Kennect Drive

[Charlieman]

From personal notes:

Kennect Technology

For a couple of years, Kennect offered some interesting disk products which allowed the use of PC format disks with non-FDHD Macs and the creation of large, non-standard Mac floppy disks.

Rapport is an adapter that connects to the external floppy drive port of a Mac 512Ke, Plus or later Mac. In conjunction with a CDEV (Control Panel), it allows the internal drive to read/write 720KB PC disks. If used with an external Apple 800KB drive, the CDEV allows the Mac to read/write non-standard 1.2MB disks on 800KB media.

Drive 2.4 is an external high density drive for use with the Rapport controller. It can create non-standard 2.4MB Mac disks as well as standard Mac disks. Drive 2.4 can also create standard and non-standard PC and ProDOS Apple II disks.

Two external 5.25" drives were offered for use with the Rapport adapter. Drive 360 will read/write/format 360KB PC disks and read/write/format 140KB ProDOS disks. Drive 1200 will read/write/format 1.2MB PC disks, and read 360KB PC disks and 140KB ProDOS disks.

A floppy drive adapter kit was sold for the Mac II and IIx which do not have an external floppy drive port. Given the modest price, I presume that this was a cable that plugs into the spare internal floppy socket on the Mac II/IIx logic board.

Using the Kennect Rapport when a modem is used on the serial port is known to cause data errors. This is unsurprising because use of the modem port also degrades floppy disk speed when using standard floppy drives.

Kennect Rapport: http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-051.html

 

[David Cook]

Attaching drivers for 1.0*, 1.0.1*, 1.0.2*, 1.2, 1.3.6, 1.7.1. Prior to version 1.2, the INIT and CDEV (control panel) are separate and Kennect did not make the numbers identical (so CDEV 1.0 might be on the same disk as INIT 1.0.1). The other note is that the CDEV is named "Rapport Prefs". It is not a preferences file. It is the control panel.



THANK YOU for purchasing Rapport !

Be sure to fill in and return your Warranty Registration card. As a registered owner you will receive product news and, in the event something can be improved, software driver updates - free of charge - for the duration of the warranty period.

Kennect Technology recommends using Rapport with Macintosh System (software) Version 4.2 (with Finder 5.0), or System Version 6.0.2 and above.

This diskette contains Apple File Exchange (System Version 6.0.4), a file translation utility for moving files to and from Macintosh HFS, MS-DOS, and ProDOS. For additional information about file translation, refer to your Rapport User's Manual.

If you haven't done so, please read your Rapport User's Manual for complete installation instructions. After the Rapport module has been connected to your Macintosh, the "Rapport " file should be placed in your startup disk's System Folder.

PLEASE NOTE: You are not required to update your System to use Rapport . You may want to obtain the complete System 6.0.4 (four diskettes) and documentation. If so, contact your Apple dealer.

We do, however, recommend using only the version of Apple File Exchange provided on this diskette.

New Rapport Driver Release - Version 1.3.4

A minor change was made to maintain compatablity with newer versions of SAM , an anti-viral cdev and INIT.
Diskettes formatted on the Drive 360 as MS-DOS disks would not be recognized by Apple File Exchange. This has been corrected.

Rapport Driver Release - Version 1.3.2

Version 1.3.2 is the first "Official" release since Version 1.2. Inter- mediate versions were given to some users who experienced unusual conflicts and incompatablities with other INITs and Hardware. We at Kennect wish to thank these brave souls for their help in the development of this much improved driver.

Changes since Version 1.2

1. The "Rapport " (an INIT driver) and "Rapport Prefs" (a control panel document) files have been combined into one file. If you are replacing your Rapport software, remove both old files from the System folder.

2. Support for Kennect's new disk drives, Drive 360 and Drive 1200, has been added. The Drive 360 can Read, Write, and Format 360K MS-DOS and 140K ProDOS diskettes. The Drive 1200 can Read, Write, and Format 1200K MS-DOS diskettes and supports reading 360K MS-DOS and 140K ProDOS diskettes.

3. Startup conflicts with other common INITs and cdevs have been worked out. We have worked with many manufacturers and publishers to correct conflicts. If you suspect a conflict between Rapport and another INIT or device, call our customer assistance folks at 1-800-552-1232. In many cases simply renaming "Rapport " to put it elsewhere in the startup order will resolve conflicts (INITs are loaded in alphabetical order).

4. All Kennect drives are compatable with Insignia Solutions' SoftPC and AccessPC software.

5. Version 1.3.2 will properly function with all brands of accelerators operating at 25Mhz or less... Some 33Mhz accelerators have been reported to as "may have a problem." In general, those that require "floppy fix" software are suspected to have minor problems with Rapport .

6. Users with the old HD20 (non-SCSI) may also use Version 1.3.2. Previously a special version was required. (NOTE: If you have an HD20 be sure to plug Rapport in behind the HD20... Do NOT plug the HD20 into Rapport!)


Problems Fixed in Version 1.2 (Historical Information)

1. Rapport will now function properly on Macintosh IIx, IIcx, IIci, and SE/30 computers. The driver will not interfere with the system's control of the internal FDHD. Please note that on these systems the Rapport Prefs setting for the internal drive operation is ignored.

2. Diskettes formatted for MSDOS are now compatable with Dayna's "DOS Mounter" external file system. Be aware, however, that when DOS Mounter is active in the system Apple File Exchange will "see" MS-DOS diskettes as Macintosh diskettes. If you wish to use translators with Apple File Exchange, it is necessary to remove DOS Mounter from the System Folder and restart your system. DOS Mounter also requires that a diskette be write "enabled" so that it may create a Desktop file - DOS diskettes read with Rapport on the internal drive are always write "protected," and cannot be accessed with DOS Mounter.

3. Minor changes have been made to provide compatability with more brands of accelerator cards. Timing variables are recalculated prior to each access to accomodate changes in system speed between accesses.


Problems Fixed in Version 1.1 (Historical Information)

1. The system would sometimes "Hang" in AFE when the internal drive is used for reading MS-DOS diskettes. This was due to a diskette being difficult to read and the Rapport and Driver were getting out of sync. Code was added/changed to properly retry when read errors encountered.

2. DaynaFile incompatablity: a blank diskette inserted in external drive when DaynaFile also active (sometimes) caused system crash. Version 1.1 can properly co-exist with DaynaFile and other SCSI devices that have RAM base drivers.

3. Internal drive "Status" call returned no information when no diskette was in the drive. Data left on stack from previous operations was interpreted as the internal drive status by the application or utility. (This was also a source of SCSI conflicts.) The code was changed so that the appropriate statuses are returned at all times.

4. SoftPC would not read MS-DOS diskettes on internal drive. In order to use the internal drive as a read-only DOS drive with SoftPC , it is necessary to insert an MS-DOS diskette in the internal drive during the launch of SoftPC . The internal drive will then become a selection item under the "Drives" menu.

5. Some accelerator equipped machines would not work with Rapport unless accelerator disabled.

6. Diskette name was garbled when formatting or erasing while using multi-finder. This was caused by a buffer conflict.

7. Internal drive operations were slow due to excessive seek step timing. This has been improved 25-30%.


PROBLEMS YOU MAY ENCOUNTER:

1. Apple File Exchange will not always report read errors, causing incomplete directory listings to be displayed without informing user. This problem has been experienced most often when using the internal drive on the Macintosh, due to bad "seating" of the diskette (you will notice that the diskette is noisy). The problem is in Apple File Exchange code and cannot be changed by us. If you experience this difficulty: (1) eject the diskette, (2) select "DRIVE" option to bring up another list, (3) re-insert the diskette. If you still have difficulties, give us a call - we're here to help.

2. Compatibility with "clone" Apple drives still does not appear to be viable. We recommend using Rapport only with our own Drive 2.4, or Apple's external 3.5" drives (including the FDHD).
_________________________________________________
The legal verbage:

"Rapport" and "Kennect Technology" are registered trademarks of The Engineering Department, Inc.

"MS-DOS" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

"Apple", "Macintosh", "ProDOS", "FDHD", "HD20", and "Apple File Exchange" are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

"SoftPC" and "AccessPC" are a registered trademark of Insignia Solutions, Inc.

"DaynaFile" and "DOS Mounter" are registered trademarks of Dayna Communications, Inc.

"SAM" is a trademark of Symantec Corporation.

APPLE COMPUTER, INC., MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ENCLOSED COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ITS MERCHANTABLITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PREMITTED BY SOME STATES AND THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

"Macintosh System Tools", "Macintosh Printing Tools", "Macintosh Utilities 1", and "Macintosh Utilities 2" are copyrighted programs of Apple Computer, Inc., licensed to The Engineering Department, Inc., to distribute for use only in combination with Rapport . Apple software shall not be copied onto another diskette (except for archive purposes) or into memory unless as part of the execution of "Macintosh System Tools", "Macintosh Printing Tools", "Macintosh Utilities 1", and/or "Macintosh Utilities 2". When "Macintosh System Tools", "Macintosh Printing Tools", "Macintosh Utilities 1", and/or "Macintosh Utilities 2" has completed execution Apple Software shall not be used by any other program.

 

[David Cook]

Photos of the inside of the Kennect Rapport floppy adapter:

Plastic cover seemed to be glued in place. Fairly easy to pry off. Copper band wrapped with tape on the holds the copper into a loop.



Big chip with a Apple copyright. Anyone know what it is?



Bottom of the PCB



Crystal can is soldered.



The main PCB attaches to the bottom with a connector. Looks like a ferrite core and ground shielding as well. They really cared about noise.



The Kennect Rapport lists for ungodly amounts on eBay. It certainly contains more than a splitter. My understanding is that it emulates a HD20. Nevertheless, I don't understand why they are so valuable.

- David

 

[cheesestraws]

Big chip with a Apple copyright. Anyone know what it is?

Best I've found so far is this: https://comp.sys.apple2.narkive.com/XdJd2t65/swim-chip-replacement-for-pctransporter - looks like it was used in other MFM-related peripherals too.

 

[David Cook]

Looks like three of the chips are: 68C02 microprocessor (marked G65SC02), 16K ROM (Rapport v1.001 752-0200), and 32K RAM cache (AKM62256LFP-10T)

 

[cheesestraws]

Based on that compatibility table, I wonder if that Apple part is some kind of weird SWIM.

 

[Arbee]

Found the Apple chip.

It's the floppy controller from the PC Transporter (PC/XT on a card) for the Apple II, also developed by The Engineering Department. AKA Dr. Wendall Sander and several other ex-Apple engineers who remained close with Apple. TED is suspected to have been involved with the Apple //e Card as well; its internal functions are strikingly similar to the internal workings of the PC Transporter. The Apple chip is thought to be a bare ISM, not a SWIM. In other words, it's the MFM half of the SWIM, without the back-compatible IWM half.

PCT can do the same tricks described for the Kennect dongle here, including reading and writing 720K MFM disks on an 800K Apple 3.5 Drive.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Before I even got this far, I knew that Apple chip would be the same as the PC Transporter disk interface. Applied Engineering also had the "AE HD" drive that allowed Apple IIgs machines (with driver) to read and write GCR 1.6MB floppies. AE had an "AE HD+" drive for the Macintosh that allowed high density drive use (with driver of course) on pre-Superdrive models.

Both drives likely are "smart" inside like Apple's Unidisk 3.5" drive and this device complete with RAM, 65c02, and a disk controller. I suspect the Macintosh model used some variant of the HD20 protocol or AE invented their own, or heck, based it on Smartport given their Apple II history.

 

[Arbee]

I have the non-plus AE HD. It runs the rotation motor at half speed to do 1600K floppies (and the seek and read times are similarly slower). It can do 400/800K without a driver. The AE HD+ is a straight FDHD clone as far as I'm aware, or at least the Apple II version was.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Guess AE took a page from Commodore (or was it the other way around?) with slowing down the rotation speed to meet the data rate requirements with an older controller. The same method was used with the FDHD drive in the Amiga 4000 to work with the Paula controller.

Looks like the original AEHD was later marketed (see page 25) as a Superdrive replacement for FDHD compatible Macintosh machines in addition to its IIgs 1.6MB format party trick. The AEHD+ appears to have been released later (late 91, early 92?) and allowed IWM Macintosh machines (the mainly the Mac Plus) to use 1.44MB MFM disks without ROM or controller upgrades. Similar product names and a lack of a post 1990 AE catalog scan make this difficult to sort out.

Their 1992 price list isn't even consistent with the names. They call it the "Plus Drive".