Apple II Parts

[mc68k]

I'm looking for a hard drive for my IIgs. Last time one (a 170MB hard card) came up on eBay, someone paid $130 for it. I really don't think they're worth that much, but when they come up on eBay they're way overpriced.

I'm looking for another place to buy one, and possibly some more RAM too. Does anyone know where a good place to get these parts is? Here's the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

Thanks for any help.

 

[blakespot]

All that you need can be found, new, on this page at:

Alltech Electronics

Their Focus hardcard is an interface card that mounts in the IIgs (or IIe) which has a laptop 2.5" IDE HD mounted on it. The sizes vary depending upon what they've got in stock as far as laptop drives. (The interface board is new, but they're using used laptop drives.) I paid $99 and got a 400MB HD on mine. Seems hte current units have smaller HD's. 400MB is _far_ larger than I need on my IIgs.

I also have their Sirius RAM board w/ 4MB. Uses std. SIMM's, thought you may be able to find a better deal on a used RAM board on eBay--not sure.

I had initially wanted a RamFast SCSI board for the IIgs so I could use a Zip drive, but they are VERY hard to find and when found are quite expensive. I wanted the Zip drive to ferry files between my Mac and IIgs. I solved the problem in a better way by purchasing Stealth Serial board (oldschool serial) for my DP G4 800 and, under OS 9, tying the GS to the Mac via LocalTalk (AppleTalk over serial). Works like a charm--can browse the Mac's HD on the IIgs (those two windows are browsing my G4).



blakespot

 

[mc68k]

Originally posted by blakespot
Their Focus hardcard is an interface card that mounts in the IIgs (or IIe) which has a laptop 2.5" IDE HD mounted on it. The sizes vary depending upon what they've got in stock as far as laptop drives. (The interface board is new, but they're using used laptop drives.) I paid $99 and got a 400MB HD on mine. Seems hte current units have smaller HD's. 400MB is _far_ larger than I need on my IIgs.

Yeah, I've been bidding on these when they come up on eBay, and they're WAY overpriced. Glad to know there's another way to get them. Thanks a million. 400MB? Isn't the max size of Pro-DOS parts like 32MB? Seems like that would be hard to fill up/partition.

What do you suggest— buy a hard card w/a drive or w/o one and add one myself?

I also have their Sirius RAM board w/ 4MB. Uses std. SIMM's, thought you may be able to find a better deal on a used RAM board on eBay--not sure.

Is this a board with SIMM slots, DIPs, or a combination of both? If it's just a card covered with memory, the prices for RAM cards are usualy equal or less than Alltech's prices.

I had initially wanted a RamFast SCSI board for the IIgs so I could use a Zip drive, but they are VERY hard to find and when found are quite expensive.

Word. When these come up, they usually go for a good chunk of change. Along those lines, someone is selling a VGA/SVGA card with max res 1024*768. I didn't know that they made such high-end stuff back then.

I wanted the Zip drive to ferry files between my Mac and IIgs. I solved the problem in a better way by purchasing Stealth Serial board (oldschool serial) for my DP G4 800 and, under OS 9, tying the GS to the Mac via LocalTalk (AppleTalk over serial).

Looks sweet. How was that done? With a null modem cable? Was the implementation hard? How fast is the transfer rate? Is this is better/easier than a Zip drive?

 

[blakespot]

Originally posted by mc68k

Yeah, I've been bidding on these when they come up on eBay, and they're WAY overpriced. Glad to know there's another way to get them. Thanks a million. 400MB? Isn't the max size of Pro-DOS parts like 32MB? Seems like that would be hard to fill up/partition.

32MB is max partition size for ProDOS. I setup like 4-5 ProDOS partitions then the rest went to a large HFS partition (Mac format) which can be much larger. The GS/OS has no problem reading/writing from a HFS volume. Still, the drive is mostly empty.

What do you suggest— buy a hard card w/a drive or w/o one and add one myself?

Well, for $99 you can get one with. $99 does not seem like alot to me. I'd rather not have to hunt down a used laptop drive that I knew worked, etc. And the Focus has compat issues with some drives. When you get one bundled, you know it will work. Seems best just to go w/ a pre-attached drive straight from Alltech.

Is this a board with SIMM slots, DIPs, or a combination of both? If it's just a card covered with memory, the prices for RAM cards are usualy equal or less than Alltech's prices.

The Sirius RAM board is a memory card w/ SIMM's only. I have a box of SIMM's around to keep my Amigas and GS and other old machines happy, so it was no problem upping it to 4MB. Could go higher, but I've got no need and I believe that the more memory you add to a GS, the slower it is, sadly.

Word. When these come up, they usually go for a good chunk of change. Along those lines, someone is selling a VGA/SVGA card with max res 1024*768. I didn't know that they made such high-end stuff back then.

Looks sweet. How was that done? With a null modem cable? Was the implementation hard? How fast is the transfer rate? Is this is better/easier than a Zip drive?

I think having it networked via LocalTalk is easier than the Zip drive method. Esp since the Zip drive route requires SCSI which is hard to come by on the GS these days. It was not hard to work. OS 9 on the Mac and GS/OS on the GS support AppleTalk. I also have LocalTalk tying my G4 to my Mac Plus, tho I've added ethernet to the Mac Plus and use FTP instead, these days.

I just wish OS X could do LocalTalk -- it only supports AppleTalk over Ethernet.



blakespot

 

[mc68k]

Originally posted by blakespot

The Sirius RAM board is a memory card w/ SIMM's only. I have a box of SIMM's around to keep my Amigas and GS and other old machines happy, so it was no problem upping it to 4MB. Could go higher, but I've got no need and I believe that the more memory you add to a GS, the slower it is, sadly.

Just to clarify, do you mean 30-pin SIMM slots or single SIMM chips? It goes slower with more memory? How does that work?

It was not hard to work. OS 9 on the Mac and GS/OS on the GS support AppleTalk.

Just hook a old 9-pin mac serial cable between the two and they see each other over Apple Talk? Can AppleTalk see ProDOS parts?

Thanks for the kind assist.

 

[blakespot]

Originally posted by mc68k

Just to clarify, do you mean 30-pin SIMM slots or single SIMM chips? It goes slower with more memory? How does that work?

single SIMM chips?? It has 30-pin SIMM slots.

Just hook a old 9-pin mac serial cable between the two and they see each other over Apple Talk? Can AppleTalk see ProDOS parts?

Thanks for the kind assist.

The GS' implementation of AppleTalk does make ProDOS partitions visible. I've never tried browsing the GS on the G4 tho. I do it the other way around. But yes, a simple 8-pin DIN (not 9-pin) standard Apple printer cable is all it takes to tie the two units together. Well...assuming your Mac has a serial port. Recent Macs don't. I purchased a Stelth Serial Port to replace my internal modem. It gives a 100% compatible oldschool serial port on the G4 (it just breaks out the modem's serial port---recent macs have an oldschool serial port, it's just that there's a modem tied to it). USb->serial adapters such as the one from Keyspan will not do AppleTalk. And again, you can only do AppleTalk over serial (LocalTalk) from OS 9. It is gone in OS X. This is the only reason, at this point, that I keep OS 9 around at all.


blakespot