Is an apple 3.5 disk to USB converter available? Where?

Mark McDougall

Michael J. Mahon wrote:

> 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.

No, not just Amiga stuff. There's drivers for reading TRS-80 disks under
linux/xtrs, for example. The MKIV is supposedly firmware-upgradeable and
hence more flexible, supporting even more formats with the right software.

I've never been quite able to work out the vendor - he seems loathe to even
advertise the latest products and support is non-existent at best. He's also
the one behind the c-one which, as is becoming more apparent every day, is
dying a slow death despite promises of what's to come.

Regardless, I've been eyeing off a Catweasel MKIV since the day it was
announced, but still can't justify the expense.

> 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.

Granted.

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

Oh yes, see above!

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

Sorry, I'm a frequent lurker here and do have an interest in the A2, but
having only acquired my A2s recently I'm not up on the A2 community as
others here are...

> 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. ;-)

I suspect that is indeed the case. However, its utility is its ability to
read/write A2 disks on a non-A2 host platform, rather than provide
modern/convenient storage on the A2, which I'm guessing is what most people
are after. For that reason, even I would probably buy a CFFA before the
Catweasel - although OTOH I am interested in a wide range of platforms for
which the Catweasel would ultimately be more useful.

Regards,

--
| Mark McDougall | "Electrical Engineers do it
| <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug> | with less resistance!"

Hugh Hood

To: Don Lancaster
Don,

I might suggest:

(i) picking up a dirt cheap OS 9 (still reads ProDOS) equipped Beige
PowerMac G3 (includes a 3.5" SuperDrive and built-in ethernet) on eBay;
(I've seen them as low as $25)

(ii) Installing Apple's free DiskCopy software (or Aladdin's ShrinkWrap 3.5)
on the machine; (if it's not already on it)

(iii) feeding the machine your 3.5" 800K ProDOS floppies and letting
DiskCopy make an image file out of each one; (there may be batch mode ...
can't remember)

(iv) hooking the dirt cheap Beige PowerMac G3 up to your PC via their
ethernet ports (hub optional with crossover cable);

(v) FTPing the image files to your PC;

(vi) opening the image files on the PC in CiderPress (now free); and

(vii) using CiderPress to manipulate your files (I suspect most of them are
ASCII text files anyway).


A more abbreviated method (though _perhaps_ slower) would eliminate steps
(ii), (iii), (vi) and (vii). With it you would simply feed the Beige
PowerMac G3 your floppies, select 'all files', and FTP them to the PC.
The Interarchy 6.3 (FTP) program for Mac OS 9 is now free.

Hugh...

P.S. - Thanks for the LaserWriter Corner and Ask the Guru all those years.
Learning and using PostScript is still a blast.




> From: "Don Lancaster" <don@tinaja.com>
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
> Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:30:34 -0700
> To: comp.sys.apple2
> Subject: Is an apple 3.5 disk to USB converter available? Where?
>
>
> If not, what is the simplest way to transfer files on thousands of IIe
> disks?
>
>
> --
> Many thanks,
>
> Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
> Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
> rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: don@tinaja.com
>
> Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
> --- Synchronet 3.13a-Win32 NewsLink 1.83
--- Synchronet 3.13a-Win32 NewsLink 1.83
A2Central.com - Your total source for Apple II computing.

A2Pro

Hi!

On Mar 29, 12:30 am, Don wrote:
> If not, what is the simplest way to transfer files on thousands of IIe
> disks?

I just ran a program that reads Apple II 5.25 inch disks on an
Amiga 3000 that has an Amiga A1020 connected to it. It created an
image in 20 seconds. You ought to be able to pick up the hardware at
low cost. The software is available on Aminet, the Amiga software
repository.

Willi

schmidtd

On Mar 29, 10:53 pm, "A2Pro" <a...@wilserv.com> wrote:
> I just ran a program that reads Apple II 5.25 inch disks on an
> Amiga 3000...
The OP asked for 3.5" disks. Is there similar Amiga HW/SW that will
do the same?

aiiadict@gmail.com

On Mar 28, 10:30 pm, Don Lancaster <d...@tinaja.com> wrote:
> If not, what is the simplest way to transfer files on thousands of IIe
> disks?

1)sit at apple II computer
2)put disk in drive
3)press return a few times to get through ADT menus (or any of the
other Disk to DSK utilities)
4)wait 30 seconds for floppy to be converted to DSK
5)goto #2

you say thousands. Ok, I'll assume 2000 disks.

that would be 16 hours STRAIGHT with no breaks for 30 seconds a floppy
and 2000 disks. 16 hours of watching a progress bar as the disk is
converted.

by the time you're done, you'll have carpal tunnel or die of boredom.

this is a BIG job to do. I don't think hardware is going to solve
your problem, unless you make a robot arm to pick a disk out of the
box, stick it in the drive, close the drive, and press the buttons
required to get through the menus. then open the drive, remove disk,
put in "DONE" pile, and on to the next disk.

there's a bunch of human labor involved in converting many disks to
images, no matter what kind of hardware you have (unless you have the
robot!)


Rich

schmidtd

On Mar 29, 11:13 pm, aiiad...*********** wrote:
> you say thousands. Ok, I'll assume 2000 disks.
>
> that would be 16 hours STRAIGHT with no breaks for 30 seconds a floppy
> and 2000 disks. 16 hours of watching a progress bar as the disk is
> converted.
>
> by the time you're done, you'll have carpal tunnel or die of boredom.
Agreed. ADTPro has a batch-send function so at least you don't need
to keep naming the disks as you send them...

Michael J. Mahon

schmidtd wrote:
> On Mar 29, 11:13 pm, aiiad...*********** wrote:
>
>>you say thousands. Ok, I'll assume 2000 disks.
>>
>>that would be 16 hours STRAIGHT with no breaks for 30 seconds a floppy
>>and 2000 disks. 16 hours of watching a progress bar as the disk is
>>converted.
>>
>>by the time you're done, you'll have carpal tunnel or die of boredom.
>
> Agreed. ADTPro has a batch-send function so at least you don't need
> to keep naming the disks as you send them...

And one could think of 16 hours as four rainy-day afternoons (or
late nights). ;-)

And think of the rush of writing copies of *all* the images on a DVD!

-michael

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

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."

aiiadict@gmail.com

On Mar 29, 8:37 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> And one could think of 16 hours as four rainy-day afternoons (or
> late nights). ;-)

But attention span and circulation < 4hours. Your legs will fall
asleep and you will get distracted...

so change the 4 rainy day afternoons into 32 thirty minute "before
bed" activities... and after the second night you'll be dreading your
"before bed" activity!

Rich

aiiadict@gmail.com

On Mar 29, 8:57 pm, aiiad...*********** wrote:
> so change the 4 rainy day afternoons into 32 thirty minute "before
> bed" activities...

I was basing my 30seconds on 5.25. A very rough estimate. I think a
3.5 takes a BUNCH more time to make an image of.

note to self: read subject even if it looks like another question
that is answered in the FAQs

Rich

Michael J. Mahon

aiiadict*********** wrote:
> On Mar 29, 8:37 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>And one could think of 16 hours as four rainy-day afternoons (or
>>late nights). ;-)
>
>
> But attention span and circulation < 4hours. Your legs will fall
> asleep and you will get distracted...

But sometimes programming is all about getting "in the zone"
and performing like a robot for hours... And sometimes its
about writing a program to save performing like a robot for
hours... ;-)

-michael

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

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."