Some finds and a few questions

From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_ncal.verio.com>
Date: Mon Feb 1 00:49:29 1999

On Sun, 31 Jan 1999, David Williams wrote:

> > it. As far as drivers, everything you need is on the card and the hard
> > drive. Remember, with the Apple ][, the "driver" software is embedded on
> > a PROM or EPROM on the card itself which maps directly into a memory space
> > dedicated to the slot the card is plugged in to.
>
> Yes, I meant the install and other utils when I said "drivers".

Ok. If you want/need copies of the install/format/partition software then
just let me know and I'll stick ShrinkIt images of the disks on my web
site. This offer stands for anyone who might need these.

> I have the cable from the card to the DE-37. Don't have a cable
> from the DE-37 to the back of the drive but that shouldn't be too
> much of a problem. The terminator might be a bit more
> troublesome but I'm sure I can locate or fashion something.

I just opened the terminator and it looks like it has some sort of blue
chip inside (a resistor pack?)

The numbers on it are:

14-3-
221/331
8440 <- date code?

Its embedded into a flimsy piece of plastic with solder traces leading off
to the pins of the DE37. I'm sure you could duplicate it with some wire
if you found the chip and I gave you the correct pinout.

> Were the partition and install utils normally copied to the drive as
> part of the install? I may want to repartition it depending on what I
> find assuming it works at all.

No. And I believe re-paritioning the drive involved losing all the data
on it. My suggestion is to re-partition it for 99% ProDOS (leaving the 1%
for the minimal DOS 3.3 partition required to boot). Using it for
anything other than ProDOS is a waste. I wish I hadn't created the 10 or
so DOS 3.3 volumes on my 20megger that mostly went unused over the time
I've had it.

> > Well, don't get your hopes up about the games. They suck for the most
> > part.
>
> What, you mean I can't play Baldur's Gate, Civ 2 Multiplayer,
> Populous or SimCity 3000 on them? Damn, what good are they?

What I meant is that they just weren't as entertaining as the games for
the 2600 IMO. I still play my 2600. The games are more fun than any
modern PC game (well, Myst was really cool). However, after turning Solar
Fox over twice (2,000,000) there just hasn't been any game that has
challenged me.

> Well, every other time I've posting to the list that the deal was a no-
> go, they contacted me and we moved a little closer. Maybe it will
> happen again. Then again, I'd hate to give up totally so maybe I'll
> make one last try.

Give them a call and throw them a low ball offer. I'm sure if they still
have them by now they'll be more than happy to dump them for any price.

Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Mon Feb 01 1999 - 00:49:29 GMT

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