Questions and Answers
Copyright (c) 1994 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
Source: Internet Comp.sys.apple2
Q: I have recently purchased a hard drive for use with my Apple IIgs. Do I need to create different partitions to hold my ProDOS and GS/OS software?
A: No, because GS/OS uses the ProDOS file system by default, your GS/OS software can reside on the same partition. However, you may like to create multiple ProDOS partitions to provide a logical breakup of your drive (one for data, another for applications).
Q: Is there a problem with running a drive that has files with resource forks on an Apple IIe? I realise you aren't using those files on the IIe, but couldn't the IIe overwrite the files or give you an error message about the disks?
A: You should not try to manipulate files with resource forks or volumes which contain files with resource forks using ProDOS-8 utilities. ProDOS-8 does not understand these extended files. Ideally you would get an "unknown storage type" error, but one example of a program with known problems is Copy ][+.
Otherwise, it is perfectly safe to access the disk from ProDOS-8, whether you are running on a IIe or IIgs. The blocks used by the resource forks are marked as "in use" in the volume bitmap, so ProDOS-8 won't try to overwrite them.
Q: Is it possible to have more than two Apple 3.5" drives connected to the smartport of the Apple //gs?
A: No. You can only have two Apple 3.5 Drives connected to the same drive port, because there are only two drive enable signals. Similarly, you can only have two 5.25" drives connected to the same drive port.
However, more than two UniDisk 3.5 drives may be connected, because they use a software addressing scheme. In theory you could connect 126 UniDisk
3.5 or other intelligent SmartPort devices, but in practice you are limited to four or six drives (in total), depending on the computer and the drive connector.
You can also connect two Apple 3.5 drives and then one or more UniDisk 3.5 drives (and then one or two 5.25" drives, provided you don't exceed the maximum number of drives on the port).
Another possibility is to install an additional disk controller card (e.g. the SuperDrive card). You can then connect a further two Apple 3.5 Drives to that.
The SuperDrive is selected in the same manner as the Apple 3.5 Drive, so you can only have two of them connected to the same disk port (or one SuperDrive and one Apple 3.5 Drive).

THIS CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2007, APPLE MACINTOSH USERS' GROUP, SYDNEY
Permission has been obtained to make this material available on the Internet.

Permission is hereby granted for non-profit user groups to republish this content.
PLEASE CREDIT THE AUTHOR AND THE SOURCE: Applecations, publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia

THIS PAGE COPYRIGHT © 2007, ANDREW ROUGHAN