schabtac@stout.ucar.edu (10/18/89)
This may be a naive question, but is it possible to use MS-DOS 720K 3.5" disk drives with a Mac Plus? When I flip through Computer Shopper or Byte, I see dozens of 3.5" drives for PC clones, even some built by Sony, for prices as low as $60. However, I almost never see ads for Mac-compatible drives, and when I do, they go for $200 or more. Mind you, I'm just talking about the bare drive mechanism -- no cable or case. I realize that 720K does not equal 800K, but I was under the impression that that sort of thing was handled largely by the drive controller hard/software. --Adam * * * KILL YOUR TELEVISION * * * schabtac@stout.ucar.edu
phaedrus@blake.acs.washington.edu (the Wanderer) (10/18/89)
In article <4744@ncar.ucar.edu> schabtac@stout.ucar.edu () writes: >This may be a naive question, but is it possible to use MS-DOS 720K 3.5" >disk drives with a Mac Plus? When I flip through Computer Shopper or Byte, I would highly doubt it. IBM-type 3.5" drives have a motor that operates at a constant speed; Macintoshes expect a drive with a motor that slows down when the head moves to the outer tracks (allowing more information to be read from these tracks). At the very least, a completely new driver would be needed to make a single-speed drive work with a Mac, and such a drive would produce disks incompatible with normal Mac disks. >--Adam * * * KILL YOUR TELEVISION * * * >schabtac@stout.ucar.edu -- Internet: phaedrus@blake.acs.washington.edu (Univ. of Washington, Seattle) The views expressed here are not those of this station or its management. "If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, consider an exciting career as a guillotine operator!"
d88-jwa@nada.kth.se (Sune Windig) (10/19/89)
In article <4744@ncar.ucar.edu> schabtac@stout.ucar.edu () writes: >disk drives with a Mac Plus? When I flip through Computer Shopper or Byte, >I see dozens of 3.5" drives for PC clones, even some built by Sony, for >prices as low as $60. However, I almost never see ads for Mac-compatible >drives, and when I do, they go for $200 or more. Mind you, I'm just talking The Mac drives have "harware eject" (via a servo) that the PC drives haven't, and also have the ability to use variable speed on the diskette (which the mac uses to pack more than 720k onto the - basically - 720k diskette, without reliability loss.) These things aren't $140 more expensive in themselves, of course, but since the mac drives are made in lower quantities (I think) than the PC drives, this too accounts for the price difference. Happy Hacking ! h+@proxxi.se == h+@nada.kth.se -- Another good night not to sleep in a eucalyptus tree.