[comp.sys.amiga.tech] Can the Amiga read Macintosh diskettes?

f87-sir@nada.kth.se (Sigurd Ruschkowski) (04/16/91)

My girlfriend has just got an Amiga 2000 to program a utility
for the Defense Department and as I have a Mac it would be nice
to be able to read Macintosh diskettes from the Amiga so we for
ex can use an Apple printer for text files.

Is there a program that can make the Amiga to read Macintosh
diskettes?

Sigge Ruschkowski
Sweden

mattij@tuura.UUCP (Matti Joutkoski) (04/18/91)

f87-sir@nada.kth.se (Sigurd Ruschkowski) writes:


>My girlfriend has just got an Amiga 2000 to program a utility
>for the Defense Department and as I have a Mac it would be nice
>to be able to read Macintosh diskettes from the Amiga so we for
>ex can use an Apple printer for text files.

>Is there a program that can make the Amiga to read Macintosh
>diskettes?

No it is not, because of physical construction of the MAC-floppy.
It is basicly similar than those old Commodore 1541-format floppys,
that we have more sectors in the upper sectors that lower. Amiga
floppy-drive can not read the because of physical impossibility.
Amiga drives, like MS-DOS drives have equal number of sectors in
every tracks.

But there is AMAX, where is support for ORIGINAL MAC-drives via
external plug, and by this system we can read/write MAC-disks
by Amiga.

-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Matti Joutkoski, mattij@yj.data.nokia.fi, tel. + 358-0-5673866.
---------------------------------------------------------------

tjehl@wilgus.intel.COM (Timothy Jehl) (04/19/91)

In article <1152@tuura.UUCP>, mattij@tuura.UUCP (Matti Joutkoski) writes:
|> f87-sir@nada.kth.se (Sigurd Ruschkowski) writes:
|> 
|> 
|> >My girlfriend has just got an Amiga 2000 to program a utility
|> >for the Defense Department and as I have a Mac it would be nice
|> >to be able to read Macintosh diskettes from the Amiga so we for
|> >ex can use an Apple printer for text files.
|> 
|> >Is there a program that can make the Amiga to read Macintosh
|> >diskettes?
|> 
|> No it is not, because of physical construction of the MAC-floppy.
|> It is basicly similar than those old Commodore 1541-format floppys,
|> that we have more sectors in the upper sectors that lower. Amiga
|> floppy-drive can not read the because of physical impossibility.
|> Amiga drives, like MS-DOS drives have equal number of sectors in
|> every tracks.
|> 
|> But there is AMAX, where is support for ORIGINAL MAC-drives via
|> external plug, and by this system we can read/write MAC-disks
|> by Amiga.
|> 
|> -- 
|> ---------------------------------------------------------------
|> Matti Joutkoski, mattij@yj.data.nokia.fi, tel. + 358-0-5673866.
|> ---------------------------------------------------------------

   A small addendum to the above, and this is from memory of literature
for AMAX, is that the AMIGA disk drive is capable of reading a small range
of the MAC disks (I believe those tracks near the middle of the media).  This
means that if a disk is formatted as a small MAC disk (about 300k capacity,
if I remember correctly), the disk can be read by both types of disk drive.
This formatting can be done with AMAX supplied software.  After one disk is
formatted, I believe MAC disk copy will create identically formatted disks.
   Quick disclaimer in asbestos suit: I've never tried this, since I bit the
bullet and bought a MAC drive when I got AMAX.  However, the manual seems to
say it can be done.
   Of course, someone would need to develop the software to convert file
formats back and forth, but I suspect that something like this exists in public
domain.

   Final note:  If you've got modem software, just ship the files across the
RS232.  Slow but workable.

Tim

chucks@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Erik Funkenbusch) (04/20/91)

f87-sir@nada.kth.se (Sigurd Ruschkowski) writes:
>
>My girlfriend has just got an Amiga 2000 to program a utility

For the defense department?  they use amigas?

>for the Defense Department and as I have a Mac it would be nice
>to be able to read Macintosh diskettes from the Amiga so we for
>ex can use an Apple printer for text files.
>
>Is there a program that can make the Amiga to read Macintosh
>diskettes?

hmm.. if your mac has a "Super Drive" , that is, is a High Density 1.44 meg
drive, then you can use the apple file exchange to convert the file to IBM
format, then convert the file to Amiga format on the Amiga with Dos-2-Dos,
crossdoss, msh, or any number of the other utilities.  OR, if you have a mac
external drive (or you can buy one) you can buy Mac-2-Dos and directly convert
them.  however the Mac drive is a bit of an oddball and uses a variable speed,
the Amiga drives are only capable of reading about 1/3 of a mac disk.  so you
need to buy a mac drive to use with Mac-2-Dos.
>
>Sigge Ruschkowski
>Sweden

p.s. Don't use comp.sys.amiga, or comp.sys.amiga.tech, they were supposed to
have gone away a long time ago.. continually using them only perpetuates them
further.  please re-direct to comp.sys.amiga.misc


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