pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) (11/09/88)
This is what I did: I took apart my 800K drive, took out the drive unit itself, went to my dealer (MicroCenter in Columbus, OH), purchased a Mac II metal case for the drive and a ribbon cable (total = $11.50), then put my drive into it and then put the whole thing in my Mac II. It's simple. Now I have a 2nd external drive for my Mac II for $11.50. BUT IT DOESN'T WORK!!!! How come? It wants to initialize every disk and then fails to do do so!!! (When I took the inverse of all operations and transformed it back to a 800K external drive for the Mac Plus, it worked again.) Advice from anyone? P.S. I know you smart Apple guys read this, please respond. I promise I won't make it public if it's confidential. On the other hand if it's not, then I'll let everyone know how to save a couple of hundreds of bucks. Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu Department of Mathematics TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET The Ohio State University 73057,172.Compu$erve Columbus, OH 43210 1-(614)-292-5310.office U.S.A. 1-(614)-292-4975.secy
pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) (11/09/88)
This is a reposting of a mutilated message: This is what I did: I took apart my 800K drive, took out the drive unit itself, went to my dealer (MicroCenter in Columbus, OH), purchased a Mac II metal case for the drive and a ribbon cable, and placed the newly created 800K internal floppy drive inside my Mac II. It's simple. Now I have a 2nd external drive for my Mac II for $11.50. BUT IT DOESN'T WORK!!!! How come? It wants to initialize every disk and then fails to o do so!!! (When I took the inverse of all operations and transformed it back to a 800K external drive for the Mac Plus, it worked again.) Advice from anyone? P.S. I know you smart Apple guys read this, please respond. I promise I won't make it public if it's confidential. On the other hand if it's not, then I'll let everyone know how to save a couple of hundreds of bucks. Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu Department of Mathematics TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET The Ohio State University 73057,172.Compu$erve Columbus, OH 43210 1-(614)-292-5310.office U.S.A. 1-(614)-292-4975.secy
hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Josh Hodas) (11/09/88)
In article <1030@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) writes: > > >This is what I did: > >I took apart my 800K drive, took out the drive unit itself, went to my dealer >(MicroCenter in Columbus, OH), purchased a Mac II metal case for the drive and a >ribbon cable (total = $11.50), then put my drive into it and then put the whole >thing in my Mac II. > >It's simple. Now I have a 2nd external drive for my Mac II for $11.50. BUT IT >DOESN'T WORK!!!! How come? It wants to initialize every disk and then fails to do >do so!!! > >(When I took the inverse of all operations and transformed it back to a 800K >external drive for the Mac Plus, it worked again.) > >Advice from anyone? > >P.S. I know you smart Apple guys read this, please respond. I promise I won't >make it public if it's confidential. On the other hand if it's not, then I'll >let everyone know how to save a couple of hundreds of bucks. > >Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu >Department of Mathematics TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET >The Ohio State University 73057,172.Compu$erve >Columbus, OH 43210 1-(614)-292-5310.office >U.S.A. 1-(614)-292-4975.secy Well, the problem may be that some time before the SE and II came out they changed subtly the design of the drive. I know this happened because I went to get an accelarated 512e fixed and they said that they could not swap the drive because the new drives required a new cable (different than the old pinout) and that they did not have that cable in a sufficiently long form to get around my accelarator (A custom long drive cable of the old style had come with the card). So if your drive is one of the older ones, and you are using a cable for the II (which is designed for the new drives) the pinouts are wrong. I know new drives will work in old systems given the proper cable. I have no idea whether old drives can be made to work in newer systems. If you get an answer I'd love to hear as I have been considering the same process to give my II a new floppy. Josh ------------------------- Josh Hodas (hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu) 4223 Pine Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 222-7112 (home) (215) 898-5423 (school office)
jim@eda.com (Jim Budler) (11/13/88)
In article <6092@netnews.upenn.edu> hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu.UUCP (Josh Hodas) writes: >In article <1030@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) writes: >> >> >>This is what I did: >> >>I took apart my 800K drive, took out the drive unit itself, went to my dealer [...] >>thing in my Mac II. [...] >>DOESN'T WORK!!!! How come? It wants to initialize every disk and then fails to do [...] >>Paul Nevai pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu }Well, the problem may be that some time before the SE and II came }out they changed subtly the design of the drive. I know this happened }because I went to get an accelarated 512e fixed and they said that }they could not swap the drive because the new drives required a new }cable (different than the old pinout) and that they did not have that }cable in a sufficiently long form to get around my accelarator }(A custom long drive cable of the old style had come with the card). } }So if your drive is one of the older ones, and you are using a cable }for the II (which is designed for the new drives) the pinouts are wrong. } }I know new drives will work in old systems given the proper cable. I }have no idea whether old drives can be made to work in newer systems. } }If you get an answer I'd love to hear as I have been considering the same }process to give my II a new floppy. All true, but it was a stupid excuse your dealer gave you. My upgraded to 512ke internal drive failed. I got a replacement drive, which didn't work, called my dealer, he said, "You must have an early drive, the cable to the drive changed. Bring your cable in.". I brought my cable in, the tech person took it into the back room, and clipped one lead. The drive works fine. My memory of exactly what he did to my cable may be wrong, i.e. he may have clipped two wires or something, but the point is, it took 2 minutes for him to change, and he returned my same cable to me. I suppose I could always pull my case apart and find out 8^) -- uucp: {decwrl,uunet}!eda!jim Jim Budler internet: jim@eda.com EDA Systems, Inc.
rcbaab@eutrc3.UUCP (Annard Brouwer) (11/25/88)
For the solder hackers: in the new Technical Reference Manual you will find all the details about the macintosh disk ports... I can mail them to the net if someone is very interested. Annard Brouwer rcbaab@eutrc3.UUCP RCGBBAAB@HEITUE51.BITNET
burgett@adobe.com (Michael Burgett) (11/29/88)
In article <382@eutrc3.UUCP> rcbaab@eutrc3.UUCP (Annard Brouwer) writes: >all the details about the macintosh disk ports... >I can mail them to the net if someone is very interested. Please do!! Mike Burgett burgett@adobe.com ---------------------------------- mike burgett adobe!burgett@decwrl.dec.com