Re: superdrive info

[Mitchell Spector <mitch2gs@hotmail.com>]

BluPhoenyx <bluphoenyx-@-earthlink.net> wrote:

>Did Apple have more than one drive called superdrive? If so, what are 
>the differences between them?

    The trademark name "SuperDrive" was recycled by Apple Computer.
Originally it referred to a high density 3.5 floppy drive for the Macintosh
and Apple II, introduced in 1988. The first Macintosh to use it was the
Macintosh IIx (and a revised version of the SE) which had it internalized,
though an external version, primarily intended for the Apple IIe and IIgs,
was also made available.

    The external version of the original SuperDrive was virtually identical
to the (800K) Apple 3.5, except of course it housed a 1.44 MB Sony 
drive mechanism. In fact, you could easily upgrade an "Apple 3.5" to
an "Apple SuperDrive" by simply swapping the mechanism inside. The
official external SuperDrive had "FDHD" stamped on the front and a
amber access LED (late models removed the "FDHD" stamp making
the only way to tell them apart by the sticker label underneath or looking
for the extra HD-sensor post inside at the drive opening).

    There was a second generation SuperDrive floppy that replacing the
original around 1993, which changed over to an IBM mechanism. It was
completely incompatible with the previous model (meaning you couldn't
swap it any longer) and no longer compatible with the Apple II--at all. 
You can identify these easily,  because they have a dust shutter and
lack the auto-inject feature. It offered the same capabilities, although
some people have complained about flakey 400K/800K GCR support.

    Back to Apple recycling the name, these days "SuperDrive" now
refers to a DVD-RW drive for the Macintosh-only. The floppy based
SuperDrive was phased out in the late 90's, with the beige/platinum
G3 being the last machine to use one.

>Is this a GS/Mac only drive, ie not 8 bit compatible?

    The original SuperDrive works with both the Apple IIe and IIgs, but
requires an interface card called the "Apple II 3.5 Disk Controller Card"
to make use of its 1.44 MB capability and ability to read/write MFM
diskettes (i.e. floppies from an MS-DOS/Windows machine). This
card also allows it to read/write GCR-based 400K/800K diskettes,
just like the previous Apple 3.5 drive.

    It is also backwards compatible as an Apple 3.5 (800K) drive if you
connect it directly to the Apple IIgs's built-in floppy port, or a third
party 3.5 floppy controller like the Laser Universal Disk Controller.
Of course you won't be able to take advantage of its "SuperDrive"
capabilities that way, but it will work.

>I picked one up on ebay for $20 to tinker with. Any info appreciated.

    You might be interested in picking up the interface card that allows
it to work as a SuperDrive on the Apple IIgs (or at all, on an Apple IIe)
though keep in mind they're a bit on the rare side. 

    Don't get mixed up with the "Apple 3.5 Floppy Disk Interface Card"
(aka "Liron Card") which is not the same thing. It's meant for hooking
up the 'intelligent' UniDisk 3.5 to the Apple II Plus and IIe. 

Mitchell Spector