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Old 26-11-2007, 02:39 PM   #9
Michael J. Mahon
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Re: Is an apple 3.5 disk to USB converter available? Where?

Mark McDougall wrote:
> Michael J. Mahon wrote:
>
>> But is there any usable software to deal with Apple II
>> disks? My impression is that the Catweasel is outside
>> the realm of the Apple II.

>
>
> The Catweasel is an ISA/PCI card meant to be installed in a PC/Amiga
> host and is specifically for transferring data and/or disk images
> between host and Apple II format.


My impression is that it was "specifically" for transferring Amiga
GCR disks, and that the application to Apple II GCR disks was an
afterthought. The absence of any "real" software usable by Apple
folks confirms that, in my opinion.

If there were any significant use of this card by the Apple community,
then there would be useful software for that purpose.

Making something possible does not make it useful.

> I'm not familiar with it myself so I can't say whether or not there's
> much in the way of 'usable software' for actually reading/writing Apple
> II disks, other than the statement of claim on the website. BTW for some
> reason I simply cannot fathom, there's no mention of the MKIV on the
> website, which is a PCI-based card. But it definitely is, or was,
> available.


The website seems to be minimally maintained--another worrying
sign of neglect.

> Yes, the CFFA may be a better investment, depending on exactly what
> you're trying to achieve. However, the OP said he has "files on
> thousands of Apple II disks" and the implication was that they don't
> have an Apple II - in that case the Catweasel may be the better choice?


I'm pretty sure that Don has an Apple II. ;-)

My remarks should be considered in light of the Catweasel having been
available for many years, and brought up on csa2 many times, yet there
have been no reports of satisfied users or reasonable software support.

It may be a gem hidden in plain sight, but if so, it has eluded
discovery for a long time. ;-)

-michael

NadaNet networking for Apple II computers!
Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

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