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What drives do you use with your IIgs system?
- Thread starter Unknown_K
- Start date
Unknown_K
Well-known member
The IIgs disks I made were for 720K floppies but I have some original software that is on 5.25" disks (Apple II games).
Since I have a HD and GS/OS I just network a mac to the IIgs and dump the disk imaged on the HD and then use (forget the disk imaging softwares name) to make a disk.
3.5" DS/DD disks are hard to find new mostly because all the Amiga guys have hoarded them by now.
Since I have a HD and GS/OS I just network a mac to the IIgs and dump the disk imaged on the HD and then use (forget the disk imaging softwares name) to make a disk.
3.5" DS/DD disks are hard to find new mostly because all the Amiga guys have hoarded them by now.
DistantStar001
Well-known member
To answer some of the questions I'm seeing here: First, the IIgs is compatible with nearly every Apple or Macintosh floppy drives. The only exceptions are for PowerBooks or USB. Personally, I rotate (since I have more computers than I have working drives) a 5.25 in, and a 3.5 in Unidisk, as well as an "800k drive" with a 1.44 MB drive (extracted from my LC), installed into the case. I even rigged up a 1.44 MB from a Quadra once, and it worked fine (although I never got it to fit into an external case). My IIgs is an unmodified, bare-bones ROM 01 (256k, no extras), and so far it formats and reads any Apple II disk I put into it. Mostly I use the 5.25 since they're the most compatible with the rest of my Apple II line, and 800k is getting increasingly hard to find. Eventually, I hope to get a Floppy EMU.
Second, you can move programs from a 5.25 in disk over to a 3.5 in. So long as there is a suitable boot program or operating system on the disk, the game will work. This goes for the //e as well, as my grandfather used to do this all the time. However, my //c has not been terribly friendly with 1.44 MB.
And third. Yes, the IIgs will use the same 9 pin joysticks, and paddles as a //e, //c or Mac LC with //e card. I rotate my single joystick between those machines all the time. However, the joysticks and paddles for the ][ or ][+ are 16 pin and sadly will not work, but they will work with a //e. Also, I don't know, but I'd love to find out if an ADB joystick would work?
Finally, I've got to try Arkanoid!
Second, you can move programs from a 5.25 in disk over to a 3.5 in. So long as there is a suitable boot program or operating system on the disk, the game will work. This goes for the //e as well, as my grandfather used to do this all the time. However, my //c has not been terribly friendly with 1.44 MB.
And third. Yes, the IIgs will use the same 9 pin joysticks, and paddles as a //e, //c or Mac LC with //e card. I rotate my single joystick between those machines all the time. However, the joysticks and paddles for the ][ or ][+ are 16 pin and sadly will not work, but they will work with a //e. Also, I don't know, but I'd love to find out if an ADB joystick would work?
Finally, I've got to try Arkanoid!
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Dog Cow
Well-known member
What? Of course the 16pin joysticks will work on the Apple IIgs. It has a game port on its motherboard too. It's colored white. Open the case and take a look some time.
And yes, you can use ADB joysticks on the IIgs.
DistantStar001
Well-known member
OMG, your right! I was looking in the same corner of the board as my //e, but there it is J21 in the middle! I've had this thing for years, and I never noticed. So I everything works on a IIgs, can't wait to try it out!
Dog Cow
Well-known member
The one thing to know is that the socket is backwards compared to the older 8-bit Apple IIs. On those older models, you plugged it in with the cable coming out the back of the Apple's case. In the IIgs, you plug it in with the cable coming toward the front of the case (then you loop it back to have it come out the back if you want).
I have one 5.25" drive and one 800k 3.5" disk drive with my IIgs. When I was setting everything up, I used the 800k disk drive, and then I installed the OS onto a CF card in an IDE card and then networked it to one of my PPC Macs using a localtalk cable, to transfer more data. At that point, I had put the drives away and was running my system without them entirely, for a little bit of a cleaner look.
I came across a small stash of 5.25 disks at work and I had intended to poke at them a bit, but I haven't had an opportunity to get the IIgs out in a little while.
I came across a small stash of 5.25 disks at work and I had intended to poke at them a bit, but I haven't had an opportunity to get the IIgs out in a little while.
Unknown_K
Well-known member
My main IIgs is buried behind some Amigas I was using a while back. I did manage to get my original disk or Arkanoid II out of one of the drives (GS/OS booter floppy) to try on another machine.
Are the aftermarket IIgs floppy drives any better or worse then the stock Apple ones? Not talking about the special 1.44mb ones just the normal density variety.
I have one 3.5" and one 5.25" HH Applied Engineering floppy drives in my collection and another 3.5" third party drive as well (label fell off could be AE as well).
Are the aftermarket IIgs floppy drives any better or worse then the stock Apple ones? Not talking about the special 1.44mb ones just the normal density variety.
I have one 3.5" and one 5.25" HH Applied Engineering floppy drives in my collection and another 3.5" third party drive as well (label fell off could be AE as well).
