Re: How to tell a SuperDrive???

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

Terry & Utahna <tolsen64@hotmail.com> wrote:

> How can I tell if a drive is a SuperDrive?  I picked up an Apple 3.5" drive
> from Salvation Army.  It looks just like an 800K drive to me.  But it has a
> hand-written sticker on the front that says "1.44MB SuperDrive".  I don't
> have a SuperDrive controller card so I can't verify that it actually is a
> SuperDrive.  The sticker on the bottom just says "Apple 3.5 Drive".

You can't tell by looking at the case, because both the 800K and 1.44MB
mechanisms fit in any case, i.e. the labelling could be wrong.

One way to be certain would be to plug it into a SuperDrive controller
(or a Mac with SuperDrive support).

You might be able to identify a SuperDrive mechanism by close
observation of the disk sensors just inside the disk insertion opening:
the SuperDrive has three sensors (disk present, write protect, and
density hole) while the 800K mechanism only has two (disk present and
write protect).

I expect you could conclusively identify the mechanism by taking it out
of the case and checking the part number, but I don't know what they
are.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz