PC 5.25" Floppy Drive and Apple II Floppies: Way to Make Images or 3.5" Duplicates?

[Makosuke]

I'm sure this question has been asked and answered many times before, but I couldn't find another thread, and all the Google results I found were talking about using null modem cables or the like to transfer data directly from an Apple II to something newer.

My question is pretty simple: I just managed to get a 5.25" floppy drive working in a PC at work to read 17 year old disks (I can say many insulting things about XP, but it did recognize the floppy drive!), and I'm wondering if there's any way to use it to get disk images or some other more accessible form of data off a stack of floppies I have from my old //c.

I assume they're in ProDOS format, which I also assume Windows can't read, but is there some app that can make a disk image from them, or will a straight-to-3.5" disk copy work so I can make an image of that with a Classic Mac?

I ask, of course, because I want to play Ultima V and some other classic games on an Apple II emulator, but I need images of the old disks.

I also have an LC with the Apple II personality card somewhere, which I'm pretty sure can be used to do this (with a ProDOS partition on the hard drive), but if there's a way to do it with this PC it'd be a whole lot easier than digging that thing out of storage and getting it running.

 

[David Schmidt]

Short answer: no. Longer answer? Maybe...

My question is pretty simple: I just managed to get a 5.25" floppy drive working in a PC at work to read 17 year old disks (I can say many insulting things about XP, but it did recognize the floppy drive!), and I'm wondering if there's any way to use it to get disk images or some other more accessible form of data off a stack of floppies I have from my old //c.

It won't work with XP, but there is a possibility of getting this to work on earlier PC hardware/software. See:
http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2DSKETTE.html#007

I assume they're in ProDOS format, which I also assume Windows can't read, but is there some app that can make a disk image from them, or will a straight-to-3.5" disk copy work so I can make an image of that with a Classic Mac?

Those null-modem things you're reading about is what you need to make straight-to-3.5" disk copies. In general, PC hardware can't read Apple II disks. It's all the way down to the low-level format being incompatible (GCR vs MFM; see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk).

I ask, of course, because I want to play Ultima V and some other classic games on an Apple II emulator, but I need images of the old disks.

Well, now, that's a horse of a different color. You can probably find a copy of Ultima V on an FTP site out there somewhere. Google is your friend in that regard. It won't have your characters on it, but you want to start from scratch anyway, don't you?

If you really want your character disks back, there are some resources listed here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/259448/

 

[Makosuke]

Pretty much the answer I was expecting (I just went through this once trying to get a drive that both worked and would read old variable-speed 800K 3.5" Mac floppies), but I appreciate the info.

Of course I could just hunt for abandonware sites (nice one linked from that thread you pointed me to, in fact), but what fun is that? Besides, half the nostalgia comes from getting my old saves.

Guess it's time to do the LC dance. Come to think of it, I think I know where a //c+ with the internal 3.5" drive and an external 5.25" is... could probably use that to copy the disks, then an older Mac to make images of those. An option if the LC fails me, anyway.

I'm not going the null modem route unless I get totally desperate, though--that's just too much work.

 

[ReanimationLP]

Try WinImage, and/or HFV Explorer. Never used em for Apple II discs, but they've worked with a ton of other stuff.

 

[David Schmidt]

Try WinImage, and/or HFV Explorer. Never used em for Apple II discs, but they've worked with a ton of other stuff.

They won't work with 5-1/4" disks, though, will they? Mostly because the data would have to be on a medium the modern Apple could electrically connect to. Unless you have a 5-1/4" drive connected to the Mac...?