rkl@and.cs.liv.ac.uk (06/14/91)
In article <1991Jun11.160020.8493@ira.uka.de>, angelo@i41s16.ira.uka.de (Angelo Schneider Betr.Prechelt) writes: > patrick@sideways.gen.nz (Pat Cain) writes: > >> The ability to read high density PC discs would be useful to a lot more >> people than the ability to read Mac discs. > Ha, Ha, Ha! > I' know about 20 Archimedes Users, none of them is a IBM User. > I use both, Macintosh and Archimedes. I *NEED* a Macintosh Disk Readeer for > the Archimedes! Actually, I use an Archimedes and a Macintosh and I *still* need a PC disk reader :-) > he also writes: > >> Does anyone know if the high >> density drives in the Macs are custom Apple ones (like their 800k drive) >> or whether they are industry standard models? They are variable speed drives (Sony I believe) which is why writing a Mac disk reader on ANY machine - not just the Archimedes - is a tricky task. > If you would know anything about the Mac you'd know that it is able to read > and write all PC disk formats. Incorrect. I have a Mac Plus which does NOT have the enhanced disk controller chip (Super Wozniak ? I forget the name) - it *cannot* read or write PC disks. If you have a "SuperDrive" and a model later than a Mac Plus, then you should be PC-compatible (although why Apple never put the equivalent of the Dayna DOS Mounter into System 7 is beyond me - messing around with Apple File Exchange is one big joke). Oh, BTW, I refuse to install System 7 on my Mac - and I'd warn people against it until they've checked out all the possible problems (replacing the low-level disk driver on my Rodime hard disk could be fun ! Plus the fact that Norton Utilities needs upgrading, Pyro! 4 has to be used as a screen saver and it's dismally slow compared to Pyro! 3 and so on ad nauseam...). > The HD Drive used by Apple is a Sony Drive. The only difference to other > Drives is the ability to eject its Disks automatically and to generate an > interrupt when a Disk is inserted. Er, and to vary the rotation speed... Richard K. Lloyd, **** This is a MicroVAX II running VAX/VMS V5.4 **** Computer Science Dept., JANET : rkl@uk.ac.liv.cs.and Liverpool University, Internet : rkl%and.cs.liv.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk Merseyside, England, UUCP : ..!mcsun!ukc!liv-cs!rkl Great Britain. Q: "What's the world's fastest home micro ?" L69 3BX A: "The Archimedes A3000. 4 MIPS for under 800 pounds."