12.002 What kinds of hard drive systems are available for Apple II users?
Description
This article is from the Apple II Csa2 FAQ, by Jeff Hurlburt with numerous contributions by others.
12.002 What kinds of hard drive systems are available for Apple II users?
The most versatile and most common hard drive set-up is an internal SCSI
interface card and an external SCSI drive. Hard drives, cd-rom drives,
removable media (SyQuest, Iomega), flopticals, and scanners all can be added to
the SCSI chain. Insert the card in a slot, connect a cable or two, and change
a slot setting.
The preferred SCSI card is the RamFAST Rev. D SCSI card. The next best
card is the Apple Hi-Speed SCSI card.
Here are some RamFAST notes:
- faster than Apple Hi-Speed, especially in ProDOS
- provides termination power to the SCSI chain
- allows partitions to be mapped in ProDOS
- device drivers come on the card in the upgradeable ROM chip
(3.01f)
- allows up to 8 devices to be added to the chain
- allows up to 12 partitions to be active at any one time
(switchable)
- allows up to 12 partitions per drive
- about $130 new
Here are some Apple High Speed notes:
- no longer produced or supported by Apple
- does not provide termination power to the SCSI chain (can be
modified to provide termination power)
- does not allow partitions to be mapped in ProDOS
- device drivers are software
- allows up to 7 devices to be added to the chain
- allows over 100 partitions to be active at any one time
- allows up to 20 (?) partitions per drive
- about $110 new (if still available)
For the hard drive itself, look for a SCSI drive in an external enclosure with
the following features:
- 30 day money-back guarantee
- external SCSI ID switching
- dual 50 pin SCSI connectors
- no or switchable termination (use an external terminator at
end of SCSI chain)
- switchable termination power (on/off) is a plus for users of
SCSI interface cards which do not supply termination power
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By: Rubywand
Another way to go is a 2.5" IDE drive mounted on an IDE interface card.
This "hard card" plugs into a Slot-- usually Slot 7. Alltech sells the Focus
Hard Card in varying sizes (e.g. 60MB for $99) with system software installed.
SHH Systeme offers the FileCard (about $170 + cost of drive) as well as a
series of IDE controller cards to which you can add a 2.5" IDE drive (about
$120-$170 including mounting kit).
The IDE hard card approach offers speed and capacity comparable to SCSI,
very easy installation, and, it eliminates hassles with external boxes and
cables. Of course, you will still need to add a SCSI interface card if you want
to connect a SCSI CD-ROM and/or Zip Drive.
Note: If you want your system to include a SCSI CD-ROM drive, it is best to
have a SCSI Zip Drive or SCSI hard disk connected to the SCSI interface, too.
This provides a write-able medium for saving SCSI interface card setup parms.
By: Rubywand
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