dseah@wpi.wpi.edu (David I Seah) (03/12/89)
I "gave" my Apple IIe to my sister for college word processing. She has managed to destroy the monitor output (her boyfriend super-glued it back on. argh) and now both disk drives. One disk drive is an Applied Engineering 5.25" drive that is a couple of years old. The other is a generic 5.25" half-height based on the TEAC 55A mechanism (not quite, it's a Taiwan-made mechanism). I never had much success with the AE drive. This is actually the third drive that AE sent me in response to my complaints (no disk speed adjust, drive trashed disks when it wrote). After finding out that they wouldn't refund my money, I just gave up and kept the drive for read/only purposes. Rah rah Applied Engineering. The drive currently destroys anything that it touches. Try to boot a disk, and track 0 gets random crap written to it, totally destroying any semblance of disk formatting. The other drive is a generic thing my sister picked up in Taiwan. It works on occasion. It was part of the last gasp of the Apple II Clone industry in Taiwan. The problem with this drive is that the disk drive head refuses to step. It just chatters in place when it is supposed to move. I've tried replacing cables, checked cable connections inside the drive (powered off!), and can't figure out what is wrong with them. Could it be a power supply problem? Some of those old TEACs were really power-hungry. My sister is beginning to eye my GS...help! | <<<<<(((((( DAVE SEAH ))))))>>>>> | Internet: dseah@wpi.wpi.edu | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Bitnet: dseah@wpi.bitnet | Computer Engineering Class of '90 | ALink PE: Omnitreant
prl3546@tahoma.UUCP (Philip R. Lindberg) (03/17/89)
From article <1285@wpi.wpi.edu>, by dseah@wpi.wpi.edu (David I Seah): > I "gave" my Apple IIe to my sister for college word processing. She has > managed to destroy the monitor output (her boyfriend super-glued it back on. > argh) and now both disk drives. One disk drive is an Applied Engineering > > I never had much success with the AE drive. This is actually the third drive > The drive currently destroys anything that it touches. > > My sister is beginning to eye my GS...help! > > | <<<<<(((((( DAVE SEAH ))))))>>>>> One note of caution, to you and to everybody else out there. I use to have a //e with two drives. I wanted to reduce space and my dad wanted a "another true Apple drive" so I gave him one of mine and bought a Mapleleaf half-height. I had nothing but trouble with it. I send it back twice, etc., and finally retired it to a read only position. Anyhow, years later, my sister "smoked" her //e's drive (and controller card) and came to me for help. With my //gs I really only use my 5.25 drives a little so I gave her my Apple 5.25 drive/ controller and reluctantly hooked up my Mapleleaf to my Central Point Univ. Controller with my other 3.5 as #2. I have been using this configuration for weeks now and have had _NO_ problems with the Mapleleaf drive! It reads, writes, slices, dices, and makes julian fries!! I've been bitching for along time about how bad a drive the Mapleleaf was and now I'm eating crow. So, what I'm trying to say is: don't be so quick to rag on AE and their drive. They make a lot of _good_ products. Check to be sure its not something else in your machine first. Okay?
rat@madnix.UUCP (David Douthitt) (03/23/89)
In article <343@tahoma.UUCP> prl3546@tahoma.UUCP (Philip R. Lindberg) writes: | One note of caution, to you and to everybody else out there. I use to have | a //e with two drives. I wanted to reduce space and my dad wanted a "another | true Apple drive" so I gave him one of mine and bought a Mapleleaf | half-height. I had nothing but trouble with it. I send it back twice, etc., | and finally retired it to a read only position. Anyhow, years later, my | sister "smoked" her //e's drive (and controller card) and came to me for | help. With my //gs I really only use my 5.25 drives a little so I gave | her my Apple 5.25 drive/ controller and reluctantly hooked up my | Mapleleaf to my Central Point Univ. Controller with my other 3.5 as #2. | I have been using this configuration for weeks now and have had | _NO_ problems with the Mapleleaf drive! It reads, writes, slices, | dices, and makes julian fries!! I've been bitching for along time about | how bad a drive the Mapleleaf was and now I'm eating crow. | | So, what I'm trying to say is: don't be so quick to rag on AE and their drive. | They make a lot of _good_ products. Check to be sure its not something else | in your machine first. Okay? I don't know about an AE drive - all I know is my local Applied Engineering dealer does NOT recommend it. As for a Maple Drive, I used to have lots of problems with it - it or the Disk II controller I had (genuine Apple). I ran them in an Apple II+ with a Microsoft Z80 card, and the troubles continued after an upgrade to a PCPI StarCard. However, after I purchased an Applied Engineering Disk II Controller, the problems went away! One other note - I ran the Locksmith disk test on the Maple drive and I thought something was wrong - there were no dots on the screen! So I ran it again with the optimum speed selected as the center line - I never saw a disk speed line so straight in all my life! I would buy another Maple Leaf Drive... and would recommend it IF you could be assured the blimin' reseller will NOT exchange the Maple for some other drive. [david] -- ======== David Douthitt :::: Madison, WI :::: The Stainless Steel Rat ======== FidoNet: 1:121/2 ::::: WittiNet: "Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice." :::::: UseNet: ...{rutgers|ucbvax|harvard}!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!rat ArpaNet: madnix!rat@cs.wisc.edu {decvax|att}!
lwv@n8emr.UUCP (Larry W. Virden) (03/24/89)
While you SAID AE drive, I am SURE that you really meant Central Point drive. A friend tried to talk to their support line and was QUITE shocked at the rudeness she encountered after inquiring whether they supported the Apple IIgs. -- Larry W. Virden 674 Falls Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 (614) 864-8817 75046,606 (CIS) ; LVirden (ALPE) ; osu-cis!n8emr!lwv (UUCP) osu-cis!n8emr!lwv@TUT.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (INTERNET) The world's not inherited from our parents, but borrowed from our children.