dumping and running of copy 
protected software.
* Full track mode, where it ignored the half steps.
* Giant disk mode. It used both sides of the disk as a giant 160 track 
floppy.

In my adventures I learned something that I will pass on to anyone doing 
these projects.

Not all 3.5" floppy drives have track 0 auto bump stops. What I mean is 
on some drives you have to check TRK0, on others you don't. So do it on 
all of them. Otherwise you will get the surreal sound of a 3.5" drive 
doing the apple head bump. No, it isn't pleasant.

Still have to repair my floppy controller. It was a neat third party non-
clone with disk sector detection that would auto switch as needed.