Re: Norton Ghost type program for IIgs?

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Jason Whorton wrote:

>Here is the equipment I have in my system right now:
>
>IIgs ROM 03
>Sirius RAM card (4MB)
>TWGS
>Apple High-Speed SCSI Card
>two 3.5 Drives
>two 5.25 drives
>Apple 80SC (80MB hard drive with two 32MB ProDOS partiations - this is
>borrowed from my IIe and I want to format the partitions and install GS/OS
>6.0.1 on this hard drive)
>
>I also have one of the 3.5 superdrive cards, but no superdrives right now.

You are pretty well-equipped!  Now all you need is software.  ;-)

>My problem is that I want a full "clean install" of GS/OS 6.0.1 on my hard
>drive, but I do not have six, DS/DD, 3.5", ProDOS formatted disks with the
>six diffferent 6.0.1 disks.  All I have is a boot floppy for 6.0.1.  I have
>downloaded the image files from Apple.  I have a PC.  I also have several
>older (IIcx - 7200) Mac's in a storage building.  I am going to try to find
>one that either has a working OS and the Disk Copy and PC Exchange parts
>working properly, or try to do a clean install of Mac OS 7.6, which I have
>on CD.  Hopefully, I can set up the Mac Middle Man and get my IIgs up and
>going.

This is a very good route to take.  The older Macs (IIcx, for example)
will have no trouble at all writing an 800KB ProDOS 3.5" disk with
Mac OS 7.6.

>> Do you have a 5.25" disk drive?  An Apple II is very limited in the
>> software than can be used if you do not have one.
>>
>> You will need an older Mac (to write 800KB 3.5" disks) or a PC
>> with a serial connection to transfer downloaded images/files to
>> your Apple II.  An alternative is getting physical disks from A2 Central
>> or from some other source.
>
>I bought AppleWorks GS off eBay.  It says it has a tele-communications
>program on it.  Can I boot to AWGS and then use a null modem cable?  If so,
>can I use a Super Serial Card to Imagewriter II cable or a IIgs to
>Imagewriter I cable?  I don't know if these have the same pin-out or not.  I
>think I have a DB-25 to DB-9 adapter somewhere to connect the cable.

This could work.  A printer cable _is_ a null-modem cable, so you
are in good shape.  If the connectors fit or can be adapted, it's fine.

>> ProSel is a very comprehensive ProDOS-based program selector and
>> disk utility suite.  (A 16-bit version is also available, but perhaps
>harder
>> to use from a floppy drive.)
>>
>> The "Volume Copy" utility included with ProSel is a fast, reliable
>> disk-to-disk volume copy program.  I have used it for years for just
>> the kind of backup you desire.  ProSel also contains one of the best
>> disk integrity checkers I have seen, called "Mr. Fixit".
>>
>> If you want a simple, fast, free solution, download ProSel and you'll
>> be set.  All of this--and much else that you will want to do in the
>> future--requires that you have a convenient way to get downloaded
>> Apple II disk images onto Apple II 5.25" or 3.5" disks.  So that is
>> your first assignment...  ;-)
>
>Yes, the first step is always the hardest.  :-)  I purchased one of the
>Superdrive cards for my IIgs, so hopefully after installing GS/OS 6.0.1 and
>the MS-DOS FST (thanks Greg Bughner, Rich Beaudry, and Joel from
>csa2.marketplace), I will be able to cut out the Mac Middle Man and just
>download them on the PC, put them on a floppy disk and then sneaker-net them
>to the IIgs.

I think you'll find this is a fairly fast and efficient process, and
effectively
bypasses the particularly annoying tendency of Mac OS to make every
file a forked file.

-michael

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