jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (08/08/89)
A while back, I saw an ad for "Fruit2Friend", but lost the address. It's
supposed to be a utility for reading disks created on an Apple][ or an
Apple//. I need more info, such as the company's phone number, how well
it works, any good or bad experiences. Does it handle AppleDOS 13-sector,
16-sector, and ProDOS-8bit formats?
I haven't come across any other programs (commercial or PD) that read/write
disks for the Apple2. I can understand one obstacle - Apple uses GCR while
everybody else uses MFM encoding. (I have not yet determined whether the
Amiga hardware is flexible enough to allow the software to do GCR or not.)
I am only concerned about 5-1/4 inch disks for now, since that's what my
wife's friends have. I expect A-MAX can handle 3-1/2 inch disks from an
Apple//c+ since it uses the same format as the Macintosh.
--
Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@tymix.tymnet.com
McDonnell Douglas FSCO | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms
PO Box 49019, MS-D21 | PDP-10 support: My car's license plate is "POPJ P,"
San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | narrator.device: "I didn't say that, my Amiga did!"bjc@pollux.UUCP (Betty J. Clay) (08/15/89)
In article <495@tardis.Tymnet.COM> jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) writes: > >I haven't come across any other programs (commercial or PD) that read/write >disks for the Apple2. I can understand one obstacle - Apple uses GCR while >everybody else uses MFM encoding. (I have not yet determined whether the >Amiga hardware is flexible enough to allow the software to do GCR or not.) > >Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@tymix.tymnet.com The Amiga has a GCR lookup table built in. In fact, you can use GCR if you prefer, but it only works half as fast as the MFM encoding. The RKM states that the GCR capability in the Amiga is the Apple version. The Amiga is already reading and writing disks using GCR for Central Coast Software product Disk-2-Disk. You see, all of the Commodore drives prior to the Amiga used a form of GCR as well, and Disk-2-Disk can read and write the Commodore 8-bit format, translating PETSCII to ASCII at the same time. The program can move program files as well as text files, and do it in either direction. Betty -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Betty Clay ........texbell!pollux!bjc CompuServe 76702,337 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) (08/16/89)
In article <15704@pollux.UUCP> bjc@pollux.UUCP () writes: > >The Amiga has a GCR lookup table built in. In fact, you can use GCR if >you prefer, but it only works half as fast as the MFM encoding. >The RKM states that the GCR capability in the Amiga is the Apple version. > As far as I know, the Amiga does not have a GCR translation table built in. It does have the ability to read CGR disks (witness: Disk-2-Disk and Mac-2-Dos and AMAX), but this is because the Amiga's disk controller gives the CPU data below the formatter level, so the CPU can perform whatever encoding it desired. GCR is generally slower than the Amiga's MFM scheme, because the blitter can be used to encode MFM, while the CPU must do the GCR encoding/decoding. -- First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T T E C H N O L O G I E S / / \\ / / Then, the disclaimer: All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \ / o Now for the witty part: I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam! \/
mlelstv@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Michael van Elst ) (08/18/89)
ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) writes: >In article <15704@pollux.UUCP> bjc@pollux.UUCP () writes: >> >>The RKM states that the GCR capability in the Amiga is the Apple version. >> >As far as I know, the Amiga does not have a GCR translation table built >in. It does have the ability to read CGR disks (witness: Disk-2-Disk and >Mac-2-Dos and AMAX), but this is because the Amiga's disk controller >gives the CPU data below the formatter level, so the CPU can perform >whatever encoding it desired. There is a limited hardware feature for GCR decoding. It allows less CPU overhead when reading Apple-II style GCR code.. The Apple-II uses a simple shift register that samples raw data (just like the Amiga hardware) and transfers it's contents into a latch everytime the MSB (bit 7) is equal 1, then the shifter is cleared. A similar mode can be used with the Amiga hardware. Michael van Elst E-mail: UUCP: ...uunet!unido!fauern!immd4!mlelstv