Re: XGS/32, KEGS and IIgs emulation on various platform(s)

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

Steve Mentzer replied (top-posting corrected):

>"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
>20020718145825.10182.00000310@mb-cg.aol.com">news:20020718145825.10182.00000310@mb-cg.aol.com...
>> Steve Mentzer suggested:
>>
>> >I have an idea.
>> >
>> >We all know that the PC is totally incapable of reading/writing apple II
>> >diskettes in any reasonable fashion. Hardware devices are scarce,
>software
>> >only solutions are impossible. We also know that our existing IIgs
>hardware
>> >is getting.... shall we say... long in the tooth? Power supplies are
>fading,
>> >accelerators are few and far between. The 12" IIgs monitor was barely
>> >adequate in 1989, let alone 2002.
>> >
>> >I have several old/bare IIgs boxes sitting in a garage with 3.5" and
>5.25"
>> >drives connected to them. I also have a spare CMS scsi controller lying
>> >around and a few old 120MB SCSI hard disks. I was getting ready to toss
>> >them...  until now.
>> >
>> >I believe that the IIgs can be a perfect host for the exact functions
>that
>> >are missing from our PC's..... native file i/o. Here is my idea:
>> >
>> >Have a small team of apple II developers write a simple piece of software
>> >that can run off of a standard 3.5" diskette. It will communicate via the
>> >IIgs serial port to provide I/O (diskette/hard disk) to another host
>> >operating system.
>> >
>> >Think about it this way. XGS/32 or KEGS will communicate via a serial
>port
>> >to request diskette and hard-disk data from a host IIgs that has no
>> >keyboard/monitor/etc connected. Basically, the IIgs will sit alone,
>acting
>> >as an I/O arbitrator, with all CPU activity being hosted on your PC.
>> >
>> >What I am asking is simple. Are there any apple II developers that would
>be
>> >interested in developing this simple piece of software to arbitrate file
>i/o
>> >over a serial port? I would like to begin defining the serial protocol(s)
>> >for communication within the next couple of weeks.
>> >
>> >If this were to succeed, folks would be able to purchase a $25 "complete"
>> >IIgs system on ebay, plug it into their local PC and be able to read and
>> >write 3.5 and 5.25" floppies just like the old days.
>>
>> I believe that Apple II Oasis provides this functionality.
>
>... Is it an apple IIgs emulator?

No, but that's no relevant, since I was talking about the functionality
of an auxilliary program in the Oasis package:  Apple II Disk Server.

Unfortunately, I got it backwards.  ;-(  I was thinking that the Oasis
Apple II Disk server presented the Apple's disks to the PC, but
it's the other way around--it presents the PC's hard disk as a
disk to the Apple II.

An extract from the documentation:

"Apple II Disk Server and its companion ProDOS driver provide an easy way
for data exchange between Apple�II and PC running Microsoft Windows.
You need a simple cable connecting the joystick socket of Apple�II and a
PC's parallel port."

This can be used from the Apple II side so that a disk copy to the
virtual drive (a PC disk image file) will create the disk image for archiving.

Although this can accomplish what you were asking, it does it in a
different way.

For that matter, ADT, Asimov, or other serial disk transfer program could
also provide the functionality using their own whole-disk copying function.

I assume that the distinction you're looking for is a "disk server" that would
run on an Apple II that would make the Apple drives accessible in, say,
Windows File Explorer.  (This would not require a IIgs, since all disk access
would be block- or sector-level, and file system agnostic.)

AFAIK, no one has done it that way--yet.
-michael

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