Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!apple!dlyons From: dlyons@Apple.COM (David A. Lyons) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: GS only ProDOS 8 release Message-ID: <43402@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 27 Jul 90 20:04:51 GMT References: <9007271634.AA14476@apple.com> Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA Lines: 39 In article <9007271634.AA14476@apple.com> MQUINN%UTCVM@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU (me) writes: (MQUINN wants ProDOS 8 to be revised to handle more than 2 devices per slot, partly so that Copy II+ can get at all his drives on a RANA card.) Can anybody with Copy II+ handy verify whether it's making its block-level calls through ProDOS (MLI READ_BLOCK and WRITE_BLOCK calls) rather than directly to the cards' firmware? >[...] GS/OS programs keep scanning ALL the drives FOUR times! whenever a >load or save occurs and that takes FOREVER! And I still use copy ][+ ALOT That's odd...why does it keep scanning for you? Is it because you've always just switched disks before you bring up a Standard File dialog? If so, try bringing up Standard File (Open... or whatever) and *then* switching the disk and hitting Tab. I think that will reduce your wasted time considerably. It's also conceivable that a future version of Standard File could provide a better way to move to another device, instead of Tabbing around past all your empty 5.25 drives. >and it sure would be nice to have access to all my drives and access them >in the slots the they REALLY are. It gets confusing figuring out which >drive goes with which slot when it's plugged into another slot. Under ProDOS 8, the "device number" format includes only one bit for the drive number, and many ProDOS 8 appications use this bit to display Drive 1 or Drive 2--so there's no way to make most applications call your drives 3 and 4. They would have to be 1 and 2 in some other slot. -- David A. Lyons, Apple Computer, Inc. | DAL Systems Apple II Developer Technical Support | P.O. Box 875 America Online: Dave Lyons | Cupertino, CA 95015-0875 GEnie: D.LYONS2 or DAVE.LYONS CompuServe: 72177,3233 Internet/BITNET: dlyons@apple.com UUCP: ...!ames!apple!dlyons My opinions are my own, not Apple's.