Restoring a Lisa widget drive

[mactjaap]

Latest update. Disk is not doing well. Most startups end in error 82. With NeoWidex it complains that it is not a widget. I tried to use all the possible functions on NeoWidex and got all over the place 0052 errors. Then after 10 times....the servo reset worked!





After that all the functions worked.....but a reboot ended again in error 82 :-(

I leave the widget now in peace until I have a clue what is going on. Maybe some caps have gone bad and sometimes work or work not..... Could be.

This widget is not in good state and I know it, but I have had a lot of fun with it!

 

[Johnnya101]

Get one of those widget adapter things so you can use a modern HDD, it would be much much easier and would work better. They are a bit expensive though... forget the name.

 

[mactjaap]

@Johnnya101

I understand what you mean. You think: "All the trouble this guy is doing. There must be a better way!"

And you have a point..... There are two devices you can use as widget/hard drive replacement if your origional one is broken (or just for confort).

IDEfile, a Profile emulator by Dr. Patrick Schäfer.

This is basically a DIY project. You buy the components and build it yourself.

“IDEfile is a ProFile compatible hard drive for Apple /// and Lisa systems. Emulation of the classic 5MB ProFile and the rare ProFile 10M is provided. I intend to support Lisa 2/10's Widget-10 and the (never released) 20MB Widget-20 with their multiblock transfer commands, too, but this will be somewhere in the future."

X/ProFile Emulator. 

“The X/ProFile Emulator. Works with the Lisa 1, Lisa 2/5 and Lisa 2/10(XL). Emulates the original Apple Profile and Lisa Widget. Comes with install info, install hardware, two preprogrammed CF Cards and a MasterVideo ROM Chip. This unit is totally Plug & Play. No parts to buy or complicated software drivers to install. Just hook it up and run...right out of the box. Uses a CF Card or IDE HD as the storage media.”

That is all. No devices to add IDE or SCSI hard disks to a Lisa. 

Next best things is a FloppyEmu. You can use it only as 400k drive, no hard drive (HD20)  function as on the Macintosh platform.

I absolutely consider these devices, but my widget drive is more than just a disk to my Lisa. It is also a kind of “computer archeology” I’m doing.
How did these devices worked, what do you need to get it going nowadays, can I have in depth knowledge of how it works?

After all these years and certainly the past few weeks I have achieved my goal. I really know a lot about the widget drive!

links:

http://john.ccac.rwth-aachen.de:8000/patrick/idefile.htm

http://vintagemicros.com/catalog/lisa-xprofile-hard-drive-emulator-p-282.html

 

[mactjaap]

A nice happy end for this long weekend. The disk came back to live and stoped with 0052 errors. See my two videos. One outside the Lisa and one with the widget in its normal position.