Apple II Floppy Diskette Drives Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground file: F003FDISK.TXT The Csa2 (comp.sys.apple2) usenet newsgroup Frequently Asked Questions files are compiled by the Ground Apple II site, 1997, 1998. ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs The Csa2 FAQs may be freely distributed. Notes: This is a pure Text file which has no Font, Color, etc. formatting. For best viewing on-line, set browser Word Wrap to ON or copy to your favorite Text viewer and set Word Wrap. Ex: On PC use WordPad with Options set to "Wrap to Window". To correctly view tables and diagrams on a super-res display, use a mono-spaced Font such as CoPilot or PCMononspaced. ____________________________ 001- How do I add a write-protect On-Off switch? 002- How do I add external speed adjustment to my Disk ][ drive? 003- How can I adjust my 5.25" drive for optimum performance? 004- What is the pin-out for a duodisk drive connecting cable? 005- Can I read Apple II diskettes on my PC? 006- Some old 5.25" disks with splotches don't boot. What gives? 007- Can I use high-density 3.5" and 5.25" diskettes on my A2? 008- How can I tell DD from HD diskettes if they are not labeled? 009- My 3.5 Disk Drives don't work! What should I try? 010- I added SCSI; now, my 3.5" drives often fail to work. Why? 011- How many tracks can I use on a 5.25" diskette? 012- In connecting a Disk II I misaligned the connectors. A fix? 013- A sound like a shotgun going off came from my drive. A fix? 014- Uni-disk and Laser drives: neither works with my IIc. Why? 015- How do I replace a 3.5" drive mechanism with one from a Mac? 016- I have one 5.25" drive. Sys6 shows two icons!? Is there a fix? 017- How can I tell a 13-sect interface card from a 16-sect model? 018- Can a Disk ][ Drive be used on a IIc or GS smartport? 019- What's the scoop on the 3.5" High Density drive? 020- What DuoDisk mods are necessary? 021- Will a Duodisk function correctly on my ROM-03 GS? 022- How do I fix a false Write Protect? 023- Both of my Disk ]['s come on when booting! Is there a fix? 024- How can I defragment a diskette and what is the speed gain? 025- How do I install a bi-color LED R/W indicator in my Disk ][? From: Stephen Buggie 001- How do I add a write-protect On-Off switch to my Disk ][ drive? Adding an Auto/Manual Write-Protect Switch Often, as when doing copying, it is useful to be able to guarantee that a diskette is Write-Protected whether or not the side is notched. Other times, it is convenient to defeat Write Protection-- for example, when you wish to write to a diskette side which is not notched. And, naturally, you also want a setting which permits Normal, notch-controlled, Write-Protect. Based upon a circuit suggested by David Wilson (Australia), the A/MWP enhancement offers full user control of Write Protect. The switch's three positions are Protect OFF: Writing is allowed regardless of notching. Protect ON: Writing is prohibited regardless of notching. Normal: a diskette side must be notched to permit writing. A/MWP Step-by-Step Unplug the drive from the disk controller and remove the case. Drill a mounting hole. This can be at a convenient spot in the back or in the plastic front panel. On the front, a good spot is at the lower left, above and to the left of the "in use" LED. Another open spot is at the upper right in the space just above the diskette slot; but, we're saving this place for Part 2's enhancement. (You can't use the lower right, of course, because this would mess up the "Apple" logo!) Cut three wires (Brown, Black, and White) long enough to run from the mounting point to the Large Connector plugged onto the back, middle of the Disk ][ circuit board. Solder the leads to a Single-Pole Triple-Throw mini toggle Switch: Brown to center, White to one end, Black to other end. Twist the leads or encase them in tubing. Mount the Switch. Normally, the Switch handle will point in the White lead direction for "Protect OFF" and in the Black lead direction for "Normal". Center is "Protect ON". Route the leads to the area next to the Large Connector. (Make sure no wires will get in the way of an inserted diskette.) Locate the Brown and Black leads coming from the Notch Detect micro-switch. The leads are the Brown (bottom) and Black (top) pair near the right end of the Large Connector (as viewed from the front of the drive). Cut the Notch Detect micro-switch leads about 1" away from the Large Connector. Connect the Black Notch Detect, Black Large Connector, and Black Switch leads (i.e. strip ends, solder, and cover in heat-shrink tubing or tape). Connect the Brown Notch Detect lead to the White Switch lead. Connect the Brown Large Connector lead to the Brown Switch lead. Viola! Now you're ready to replace the cover, plug in the drive, and try out your A/MWP enhanced Disk ][. Boot a diskette which is not write-protected and load a program, say the HELLO program (or STARTUP on a ProDOS diskette). Set the A/MWP to center and try SAVE HELLO. You should get a "WRITE PROTECTED" error. Place a write-protect tab on the diskette. Set A/MWP to the Left or UP position and try SAVE HELLO again. If the save works, then Left or UP is the "Protect OFF" position and Right or Down is "Normal". If you get a "WRITE PROTECTED" error then it's the other way around. Now is a good time to mark "Normal" and, if you like, the other positions. You can use dots punched from self-stick labels. ---------------------------- 002- How do I add an external speed adjustment to my Disk ][? Reference: FAQs Resource file R006SPDKNOB.GIF Adding a Speed Control Knob to your Disk ][ Drive This article tells how to move speed adjustment from the Disk ]['s dark interior to a handy front-panel location and how to "tune" the drive for optimal performance. One drive-test software vendor states that Disk ][ is good for about 500 hours of normal use between speed adjustments-- not exactly a strong argument for placing the control on the front panel! On the other hand many of today's Disk ][ owners are interested in applications which go beyond "normal use". Some utilities (e.g. DiversiCopy II) report rotational speed during ongoing applications; so, relocating the speed adjuster to the front panel is especially helpful. Similarly, users who want to back up their old, copy-protected wares know that ready access to speed control is essential. Finally, there is no question that, whatever your applications, periodic speed trimming will be required. When it is, you'll be very glad _your_ Disk ][ has a front panel Speed Knob! Adding Speed Knob To install Speed Knob you will need a good quality, linear taper 5k Ohm potentiometer, some wires, and a knob with a pointer mark or some other way to show position (e.g. a ring of numbers). Most of the work, really, consists of opening the drive and drilling a hole. There is no need to disconnect the drive from the controller card. 1. Remove the 4 bottom bolts and slip off the case. Unscrew the 4 bottom bolts holding the drive to the case bottom, and unplug the main ribbon cable. The drive can now be moved to your work area. 2. Drill a hole properly sized and centered for mounting your 5k Ohm pot in the upper right front panel. 3. Place the drive on its face and unscrew the 2 bolts which hold the small daughter board to the drive. (Be ready to catch loose spacers, washers, etc..) 4. Turn the small board over to the bottom side. Locate and cut the traces going to the mini-pot speed adjuster as shown in pic R006SPDKNOB.GIF. 5. Cut three wires, White, Gray, Black, long enough to reach from the board to the front panel. Connect these to your 5k Ohm pot and to the small circuit board as shown in pic R006SPDKNOB.GIF. (In case you cannot view the pic, what you're doing is substituting the new pot for the mini-pot. ) 6. Re-mount the daughter board. Mount the 5k Ohm pot. Install knob. 7. Bring the drive back to the computer. Slide it onto the case bottom plate, reconnect main ribbon cable, replace bottom bolts, slide on and re-fasten case top. You can use Copy II Plus, XPS, APEX, or one of several other utilities to set speed (see next question). A good starting adjustment will be near the center of Speed Knob's range. Once speed is adjusted, you can loosen and re-set the knob so that its position indicates a "correct" speed setting. ---------------------------- 003- How can I adjust my 5.25" drive for the best performance? The typical Disk ][ will run for months with no need for maintenance save an occassional dusting or session with a head-cleaner disk. When adjustment is required, it will usually be to fine-tune Speed or, less often, to set track centering. If a Disk ][ has difficuly reading diskettes, including those it created, and head-cleaning does not help, then, the odds are it's time to adjust speed. If your drive does not have an external 'Speed Knob', you can remove the cover to access the speed-adjust mini-pot on the lower right side. The most popular speed adjustment utility is, probably, dear old Copy II Plus. From the menu, just select "Verify", then "Drive Speed". Put a diskette into the drive you want to adjust and, turning the Speed Knob (or min-pot shaft) use Copy II's numeric speed display to zero-in on the 'magic' 200ms. number. (Standard Disk ][ rotation speed is 300 rpm, which comes out to be 0.2 seconds per revolution.) Other speed adjustment utilities show an rpm number or a hires pointer. Whatever, all speed check routines need to read AND write; so, you will usually need a "scratch diskette" which you do not mind having over-written. Track-center realignment is needed when a Disk ][ writes and reads its own disks fine, but does not 'communicate' with many other Apple II 5.25" drives. It generates disk errors when reading disks written by other drives and other drives have the same problem with its diskettes. CALL A.P.P.L.E's APTEST, now in the public domain, tests track-center alignment. With this software, the user checks the alignment of the drive with disks regarded as well aligned --- such as Apple diskware supplied with the computer or some unprotected, original, commercial software diskette. (In a pinch, a diskette formatted by any drive that has no problem reading most other diskettes should be okay.) Basically, a track-centering test tries to step your head between two tracks of the 'standard' diskette and read the tracks on either side. If the number of successful reads from each track is about equal, the head is "centered" and your drive is well-aligned with the standard diskette. The test may indicate serious misalignment. ("Aha! That explains why my IIgs and II+ have problems reading each other's diskettes!") Centering adjustment is done by slightly repositioning the stepper motor (mounted on the underside of the drive). This requires loosening the two bolts holding the stepper-motor, rotating it clockwise or counter-clockwise, and retightening. The adjustment/test process may require several repetitions. Each time, the program will report "differential fractions". The smaller these numbers, the closer you are to near perfect alignment with tracks on the diskette. ________________________________ From: Steve Jensen 004- I picked up an apple IIe and a duodisk drive at a thrift store. Could someone describe the connecting cable? I just checked the pinout on a Duodisk cable. The numbers for the pins are inside the plug by the pins, but I'll draw them for you. DB 19 looking at the end of the cable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 DB 25 looking at the end of the cable: (x = no pin) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 x o o o o o o o o o o o x o o o o o o o o x o o x 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Cable DB 19 DB 25 1 2 2 4 3 9 & 21 4 10 & 14 5 23 6 7 7 19 8 20 9 8 10 12 11 15 12 16 13 17 14 18 15 5 16 24 17 11 18 3 19 6 ____________________________ from Chris Norley 005- Can I read Apple II diskettes on my PC? A while back I requested some information regarding the reading of Apple II floppies by an PC. There was a hugh response both in solutions and requests for a summary of solutions. ORIGINAL POST: -------------------- We have some old data from a small NMR spectrometer that was run from an Apple IIe. The same spectrometer is now run from a DOS machine and we'd like to be able to access the old data from the PC. Does anyone know of or possess some utility to allow the data from the 5 1/4" Apple II floppies to be read from the PC? Any hints as to program names, ftp sites, etc. would be greatly appreciated. SUMMARY OF RESPONSES: -------------------- From uli@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de From news ... Les Ferch It can't be done with software alone. There is a card called the MatchPoint PC card that will let you read and write Apple II DOS, ProDOS, and CP/M disks on a PC 5.25" 360K drive. We used to have one installed in an XT here and it worked fine. The other common way of moving the data is to connect an Apple II to a PC using a null modem cable and using comm programs such as Kermit to transfer the data. ------------------ Curt Schroeder It is not possible for a 5.25" PC floppy drive to read Apple II disks. They use incompatible recording technologies. Your options are to get your data into an Apple that can write MS-DOS 3.5" disks (Apple IIgs or Macintosh) or transfer via serial link (either via modem or null-modem cable). The other possibility is to use an Apple II equipped with a PC Transporter and either has a 3.5" drive or 5.25" PC floppy drive(s) attached. ------------------- Michael Hoffberg About a year ago, I picked up card for my ibm made by trackstarr. It is basically an apple II that sits inside your IBM. When you enable it, it can boot off an apple drive, it uses the ibm keyboard and monitor. When I go home I only use it to play moon patrol (I am too lazy to find my other games). In any case, I think that it is possible to transfer files between the ibm and apple with the card. I have never tried it though. ------------------ Fred R. Opperdoes Any Apple II (E or GS) owner having an Applied Engineering PC card is able to do the job easily. It is maybe not easy to find such a person in your neighborhood. Another possibility would be that you ask someone with an Apple IIGS to have your 5 1/4" Dos 3.3 or Prodos disk transcribed to a 3.5" Prodos disk. Every IIGS owner would be able to do so. Files on such disks can then easily be converted to MsDOS files on an MsDOS disk on a Macintosh using the Apple File Exchange Utility that comes with every modern Mac. ------------------- Leo Connolly I don't think this is doable. There are limitations in the PC drive hardware which make it impossible to read Apple II disks. (And the same is true in reverse, for exactly the same reasons). I suggest the following. Transfer the Apple II data to a 3.5" disk. This is easy on a IIGS if you use a utility such as Copy II Plus. Use Apple File Convert on a Macintosh to convert the Apple II files to MS-DOS format. Caution: older versions of this utility cannot handle MS-DOS 3.5" disks, but the newer ones can. Or: send your data through a modem from the Apple to the PC. ------------------ Leonard Erickson It can't be done without extra hardware. The Apple II didn't use a disk controller chip, it used an odd circuit instead. So, machines using the industry standard controller chips can't read Apple disks. You'll need a COPYIIPC deluxe option board or some such. Check with Central Point software, they used to sell them. Another approach is to track down one of the add-on boards that was essentially an Apple II on a PC card. It hooks to the 5.25" drive and plugs into the bus. And you've got an Apple II in your PC. ----------------- tomk@crash.cts.com The cheapest method to get the data would to do a "NULL MODEM" transfer between the two computers. ____________________________ from Rubywand 006- Recently I found that some of my old 5.25" disks would not boot. A check showed splotches etched on the surface of the media. What's going on? As you may recall, a number of the classier 5.25" diskette brands employed (still employ?) a lubricant on their jacket liners. While the lube worked to reduce drag and noise, it also, evidently, served as a growth medium for a particularly nasty plastic and/or oxide-eating fungus! It's probably a good idea to check each of your old diskettes. Immediately backup any diskettes with splotchy discolorations. ---------------------------- 007- Can I use high-density 3.5" and 5.25" diskettes on my Apple II? I did some magnetization tests on Double Density (800kB) and High Density (1.4MB) diskette surfaces. The tested DD surface produced more than twice the deflection of the tested HD surface. Clearly, there is a big difference in signal levels required to reliably store data on HD vs. DD. In fact, 5.25" HD (1.2MB) diskettes will not work at all on Apple Disk ][ drives. The 3.5" HD's may work fine on your 800k drives; or, they may just seem to work fine. Either way, there's no question: a drive optimized for DD will not be optimized for HD. If you'd rather not 'roll the dice' on your software collection, stick with Double Density diskettes. ---------------------------- 008- How can I tell the difference between unlabeled DD and HD diskettes? 3.5" HD (1.4MB) diskettes come with a square notch in the upper left corner. DD (800kB) 3.5" diskettes do not come with this notch. In the early days of PC computing, some PC users punched or drilled notch holes in DD diskettes and used them as HD diskettes. If a 3.5" diskette has a circular notch in the upper left corner, it is likely to be a DD diskette. DD 5.25" (360kB) diskettes look very much like HD 5.25" (1.2MB) diskettes. About the only remotely observable difference is that DD diskette surfaces often exhibit a more brownish cast whereas HD diskette surfaces are generally dark grey or black. The surest test for 5.25" diskettes is to place the diskette into an Apple II 5.25" drive and try to do a DOS 3.3 format. If it formats with no problem, it is almost certainly a DD diskette. ------------------------------ 009- My 800K, 3.5 Disk Drive is no longer working on my IIGS. When a disk is inserted the drive tries to read it and then locks up the entire system forcing me to do a 3 finger reboot. Any suggestions on where to start troubleshooting? If you have a SCSI interface card plugged into your GS, you may have run into a bug which seems to affect setting up of the diskette port. (See the next question and answer.) Try cleaning the heads using a Cleaner Diskette (e.g. a paper diskette + cleaning solution kit from Radio Shack). If cleaning does not seem to help, try wiggling the drive cable while attempting to CAT a known-good, unprotected diskette in the drive. If wiggling helps, you are likely to have a bad cable or a GS plug with a loose connection to the motherboard. Try formatting a diskette. A drive which can format and R/W diskettes it has recently formatted but cannot read most other diskettes probably has heads which have become misaligned. Set your boot Slot to Slot 5 and try power-up booting a couple bootable ProDOS diskettes known to be in good condition. If you can boot a variety of disketts, including commercial game, etc. diskettes, the odds are pretty good that your drive is okay. A 3.5" drive that, after cleaning, cannot boot known-good diskettes is likely to have screwed-up heads. However, it's a good idea to try unplugging and re-plugging the drive (with the computer OFF) and, then, try another boot. If you have a 5.25" drive attached, boot ProDOS from the 5.25" drive and try some CAT's of non-protected known good 3.5" diskettes in the 3.5" drive. As earlier, do the cable wiggling test while attempting the CAT's. A very good test is to try out the drive on a friend's IIgs or IIc+. If it continues to bomb, it is likely to have R/W heads which have become badly misaligned, heads which are badly worn, or heads which have been partially dislodged from the mountings. (The 3.5" drive's heads are held in place by springy metal sheets. Unlike the mounting for the 5.25" Disk ][ head, these are fairly delicate. If anyone has tried cleaning the heads by sticking in an alcohol swab and 'swishing around', there is a good chance the head mountings are messed up.) Shops which replace heads are fairly rare. I had this done a few years ago and the drive still works fine. However the charge is around $80. It is cheaper and easier to get a good 2nd-hand drive at a swap-meet. You can, also, look for a bargain Mac drive and do a "transplant" as described by Steve Buggie in the Winter issue of II Alive. Steve Buggie is a good source of information on drive repairs. Check out some of his recent posts to this newsgroup. ---------------------- 010- Sometimes the 3.5" drives on my GS do not function correctly. This started after adding a SCSI interface card. Is there a fix? This problem seems to crop up from time to time when a SCSI interface is present, especially when no device is connected and recognized on the SCSI chain. (For example, you may have only a Zip Drive connected to your SCSI interface; but, it is not powered ON or no Zip disk is inserted.) Evidently, something (e.g. a register or softswitch) in the usual GS power-up routine relating to on-line devices gets messed up. Arranging to have some active, on-line device on the SCSI chain (or removing the SCSI card) seems to eliminate the problem. Otherwise; inserting a 3.5" diskette into Drive 1 before or just after power-up usually forces recognition of 3.5" diskette drives and enables correct functioning. ---------------------------- 011- How many tracks can I use on a 5.25" diskette? So far, I've heard 35, 36, and 40. What's the actual number? The standard number of tracks on a 5.25" diskette is set by DOS 3.3 and ProDOS at 35, numbered 0-34 ($00-$22 in hexadecimal). The original Disk ][ drive can usually handle 36 tracks with no problem. Newer 5.25" drives can handle 40 tracks. Various modified versions of DOS 3.3 allow using 36 tracks and a few allow using 40 tracks. These mods, especially the 36-track versions, were fairly popular before the advent of 3.5" diskettes when an extra track made a noticable difference in capacity. However, unless the extra capacity is vital for some specific application, it is best to stick with 35 tracks in order to retain full compatibility with disk utilities (such as Copy II Plus) and other wares. ---------------------------- 012- In connecting a second Disk II drive to my Disk II card I misaligned the connectors. The result upon turning it on was a static-like clicking noise. Now I can't load anything from disk. Is the Disk II card dead? Are the IIe and Drives all right? Try removing the drive which was connected incorrectly. If your system boots from the remaining drive (connected in the Drive One position), this is a fairly good indication that the Disk II card and IIe are okay and that the removed drive is messed up. If it looks like a drive is bad, remove the cover and inspect the drive's main circuit board for blown components. If nothing obvious shows up, a decent fix try is to replace the 74LS125 IC on the drive's main circuit board. (Also, see Question 023.) ---------------------- 013- Last night a sound like a shotgun going off came from my 5.25" Disk ][ drive. Now it doesn't work. How can I fix it? The noise was probably an electrolytic capacitor exploding. Sometimes, these develop internal shorts, heat up, and blow (kind of like a sealed can of beans on a campfire). The fix is to remove the drive cover and replace the blown capacitor. (Look for a small can-like component with goo and/or shredded foil coming from it.) Circuit board markings should help identify the component. Here are some suggested replacement values: C2 (on +12V line): 220uF-500uF at 20V-50V C4 (on +5V line): 470uF-500uF at 10V-25V C5 (on -12V line): 10uF-50uF at 20V-50V If there is some difficulty identifying the blown capacitor, replace it with a 500uF unit rated at 20V-50V. Before removing the bad capacitor, note which lead is connected to the outside 'can' part and mark the circuit board where this lead is connected. This is the Negative side of the capacitor. When installing the new capacitor make sure its negative lead goes to the marked point on the circuit board. ____________________________ From: Wayne Stewart 014- Recently I picked up two 3.5" drives at a swap meet-- a Uni-disk and a Laser 128 drive. I've tried cleaning the heads; but, neither works with my IIc. What's the problem? The 3.5 unidisk won't work on the earlier IIc unless the IIc has had a ROM upgrade. The Laser 3.5 is actually a Macintosh drive with the addition of an eject button. It isn't compatible with any Apple II unless it has a special controller card, which of course a IIc doesn't. ____________________________ From: Stephen Buggie 015- Can I replace a bombed Apple II 3.5" drive mechanism with one from a Mac? Yes. 3.5" drive mechanisms are cheaply and abundantly available from the Macintosh world. Although Apple II users have increased their interest in 3.5" drives, these drives have declined in their utility for Mac users who have shifted to hard drives, CD-ROM, and flopticals. Few Mac owners have use for the external 3.5" drive any more; if they have not yet discarded their external 3.5" drive, it is now in storage. MAC AND APPLE II 3.5" DRIVES: SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES The basic Sony 3.5" mechanism is shared by Mac and Apple II. It stores 800K of data on a two-sided disk. Unlike the IBM version with its constant rotational speed, Mac/Apple II drives maintain constant head velocity by varying the rotational speed as the head assembly approaches towards or moves away from the disk hub. Mac and Apple II drives differ in their track sectoring arrangements, so disks cannot be read directly without special translational software. The opportunity for compatible disk sharing was lost during development, because rival teams working on Mac/Apple II drives went their separate ways (Steve Weyhrich, APPLE II HISTORY, Pt. 9, 1992). The platinum 3.5" drive supplied with the IIgs is directly compatible with the Mac, although the Mac ignores its front panel manual eject button; Mac disk ejection is handled strictly by the desktop trash icon command. An older version of the external Mac 3.5" drive lacks the manual eject button and, in its casing, is plug-incompatible with Apple II. Thanks to advice provided by Ken Watanabe, I learned that the inner mechanism is identical among all versions of 800K Mac and Apple II drives, including the internal drive mechanism in the Mac CPU. This is good news for Apple II users who wish to transplant the abundantly available Mac mechanism into their platinum 3.5" drive casing. WHAT ABOUT THE APPLE UNIDISK 3.5" DRIVE? The classic white Unidisk drive was released in 1985 as a 3.5" platform for the IIe and IIc. This release date was 18 months prior to the introduction of the IIgs. Disks written by the Unidisk 3.5 and Platinum 3.5 drives are fully interchangeable; the two models differed because the earlier Unidisk 3.5 used an intelligent microprocessor-controlled analog board to slow the data transfer rate to match the IIe/IIc parameters. This slowdown was not needed for the popular platinum 3.5 drive used by the IIgs. Can the Mac mechanism be transplanted to the Unidisk 3.5 casing? Probably yes, but this has not yet been verified. I am reluctant tohack with the working Unidisk 3.5's attached to my IIC's. I now seek a mechanically jammed Unidisk 3.5 drive to verify whether its life can be resurrected with a Mac transplant. FINDING A USED MAC 3.5" DRIVE MECHANISM The internall DSDD 800k drive mechanism can be salvaged from any mid-vintage Mac except for early models (Mac 128, Fat Mac 512) ---- those two models used a quaint single-sided 400k drive. Suitable models include the Mac Plus, Mac SE, Mac II, or other Macs that have the standard DSDD 800K mechanism --- newer Macs have incompatible high density drives. Get a genuine Mac Sony drive mechanism, not a clone; the suitability of non-Sony clones is uncertain. Salvaged internal drives must be removed from the Mac internal mounting bracket --- take out the four side-mounted bolts, and slide the mechanism forward. The early version of the external Mac mechanism is mounted in a plastic casing that resembles the Apple II platinum drive except that the manual eject button is absent. Remove the mechanism from the casing, but save its round external cable and db-19 plug --- that cable/plug can be used later to adapt flat-ribbon Apple II drives for use with the IIgs or IIIc! The Mac externaldrive's plastic casing can be saved for use as a coin bank, or discarded. You should anticipate that the older Mac drive has had plenty of use; most Mac users have fewer drives attached to their computer than is common for the Apple II. The 3.5" drives are sturdier than hard drives, but to protect the drive's head assembly from damage during rough shipment, the seller should be asked to ship the unit with a disk inserted. DISASSEMBLY OF THE APPLE 3.5" PLATINUM DRIVE Use a well-light work area that gives you plenty of elbow room, with containers to hold bolts and other small parts All dimensions (left/right/top/bottom/front/rear) refer to the unit's own dimensions, NOT to your own egocentric viewpoint as the observer. Standard precautions against static or other electrical damage must be followed: Discharge static frequently by touching grounded metal, wear a grounded wrist strap, hand all power OFF when attaching/removing drives, put insulating tape over the db-19 drive plug when not in use. Move slowly and patiently when removing or inserting the mechanism from its housing ---- metal parts must not be forced or bent. These tools areneeded: (a) medium and small Phillips-head screwdrivers, (b) a small pliers, and (c) a fine-tipped felt marker. This procedure was outlined in an essay by Lorne Walton (Apples BC, 1992), but many further details have been added here to facilitate disassembly and drive replacement. The first step is to remove the worn/defective mechanism from its Apple II platinum casing. Flip the casing on its back and rest it on soft cloth. Re,ove the four shiny bolts from the bottom of the casing. With the unit inverted, slowly lift the bottom half-shell of the plastic casing upward and push the external cable's attached grommet towards the upper casing. The unit's bottom casing should come off cleany. Use the felt marker to label the unit's own main dimensions, writing on the metal internal shroud: front-bottom, rear-bottom, left side, right side. Examine the metal innards as they lie upside down in the upper casing. Note that a red and black wire pair are tucked on the inner edge of each side --- These two wires go to the eject switch (right front) and to the red in-use LED lamp (left front). At the unit's rear, observe that the wire pairs terminate in RED and BLACK plugs. Use the felt-tipped marker to write "R" and "B" on nearby metal surfaces to identifythe positions of these two plugs. These letters will help during reassembly when reinsterting the two plugs onto their proper pins. Next, use the small pliers to grasp each plug, slowly and carefully pulling it backwards to remove it from its mounting pins. With the black and red plugs each removed, slide the top plastic cover in a rear-to-front direction, past the metal-enshrouded mechanism. The wire-pairs from the eject-button and also from the in-use LED lamp should remain tucked into their plastic side-braces. You now hold the mechanism, enshrouded in its grey metal shielding, with the external db-19 cable protruding from the rear. Remove the two medium Phillips mounting bolts (with flat washers) from each side. Remove the single medium Phillips bolt/washer that is centered on the upper-rear metal shroud. Then lift off the upper-rear should and look inside. Note that the round external cable terminates in a familiar IDE-20 flat-ribbon connector that plugs into the inner mechanism. Unplug that inner connector --- the small pliers can be used to rock and pull the connector towards the rear. With the IDE-20ribbon connector unplugged, the inner mechanism can be slid forward and out. As you hold the inner mechanism in your hand, observe that a shiny thin metal shroud covers its to and sides. Use the felt-tipped pen to label this shrou's dimension: TOP-FRONT and TOP-REAR. This thin shroud should be removed by rocking it and spreading its thin side-tabs. At this point, you have the bare mechanism in your hand, with heads visible from its top perspective, and with pancake motor visible underneath. You are now ready to begin reassembly, but pause to appreciate what is before you. Hold the old mechanism and its Mac replacement side-by-side --- they should appear identical. The date of manufacture is coded on a sticker on the pancake motor (e.g., 8809 = September 1989). Apply rubbing alcohol with a cotton swab to clean the surfaces of both read/write heads. REASSEMBLY Remount the innermost top-and-sides metal shroud, taking care that its "fingers" have clicked into place on the mechanism's sides. When properly fited, both bolt-holes on each side will be visible through the shroud's thin metal. If the shroud does not fit, or if the bolt-holes are not seen, check with your dimensional labels to verify that the front and rear have not been reversed. With the top/side inner shroud correctly in place, then reverse the disassembly steps: Slide the mechanism through the front of the metal shroud. Reattach the IDE-20 internal ribbon connector, align the two bolt holes on each side of the outer shroud with the mechanism and reinstall the four medium Phillips bolts and their washers. Then reattach the rear-upper shroud with its centered bolt and washer. Reassembly of the outer metal shroud is now finished! The final reassembly task is to refit the enshrouded mechanism into the plastic outer casing. Lay the inverted UPPER plastic half-shell on the bench,with its front facing away from you. Observe the small red or black wires tucked along the sides of the upper plastic half-shell. With the metal enshrouded drive mechanism upside down, it should be slid into the plastic top-shell, from its rear to its front. Check that the red-black wires remain tucked along the inner edge between the plastic casing and the metal shroud. Insert the black and red plugs into their respective connectors. Note the "R" and "B" markings you wrote on the metal shroud; those markings will guide the plugs' insertion into their proper connectors. The oblong-shaped grommet attached to the round external cable should be fitted first to the bottom plastic half-shell casing, which is then mated to the top casing. Reattach the four small shiny Phillips bolts through the bottom plastic half-shell, and you're done! ____________________________ From: David Empson 016- I have one 5.25" drive connected to my GS, but the System 6.0.1 Finder display shows two 5.25" icons!? How can I fix this? You need to change the AppleDisk5.25 driver file's auxilary filetype from $010E to $0101. You can use File Manager (an NDA utility) to make the change. For a standard GS/OS device driver, the lower six bits specify the number of devices supported by the driver (see the file type note on GS/OS drivers: FTN.BB.XXXX), so the maximum number of devices that can be supported by a single driver is 63. You should NEVER increase this higher than the original value, because the driver probably doesn't have space in its device tables to support more drivers than it originally claimed to. The AppleDisk5.25 driver supports a maximum of 14 devices - two 5.25" drives for each available slot. (In theory, it should be able to support 16: all seven real slots, plus the built-in disk port, but Apple never completed the implementation of dynamic slot switching for drivers, probably for compatibility reasons.) Don't change any of the higher order bits. The high order byte specifies the type of driver ($01 = GS/OS device driver), and the top two bits of the low order byte specify the type of GS/OS driver (00 = standard). NOTE: All of the above applies ONLY to GS/OS standard device drivers, not to GS/OS supervisory drivers, printer drivers, or anything else. See the filetype note for further information. There is one bit in the auxiliary type which is the same for all types of drivers: bit 15 set ($8000) indicates the driver is inactive (this is what Finder toggles when you click on the "Inactive" check box). ____________________________ From: Neil Parker 017- How does one distinguish between a 13 and 16-sector Disk ][ interface card? For a while at least, new 16-sector Disk II cards shipped with a little white circular sticker depicting a red Apple with the number "16" in the middle. But the sticker is hardly a reliable test. A better test is to look look at the part numbers of the P5 PROM (the lower left chip on the card) and the P6 PROM (left column, second from the top). 13-sector 16-sector --------- --------- P5 341-0009-xx 341-0027-xx P6 341-0010-xx 341-0028-xx The 16-sector PROMs may also be labelled "P5A" and "P6A". A program can test the card type by looking at its slot ROM space. The signature bytes are as follows: $Cn01: 20 $Cn03: 00 $Cn05: 03 $Cn07: 3C $CnFF: 00 if 16-sector, FF if 13-sector For example, 1 REM Scan the slots for Disk II interfaces 2 REM By Neil Parker 10 FOR S = 1 TO 7 20 A = 49152 + 256 * S 30 IF PEEK (A + 1) < > 32 OR PEEK (A + 3) < > 0 OR PEEK (A + 5) < > 3 OR PEEK (A + 7) < > 60 THEN 100 40 PRINT "Disk II ("; 50 T = PEEK (A + 255) 60 IF T = 0 THEN PRINT "16-sector";: GOTO 90 70 IF T = 255 THEN PRINT "13-sector";: GOTO 90 80 PRINT "other"; 90 PRINT ") in slot "S 100 NEXT ____________________________ From: Dan DeMaggio 018- Can a Disk ][ Drive be used on a IIc or GS smartport? Yes. Call Jameco Electronics. Get the S20-pin header- to -DB19-pin connector module. It is intended for adapting II/II+ drives for IIc. (Part# 10022; Product name: AAM APPLE IIC ADAPTER; price: $3.95) --------------------------- 019- What's the scoop on the 3.5" High Density drive? In order to do High Density on the Apple II, you will need both the High Density 3.5" drive and the Apple 3.5" HD controller. If you don't have both, you will only be able to do regular density. Of course, you will also need High Density diskettes. Once you have collected the above items, you are in for a pleasant surprise. ProDos 8 programs not only recognize it, but most programs format and recognize HD disks just fine. You can even boot off of a HD disk, allowing plenty of room for GS/OS Desk Accessories and such. There are a few drawbacks: You cannot boot copy-protected software or some FTA demos. You can't daisy-chain a 5.25" on an HD card. Also, it takes up a slot, even on the GS. ______________________________ From: Steve Jensen 020- What DuoDisk mods are necessary? The following is excerpted from an info file from my old bbs ... There are TWO modifications that should be made to Duodisk drives: The First one was recommended by Apple several ago to solve occasional problems with trashing diskettes. The solution is to remove 2 capacitors. The Second modification is only required to solve a problem with daisy-chaining on the GS Smartport, though the modified Duodisk will still work fine on older Apple II's. It requires removing a resistor. DUODISK MODIFICATION #1- REMOVAL OF TWO CAPACITORS This mod should be done on ALL Duodisks, no matter whether they're used on //e's, IIGS's, etc. The problem was that diskettes would sometimes be damaged when doing an Open-Apple-CTL-Reset or when using disks with certain kinds of copy protection. The mod was in an Apple dealer service bulletin several years ago for "analog board PN 676-[]101 or 676-[]102." The Analog board is the one inside Drive 1 in the Duodisk. You may have to unplug the cable near the back right of the board to see the board's model number. Anyway, if you have the -101 or -102 board, just snip out Capacitors C29 and C30 at board locations A1 and B1, respectively. DUODISK MODIFICATION #2- REMOVAL OF A RESISTOR This mod should be done for Duodisks used with a GS; otherwise, it is optional. The problem is that the Duodisk draws just a little too much current when connected to the GS Smartport. This can render other drives on the chain inoperable. Problems are MOST likely to occur when the Duodisk is daisy-chained from a Unidisk 3.5 Drive. Remove the top cover and turn the drive so that the identifying number will be at the bottom left of the analog board. The number might read 676-[]101, 676-[]102 or 676-[]107. If the I.D.# for the analog board is 676-[]101 or 676-[]102, use a pair of nippers and cut out resistor R8 (located at position A2). If the I.D.# for the analog board is 676-[]107, use a pair of nippers and cut out resistor R39 (located at position A1). ---------------------------- From: Dave Althoff There are two capacitors which must be clipped from the board on the DuoDisk regardless of what machine you intend to use them on. Failure to do this can lead to very nasty failures. For instance, some copy-protection schemes can cause the drive to start writing unexpectedly-- say, during a re-boot-- thus trashing the disk without regard to the write-protect switch. ---------------------------- From: Chet Gerhardt I have done the capacitor removal mod with all DuoDisks I have sold and my own DuoDisks. It is amazing that after all of this time most still have not had the mod done. ____________________________ From: Steve Buggie 021- Will a Duodisk function correctly on my ROM-03 GS? I have three Duodisks. The one connected to my flagship Rom 3 IIgs has had the resistor and capacitors clipped out as recommended in a memo from Mitch Spector. It works perfectly! ____________________________ From: John L. Graham 022- How do I fix a false Write Protect? I recently ran into this problem with a Disk II. It insisted the disk was write protected. I checked the write protect switch, but it was okay. I pulled all the chips out of the analog board inside the drive, cleaned the contacts with a clean pencil eraser (one was _really_ dirty, almost looked burnt) and re-installed them. Voila! The problem went away. ____________________________ From: Rubywand 023- Both of my Disk ]['s come on when booting! How can I fix this? Basically, it sounds like Drive 2 does not know when to stay OFF. There are three fairly high-probability places where a glitch may cause this to happen: 1. The 74LS132 on the Disk ][ Controller card may have a blown gate or some pins may be making poor or no contact. Try unplugging and re-socketing the IC. This usually takes care of bad contact problems. (Or, you can replace the 74LS132 IC with another 74LS132 or 74132. A 74LS00 or 7400 may work, too.) Also unplug and re-socket the 9334 and 556. 2. The ULN2003 IC on the Drive 2 main circuit board may have a bad gate or may have developed some poor pin-to-socket contacts. Remove the drive cover. Unplug and re-socket the ULN2003 IC. (Replacing a blown ULN2003 should not be too difficult. Both Mouser and Newark carry the IC.) 3. Drive 2's cable may have developed a short between pins 14 and 16. Mark the position of the cable at the Controller card and at the Drive 2 circuit board and unplug the cable at each end. Use an Ohm meter to check for shorts between adjacent pins. If you find a short between 14 and any other pin you can try repairing the cable or cutting out line 14 and running a new lead; or you can get a replacement cable. ---------------------------- 024- How can I defragment a diskette and what is the speed gain? You can defragment a diskette by doing a File Copy of all files to a blank diskette or blank RAM disk. Files on the copy diskette or RAM disk will be almost completely unfragmented. A whole-disk copy back to the original completes the process. Tests show that this method produces much speedier diskettes than using a utility intended for optimizing hard disks. For a nearly full 'workhorse' diskette which has seen may deletions and additions, you can expect the File Copy defragmentation method to yield a 30% to 40% improvement in access speed. ---------------------------- 025- I would like to add a Read/Write indicator to my Disk ][ drive. How can I do this with a bi-color LED? The circuit described below seems to work well. It shows Red for Drive Enabled + Write and Green for Drive Enabled + not Write. That is, a Read is assumed if the drive is ON and no Write is occurring. The advantage of this approach is that you always have a lighted LED 'drive ON' indicator and, so, there is no need to drill a new hole in your drive panel. The new LED can use the hole occupied by the old 'drive ON' indicator LED. The Circuit NPN transistor Collector to Green/Red Bi-color LED center NPN Emitter to GND NPN Base to two 3300 Ohm resistors One resistor goes to GND The other resistor goes to ULN2003 pin 15 (connect to R2 at end closest to the ULN2003) LED Red (lead has right-angle at LED) to 150 Ohm resistor Resistor goes to pin 6 (Q output) of a 74121 One-Shot IC LED Green (lead has slant-angle at LED) to 150 Ohm resistor Resistor goes to pin 1 (/Q output) of 74121 IC 74121 IC pin 7 goes to GND pin 14 goes to +5V pin 3 goes to 74LS125 pin 8 (connect to R16 at end farthest from the ULN2003) (pin 1 goes to resistor to LED Green) (pin 6 goes to resistor to LED Red) pin 11 goes to + end of mini 10uF 25V capacitor pin 12 goes to - end of the mini 10uF 25V capacitor; and pin 12 goes to a 22000 Ohm resistor Resistor goes to +5V (can connect to 74121 pin 14) Note: A good point for GND is pin 1 on the ribbon cable socket near the back, left of the Disk ][ Analog Board. Pin 11-- the 6th pin on the socket counting pin 1 as first-- is a good source for +5V. The pins are shown below as viewed from the front of the Disk ][. 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 o o o o o o o o o o | | GND +5V The NPN transistor can be any general purpose NPN type (e.g. a 2N2222, etc.). It's input (Base) is driven by the /Enable after it has been inverted by a gate of the ULN2003. When /Enable goes low to select the Drive, the signal at the Base goes high. This connects the LED common lead to GND through the transistor. If the Drive is selected (Enabled) and there is no Write operation, the Green LED will get a + voltage through its 150 Ohm resistor from the 74121 /Q output. So; the Green LED will light when the Drive is enabled (e.g. during boots and for any READs). If the Drive is selected (Enabled) and there is a Write operation and Write Protect is not ON, then, the /Write Request signal at 74LS125 pin 8 will go low. This triggers the 74121 One-Shot (at pin 3) producing an aprox. 150ms pulse at output Q. For the duration of the pulse, +V goes to the Red LED through its 150 Ohm resistor. The Red LED lights. (Meanwhile, /Q has gone low so that the Green LED turns OFF.) A simpler circuit might work fairly well; but, Write Request may not always be long enough to be easily visible. This is why the One-Shot IC circuit is used. (You can make the pulse longer by using larger values for the capacitor or increasing the value of the 22000 Ohm resistor.) 74xxx instead of 74LSxxx or CMOS IC's are specified because the IC is directly driving LED's. Should you use a higher-current bi-color LED, it may be necessary to add driver transistors. By the way, it turns out that the WR Data signal is frequently active (with pulses) even when a Write is not in progress. This pretty well makes it useless as a way to monitor Writes. The new bi-color LED is installed in the hole left by removing the old LED. (I just left the old LED connected and epoxied it just below the disk slot opening so that a red glow is visible from inside the drive-- sort of like the robots in BattleStar Galactica.) The mounting ring which held the old LED did not fit well and tends to press the new LED's leads together. I did not use the mounting ring. Epoxy works well for holding the new LED in place. Note: The 74121 was mounted on its back using epoxy in an open space above the square cut-out in the circuit board. (Double-sided tape also works well for 'dead-bug mounting' the IC.) Pin 1 was marked with a dab of white-out on the IC.