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From: wack@udel.edu (Andrew Wack)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2,comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Fast reading of floppies...
Message-ID: <13979@nigel.udel.EDU>
Date: 15 Mar 90 15:20:59 GMT
References: <1990Mar15.142012.15985@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu>
Sender: usenet@udel.EDU
Reply-To: wack@udel.edu (Andrew Wack)
Followup-To: comp.sys.apple2
Organization: University of Delaware
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In article <1990Mar15.142012.15985@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) writes:
>cwilson@NISC.SRI.COM (Chan Wilson) writes:
>
>>Say, is the unidisk faster than the appledisk in reading things, or is
>>just my overworked imagination?  
>
>Its your imagination. The UniDisk has its own controller (a 2 mhz 65c02)
>and uses the SmartPort packet protocol to communicate with the host. The
   [edit]
>Why didn't Apple
>
>	(a) make smartport as fast as the 3.5 instead?
>	(b) give the unidisk controller enough RAM to do 1:1 interleave
>		track reads and caching? (come on, 16K (2 6264's) is cheap!)
>
>Because they haven't bothered to improve anything once it is out the door...
>EXCEPT the 1 meg GS. The Unidisk could have become the 3.5 of choice but

The answer is they did upgrade, in the usual apple fashion, through software!
System Disk 5.0 reads 3.5 disks at a 1:1 interleave (even though the disk
is still set up with 2:1 interleave) by buffering tracks.  Thus they made
the (cheaper) appledisk as fast as the unidisk could ever be for free!

Granted this doesn't help non GS owners.

And if you want slow floppy access, try a 3.5 disk on an IBM sometime...ugghh.


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Andrew Wack                              Gravitation cannot be held responsible
Internet : wack@udel.edu          for people falling in love -- Albert Einstein