Reading various format 5.25" floppies on a PC

From: Ethan Dicks <erd_6502_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Mon Jun 16 19:27:00 2003

--- "Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)" <cisin_at_xenosoft.com> wrote:
> OK,
> You talked me into getting a "new" Mac!
> When did they start having expansion slots?

The MacSE was the first to have an expansion slot that I know of. I
have a graphics card and a couple of 10Base2 network cards (one from
Asante, IIRC; one from Novell). It's called a "PDS" slot ("P"rocessor
"D"irect "S"lot) - completely custom to whatever particular Mac
it's in (with a few exceptions, like the MacIIsi and MacSE/30 sharing
a slot and backplate design). *Standard* slots didn't come along
until the MacII line - those are called "NuBus". Those phased out
in the PowerPC days and have been supplanted with PCI slots in modern
PPC Macs (for those models that have slots at all).

The Mac approach is something like the Amiga approach - give little
boxes a proprietary processor-specific slot (Amiga 1000, Amiga 500,
Amiga 1200), and give the high-ticket boxes something standard
(Amiga 2000, Amiga 3000, Amiga 4000...) The difference is that you
can electrically fit an Amiga 1000 peripheral on an Amiga 500, but
not a MacSE card into even something as close to an SE/30 (68000
vs 68030, so incompatible PDS slots). There are several flavors of
Mac PDS slots, but one flavor of NuBus and PCI, AFAIK.

> When I was dealing with Macs, Apple was NOT enthusiastic about third
> party hardware!

I doubt they have ever been more than tolerant. There are a number
of well-known 3rd-party peripheral makers, and a couple of former
clone makers (Jobs hated the idea of people cutting in to his hardware
business, but he wasn't always in charge).

Asante, Novell and Radius are the ones that come to mind immediately,
but there are others.

> I am not very in touch with "current" computer systems.

There are probably three or four major types of Macs: enclosed models
with mono screens (128K, 512K, Plus, SE, SE/30...), low-end slab-style
desktops (MacLC-II, MacLC-III...), higher-end desktop and small server
models with 68020 or better, and Nubus slots (MacII, IIci, IIsi, IIvx,
IIfx, Quadra 700, Quadra 800, Quadra 950...), early PowerPC boxes with
NuBus slots and frequently AV hardware (PowerMac 6100, 6200, 7100,
8100...) and "modern" PowerPC designs (iMac, G3, G4...)

There are dozens of models that I have not mentioned, but they more-or-
less resemble one of the ones that I have mentioned.

> > Apart from that, what's the problem with soldering on the mainboard?
> My lack of skill. Did I mention that my first few attempts at PC mods
> were less than successful?

Well... as I said in another message, that's a different issue that can
be frequently be addressed with a bit of practice (or delegation ;-)
Just this week, I was modding a spare SPARC5 (removing the upper SCA
connector so I could fit a 1.6" drive inside the main case). I used
a combination of a soldering iron, solder sucker, and heat gun.

> > Some of us do it all the time.

Indeed, but I've modded more Amigas than PCs... mostly it's not worth
the hassle, in my experience, but there are times with less common
hardware that you don't have many alternatives (like the time I
installed a removable battery on a Mostek NVRAM from a SPARC1/1+/2.
I should take pictures of it. It still works.

> > And don't most modern PCs have the disk
> > controller on the motherboard now? I've certainly seen PC motherboards
> > with a 34 pin header for the floppy drives.

For a long time now. Many modern PCs don't even have ISA slots any
more - my high-end desktop machine has a 3-year-old motherboard in
it with 5 PCI slots, and no ISA (Asus A7V). I still keep an old
P-233 box around as well as a 486DX-2/66 for more down-to-earth hardware
hacking. I tend to leave the top end as-is (until it's not so top-end
anymore ;-)

> That is a LOT less fun than a separate board for each function.
> Do most people consider the Mac more fun than the ][ ?

Fun in what sense? To mod the hardware? Probably not. To attach to
a modern network and run a TCP/IP stack? Almost certainly. Starting
with the Plus, most Macs come with SCSI (there are a very few exceptions);
many come with network ports or are easy to refit with either LocalTalk
or Ethernet. Most ][s were not so equipped, but for enough money,
they could be so enhanced.

-ethan
Received on Mon Jun 16 2003 - 19:27:00 BST