800K drive mechanism connecting to IIgs

#1 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 - 19:05 68kMLA

OK - this is going to sound entirely absurd. But.

I need a 3.5" drive for my IIgs. I have an SE with two 3.5" 800k mechanisms.

I read on an eBay listing that some external 1.44MB SuperDrive would work with an Apple FDHD Controller Card, but if plugged into the IIgs would just present as an 800k drive.

This sounds like the same behaviour as would be encountered connecting a 1.44MB mechanism to an IWM-equipped Macintosh.

So - basically, can I connect the 800K macintosh drive to the DA-19 on the back of the IIgs by virtue of some form of cabling? The only thing I'd probably need to compensate for is the eject signal as far as I can tell. Has anyone been crazy enough to try this before?

#2 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 - 19:45 68kMLA

can you post pictures ?

#3 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 - 20:56 68kMLA

short answer...yes. long answer: Away We Go!

Ok, the 800k mechanism will work out of your se just fine. But, you will need to be able to hook it up to the floppy port on the back of the IIgs. Basically, find an old external case that has a bad floppy. But yes, from personal experience they are the same mechanism and they will work.

#4 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 00:34 68kMLA

Aren't you just better off buying an External 800K Drive? I've used them on the IIGS and the Mac just fine.

#5 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 00:37 68kMLA

With just cabling, no. Been tried a thousand times and doesn't work. You need the box with the daisy-chain port. There were electronics inside that were necessary. They also made a Mac external without a daisy-chain port. It was just a drive with a cable going into the drive. It also didn't work with the IIgs.

#6 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 01:33 68kMLA

TL;DR. This is what you need to know:

http://vintagemacworld.com/drives.html

#7 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 02:52 68kMLA

Aren't you just better off buying an External 800K Drive?

Sure. How much do they cost, and is that cost <= the amount of funds I have available?

I was hoping to get away with doing this on the cheap.

#8 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 03:05 68kMLA

You can usually get one for about $50 or so, which isn't too bad for long term use. So many times I've had a compact with a dodgy internal drive, so I use the external and VOILA!

#9 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 05:31 68kMLA

gobabushka: That narrows my search considerably. If I can find a dead or mechanically icky 800K external, should be good to go, should also be a lot cheaper than a known working one.

#10 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 - 16:27 68kMLA

I've purchased quite a bit from DrKenB on Blujay, he has the Apple 3.5 case / cable / circuit board for $19.99 (USD) on his site, or a complete tested 800k drive for $45:

http://www.blujay.com/?page=profile&profile_username=drkenb

Everything shipped quickly and was well packaged. He has items on eBay too, but has to pay more in commissions there. I'm not sure if he'll ship internationally though.

I've also picked up complete, working 800k Apple 3.5 drives off of eBay for as low as $20, but it's a crap shoot if they work, and usually they go for more. I did have to replace a mechanism in one 800k drive, I used a spare I had on hand from upgrading one to a FDHD to go with my Superdrive controller equipped //e.

#11 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 - 22:20 68kMLA

Try posting a request to comp.sys.apple2.marketplace.

You should get a much better deal there.