Re: Writing Apple IIgs Disks on a PC

["Bryan Parkoff" <none@nospam.net>]

"Linards Ticmanis" <ticmanis@gmx.de> wrote in message 
news:43c26fa7$0$20786$9b4e6d93@newsread4.arcor-online.net...
> Tempest wrote:
>> Is there a way to write Apple IIgs disk images to disks using a PC?
>
> For 1440K images, yes. You can read and write them on the PC side with 
> CiderPress. You'll need a SuperDrive on your IIgs to use them, though.
>
> For 800K images, no. Unlike Atari disks, the Apple 800K low-level "GCR" 
> format is too different from the PC "MFM" format. In PCs it's 
> unfortunately not possible to "speak" to the floppy drive directly, only 
> through the MFM controller, and that chip can't write GCR encoded disks, 
> as far as is known.
>
> You'd need to use a "Catweasel" controller in your PC if you want to 
> handle Apple 800K disks with it. That's a special floppy controller that 
> allows reading and writing many floppy formats in standard PC drives. A 
> web search will turn up more info.
>
> Unfortunately nobody has written an 800K ADT program yet, although there's 
> nothing to prevent this. You could compress the disk images though, in an 
> emulator such as KEGS, with ShrinkIt. Then send them to the IIgs with a 
> pair of comm programs, and there Unshrink them.
>
> Another possibility is using a circa 1990-1995 vintage Macintosh as an 
> intermediary. Those can deal with both 1440K PC floppies and 800K IIgs 
> floppies.
>
> -- 
> Linards Ticmanis
    You can get BlueDisk card from ///Systeme in Germany.  BlueDisk card can 
be installed in Apple //e and Apple IIgs and it hooks up to PC floppy drive. 
You can be able to format / read / write ProDOS on any size from 160KB 
through 1.44MB, but PC machine with 720KB or 1.44MB can read and write 
ProDOS because BlueDisk card is equipped with MFM format.  I own it and I am 
satisfied by copying sector by sector image.

Bryan Parkoff