hardy@ihlpb.ATT.COM (Hardy) (04/10/89)
I thought I would share my lousy experience upgrading my Mac 512Ke with a SuperMac DataPort SCSI upgrade. My dealer was Farnsworth Computer in Villa Park, IL. Since I wanted more disk space but almost never had memory problems, my original plan was to add the SCSI port and disk, stay with only half a meg, and then move up to a Mac Plus at some indefinite point in the future. Considering that the creators of HyperDA and MacWrite 5.01 took pains get their applications running on the 512Ke, I can probably get by with half a meg for right now. Can't I?? The first big problem with with the SuperMac Data Port SCSI upgrade was that it came with instructions for INSTALLATION, but not for USE. Yet there are at least three other problems (which I have labeled below as Annoying, Alarming, and Appalling) which needed to be pointed out to the end-user (assuming that the dealer did the installation.) The Annoying problem is that your battery gets hidden behind SCSI outlet. Once you know that there's a trick to it, there's really no problem, but I think that the user is entitled to an explanation. Of course, the dealer volunteered no information. The Alarming problem is that you need a "daisy-chain" cable to attach the Mac to the hard drive, NOT the usual SCSI-to-Mac-Plus cable that gets shipped with most hard drives. Again, there's no excuse for this to be such a rude surprise. Fortunately, the dealer allowed me to trade cables. (They were really pretty decent about it, I must say. That was before the honeymoon was over...) The Appalling problem is that, if you haven't also gotten a memory upgrade for the 512Ke, it will be effectively lobotomized when you boot from the hard disk. You suddenly won't have enough memory to run certain applications which have always run magnificently on floppy disk. I can't use SuperPaint 1.0, which is indispensable, nor a 4th Dimension Demo program. Most people who have tried to help me with this situation take one of these disparate positions: a) "It should work. You must be doing something wrong." I'd like to believe this, but I simply cannot find even the most minimal configuration of System 3.2, Finder 5.3, SuperPaint 1.0, and the hard drive which will work!!! The system folder on the hard drive is IDENTICAL to the one on the floppy disk which works. b) "Of course that won't work. You should have known that." My [ex-]dealer takes this position. I have a feeling that the statement is true, but he is talking only from the hindsight that he has gained from my sad experience. I would love to see it proven without the use of insidious circular logic. If you can't tell, I'm very angry that I was sold this upgrade without being warned that it would result in a disintegration of the overall system. I have asked my dealer if he can get me a 3rd party memory upgrade, but they "don't offer those anymore." The only other upgrade available is Apple's full upgrade to Plus. I proposed a deal where I would buy Apple's upgrade to Plus on the condition that he remove the SuperMac DataPort and give a full refund, but he didn't accept it. So my advice is: Don't add a SCSI port to your 512Ke without adding memory; maybe Apple's expensive upgrade is worth avoiding some aggravation; maybe trading in for a Plus isn't so extravagant, after all. Mark PS. As SuperPaint users know, this application is very touchy about memory. Most other applications seem not to be bothered by the "lobotomy."
srpenndo@uokmax.UUCP (Sean Richard Penndorf) (04/10/89)
In article <10179@ihlpb.ATT.COM> hardy@ihlpb.ATT.COM (Hardy) writes:
=>
=>The Annoying problem is that your battery gets hidden behind SCSI outlet.
=>Once you know that there's a trick to it, there's really no problem, but
=>I think that the user is entitled to an explanation. Of course, the dealer
=>volunteered no information.
A lot of SCSI manufacturers do it that way, I wouldn't be too worried about it.
The alternative is to have an obnoxious cable hanging out your external disk
drive port.
=>The Alarming problem is that you need a "daisy-chain" cable to attach
=>the Mac to the hard drive, NOT the usual SCSI-to-Mac-Plus cable that
=>gets shipped with most hard drives. Again, there's no excuse for this
=>to be such a rude surprise. Fortunately, the dealer allowed me to trade
=>cables. (They were really pretty decent about it, I must say. That was
=>before the honeymoon was over...)
Never heard of that before. A definite misfortune.
=>The Appalling problem is that, if you haven't also gotten a memory upgrade
=>for the 512Ke, it will be effectively lobotomized when you boot from the
=>hard disk. You suddenly won't have enough memory to run certain applications
=>which have always run magnificently on floppy disk. I can't use
=>SuperPaint 1.0, which is indispensable, nor a 4th Dimension Demo program.
The SCSI controller requires a small amount of memory in order to operate.
Obviously, this was enough to make SuperPaint believe there is not enough
memory. I always thought that SuperPaint was rather unfair to the end-user
about that.
=>a) "It should work. You must be doing something wrong."
=> I'd like to believe this, but I simply cannot find even the most
=> minimal configuration of System 3.2, Finder 5.3, SuperPaint 1.0,
=> and the hard drive which will work!!! The system folder on the
=> hard drive is IDENTICAL to the one on the floppy disk which works.
Since your dealer installed, there is no way for you to be doing something
wrong. The SCSI port (well, a TRUE SCSI port) is a plug in and forget
type of thing. The hard drive connects to it, and the rest is up to the
Harddisk controller software supplied by the manufacturer.
=>So my advice is: Don't add a SCSI port to your 512Ke without adding
=>memory; maybe Apple's expensive upgrade is worth avoiding some aggravation;
=>maybe trading in for a Plus isn't so extravagant, after all.
I have to agree with you there. When I went to upgrade my 512E to a SCSI port,
I talked to many other people, many who had the same problem as yourself.
In the end, I upgraded with a Dove SCSI port and 2 Mb RAM. If I were you,
either get a refund on the port and go totally with a different upgrade
(with memory included), or look into some inexpensive third-party memory.
I recommend the Dove upgrades (both SCSI and memory...it's a TRUE SCSI port
that you can use the hard disk cable you got from the manufacturer), however
the price has gone up on the Dove upgrades quite a bit since I bought mine.
If you have any more problems, feel free to leave me mail.
(I'm not a dealer, I don't work for Dove, and I hate Apple prices, but other
than that, I am a Mac fanatic.)
--
Sean R. Penndorf | | Programming and Fantasy
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