kibo@pawl16.pawl.rpi.edu (James 'Kibo' Parry) (07/25/90)
[] Can a Mac SE/30 (with the kind of disk drive that can read Mac disks) read Atari ST disks in their normal format, or do the Atari disks have to have the same modification (MSDOS bootsector) that they need to be readable on an IBM? The reason I ask is that I've got zillions of Atari disks, and I will soon have a Mac, and I'd like to know if I should start writing MSDOS boot sectors to all my disks :-) [before the Atari breaks completely.] Thanks in advance. -- james "kibo" parry, 138 birch lane, scotia, ny 12302 <-- close to schenectady. kibo@pawl.rpi.edu _________________________________________________ kibo%pawl.rpi.edu@rpi.edu / Kibology / Anything I say is my opinion, userfe0n@rpitsmts.bitnet / is better! / and is the opposite of Xibo's.
jt@consl6.esg.dec.com (Jim Thompson) (07/25/90)
I had the same problem when I abandoned my 1040ST for a Mac SE. If you're buying your SE/30 new, it will probably come with the new high density (FDHD) drive in it. Apple provides with the drive a utility program (I think it's called Apple File Transfer) that will allow you to transfer files between the Mac and MSDOS machines. I couldn't get the program to recognize a straight ST disk, but if I first formatted the disk as an MSDOS disk (using the Mac), I found that both machines could read from and write to it. Writing an MSDOS boot sector to an existing ST disk will probably work also.
clubok@husc4.HARVARD.EDU (Ken "The Snake" Clubok) (07/25/90)
In article <$'2$16#@rpi.edu> kibo@pawl16.pawl.rpi.edu (James 'Kibo' Parry) writes: >[] > Can a Mac SE/30 (with the kind of disk drive that can read Mac >disks) read Atari ST disks in their normal format, or do the Atari disks >have to have the same modification (MSDOS bootsector) that they need to >be readable on an IBM? > A Mac SE/30 can't read ST or IBM disks. It is possible, though, to read either on a Mac using special software (sorry, I don't remember the name; ask on the Mac group) and a high-density mac disk drive. I'm not sure whether the boot sector matters. Ken Clubok clubok@husc4.harvard.edu clubok@husc4.bitnet
rlcollins@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (Ryan 'Gozar' Collins) (07/26/90)
In article <3620@husc6.harvard.edu>, clubok@husc4.HARVARD.EDU (Ken "The Snake" Clubok) writes: > In article <$'2$16#@rpi.edu> kibo@pawl16.pawl.rpi.edu (James 'Kibo' Parry) writes: >>[] >> Can a Mac SE/30 (with the kind of disk drive that can read Mac >>disks) read Atari ST disks in their normal format, or do the Atari disks >>have to have the same modification (MSDOS bootsector) that they need to >>be readable on an IBM? >> > A Mac SE/30 can't read ST or IBM disks. It is possible, though, to read > either on a Mac using special software (sorry, I don't remember the name; > ask on the Mac group) and a high-density mac disk drive. I'm not sure > whether the boot sector matters. > If you have the high density Mac drive, you can get a program called Dayna Dos Mounter, which will allow you to mount any MS-DOS disk right onto the desktop, and you can use it just like a Mac disk. But it does require a boot sector. (If you stick a regular Atari disk in the drive, you get the infamous, "This disk is unreadable, do you want to initialize it?") ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ryan 'Gozar' Collins ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o__)\ rlcollins@miavx1.BITNET / ) RC1DSANU@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu / / ____ R.COLLINS1 (On GEnie) /(____/__(_) o)_/ /) [ || ] Atari Computers, "There is no Substitute." [ || ] They're not just // || \\ for breakfast // || \\ anymore ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yea, right, thats what I said.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bluneski@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Bob Luneski) (07/26/90)
To read a MS-DOS/ST type disk on a Mac you need the following things: 1) A Mac with a high density drive (FDHD) 2) Apple File Exchange(AFE) Utility (comes with system software 6.0+) 3) The disk must be formatted on the Mac using the AFE routine. You can then take the disk to a ST or IBM copy files to it and get the files onto the MAC via AFE. Kind of a pain. Plus the disk performance is poor because the AFE is a standard in sequence formatter(i.e. it does not skew the sector numbers to achieve higher seek/transfer rates) Currently, the disks must be formatted on the MAC because the AFE formats the disk slightly differently(3 sector FAT tables, hidden desktop files etc.). The AFE requires these to be before it will recognize the disk. You cannot simply write an MS-DOS boot sector to a previously formatted disk and have it work. Because I have a Mac IIci at work(their choice not mine, although the speed, memory, 19" color monitor, and 24 bit accelerated graphics board are very nice especially since I didn't have to pay for them) I also had the need to transport files to and from the Mac. However, I found that whenever I REALLY needed to bring something in I never seemed to have one of the AFE preformatted disks around and an ST formatted disk wouldn't work. So, I pulled the custom formatter I wrote for Diamond Back II out and made it a stand alone program that supports AFE format in addition to all the other formats. It will also format AFE disks in twisted format for faster access and Power Drive 1.44 meg floopy support has been added. I was originally just going to include it as an extra freebee with Diamond Back II. However, because it addresses several specific needs in the ST community, I have deceided to release it to a wider audiance. I will be posting it to Genie and the binaries as soon as the testing of the 1.44/1.6 meg high density Power Drive is complete. When it appears you will be able to format AFE compatible disks on your ST. ____ ____ /\/\/\ Bob Luneski /\/\/\ \/\/\/ Diamond Back II Support Hotlines: bluneski@pogo.WV.TEK.COM \/\/\/ \/\/ Genie: B.LUNESKI1 CompuServe: 76635,2310 \/\/ \/ \/
jbww@ukc.ac.uk (J.B.W.Webber) (07/26/90)
In article <9507@pogo.WV.TEK.COM> bluneski@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Bob Luneski) writes: > >To read a MS-DOS/ST type disk on a Mac you need the following things: > >1) A Mac with a high density drive (FDHD) Yes >2) Apple File Exchange(AFE) Utility (comes with system software 6.0+) Yes >3) The disk must be formatted on the Mac using the AFE routine. the ST tool ibmfmt that came in the binaries recently works fine for me (to create data transfer disks) cheers beau webber jbww@ukc.ac.uk
pietrzak@skybridge.SCL.CWRU.Edu (John Pietrzak) (07/26/90)
In article <3620@husc6.harvard.edu> clubok@husc4.UUCP (Ken "The Snake" Clubok) writes: >A Mac SE/30 can't read ST or IBM disks. It is possible, though, to read >either on a Mac using special software (sorry, I don't remember the name; >ask on the Mac group) and a high-density mac disk drive. I'm not sure >whether the boot sector matters. > >Ken Clubok >clubok@husc4.harvard.edu >clubok@husc4.bitnet Here at work we have a Dayna init file which allows manipulation of MS-DOS disks on the desktop from an FDHD. I havn't tried it with ST formatted disks yet (just got it recently). If you would like more info, email me and I'll see what I can find out. J P