Re: Unidisk drives with Disk II controller card?

[Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net>]

In article <5pjUc.22838$g4.430631@news2.nokia.com>,
 "mario" <gianmarioRE.scottiMO@nokiaVE.com> wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> 
> I am terribly sorry for being so curious and inquisitive, but I can't help
> it, at least for now.
> So, I am thinking of buying an apple Unidisk, but I do not have a
> corresponding Unidisk controller card. However, somehow I am hoping that I
> can get away with a soldering iron and a crippled 25 DSUB connector.
> 
> Am I too optimistic?

Yes. UniDisks are "smart" drives - They've got an on-board 
processor/controller that takes care of most of their operation, with 
the interface card doing relatively little besides acting as a "doorway" 
for the data to pass through. Conversely, the Disk II card/drive 
combination make up a "stupid" drive that the computer has to control 
totally through hitting/reading soft-switches. The two methods of 
talking to the drive are incompatible both electrically and physically, 
not to mentino "logic-wise".

Uni*DRIVES*, on the other hand, can have some surgery done on them (It's 
all about the connectors... D-Sub versus Molex-array style) to make them 
run on the Disk II card. 

Or maybe I've got the situation backwards, with the UniDisk being the 
"dumb" drive that will run on the Disk II card, and the UniDrive being 
the smart one that won't. Either way, the end result is the same: The 
two types of drives aren't compatible with each other's cards.

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