Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!purdue!decwrl!shlump.nac.dec.com!gauche!jnelson
From: jnelson@gauche.enet.dec.com (Jeff Nelson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Installing non-Apple hard disks (Alex Nghiem)
Message-ID: <7400@shlump.nac.dec.com>
Date: 11 Jan 90 23:01:26 GMT
References: <1966@tellab5.TELLABS.COM>
Sender: newsdaemon@shlump.nac.dec.com
Reply-To: jnelson@gauche.enet.dec.com (Jeff Nelson)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 40


> HOWEVER. Some drives like the Quantums that Apple installs use custom
firmware
> installed by quantum for apple's use only. A third party drive cannot use the
> Apple drive in HDsetup then unles the EPROM (or ROM) in it is replace
with one
> that has been copied form an apple disk. I'm not sure of the leagal
> ramifications of copying this firmware!

I've seen the above mentioned twice recently (maybe by the same person)
and I'm not
convinced that it's true.  Several months ago, I took a Quantum PRO 80
(half-height, 3.5
inch, 80 meg drive) from a DECstation 300-series IBM PC clone and, after
hacking HDsetup
to recognize it, got it to format and operate perfectly in my Mac II. 
Therefore, I find it
hard to believe that Quantum is installing a special ROM or EPROM in
drives they supply
to Apple, such that the drive does not work without the special ROM. 
Unless, of course,
Quantum is supplying the special ROM to other vendors, too.

Does anyone know for sure if the special ROM is indeed present in drives
that Quantum
sells to Apple?  Is the special ROM present in drives Quantum sells to
other vendors?
Does anyone else have experiences which support either Wiseman's theory
or mine?
My experience seems to suggest that either (1) the special ROM is always
present or
(2) there's no such thing as a special ROM.

Thanks for any insight you can share.

-Jeff E. Nelson
-Digital Equipment Corporation
-Internet:  jnelson@tle.enet.dec.com
-  -or-      jnelson%tle.dec@decwrl.dec.com
-Affiliation given for identification purposes only