Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!jarthur!spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu!tybalt.caltech.edu!toddpw
From: toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Fast reading of floppies... (Really: Kill the UniDisk!)
Message-ID: <1990Mar15.173750.17835@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu>
Date: 15 Mar 90 17:37:50 GMT
References: <1990Mar15.142012.15985@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> <13979@nigel.udel.EDU>
Sender: news@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu
Organization: California Institute of Technology
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wack@udel.edu (Andrew Wack) writes:

[ I asked why the Unidisk didn't get upgraded to be a really nice 3.5 drive ]

>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.

... Or UniDisk owners. They still use the Packet protocol, and there isn't a
thing 5.0 can do about that. You can, however, lobotomize a Unidisk and make
it into an Apple 3.5, but you can't chain anything after it.
 
The best solution would be to upgrade the Unidisk card to be a full Disk Port
card (i.e. IIGS Disk Port equivalent, "the only floppy controller card you'll
ever need") and phase out the UniDisk.

Todd Whitesel
toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu