Reading Mac 800k Disks on Non-Mac Systems

[Chris M]

as an aside to this thread, the Victor 9000/Sirius
micro, an 8088 system purported to operate in minimum
mode, used a disk scheme similar to Macs. More data
was stored on the outer tracks, squeezing 1.2meg I
think onto a DD disk. Theres a site based in the UK
with gobs of software. Good luck hacking up a boot
disk though. Victor was a reputable calculator maker
at one time, but flopped in the PC business. Their 2nd
model, the VPC-II, a real compatible, is less seldom
found. Mine lacks the keyboard :(
--- cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org
<alhartman at yahoo.com> wrote:
> On my Atari 520-ST, I have a "Magic Sac" from David
> Small, that emulates a Mac 128/512 or a Mac Plus
with
> the appropriate ROMS.
> 
> I bought the optional "Transporter One" which is a
> seperate computer (Z-80 Based, I think...) that
reads
> and writes to 800k Floppies using the Floppy
> Controller port and the MIDI ports on the ST to
> communicate to the Transporter One.
> 
> I also have a Spectre GCR, which is the follow on
> product when David Small started his own company.
> 
> This unit has something in it that allows it to
> read/write to 800k Floppies without the Transporter
> One.
> 
> The Transporter is slow, and we used to convert Mac
> Floppies to the Proprietary Magic Sac 800k Format
that
> could be accessed with the ST's Floppy Controller.
> 
> This was a pretty neat solution at the time, giving
> one a FASTER Mac than a Mac, with a bigger screen
and
> access to Parallel Printers (using "Epstart").
> 
> I did a lot of advertising work on my ST back in the
> day. Unfortunately, my AERCO Ram upgrade gave up the
> ghost, and I can't find the Docs for it.
> 
> So, I'm back to 512k unless I want to piggyback some
> RAM and take it up to 1024k.
> 
> Used to have 2.5mb, which for a Mac Plus was plenty!
> 
> Someday, I'll get it working again... Or find a
MegaST
> cheap with a Hard Drive.
> 
> Those were nice systems. A shame Atari didn't sell
> them as business computers in a professional form
> factor.
> 
> I also used to have a Trackstar 128, which would
allow
> a PC to Emulate an Apple ][+, and with a minor mod
to
> certain floppy drives... Read and Write Apple II
disks
> natively.
> 
> I've gotta find another one of those someday.
> 
> I think I have a board here called a "Hydra", at
> least... That's what the guy who sold it to me said
it
> was... It was a board for an AT that was a MacPlus
on
> a board, and allowed the PC to run Mac Software. I
> don't have any docs, software, or cables for it...
> 
> And I'm not even sure this board IS a "Hydra" board.
> 
> It has a 68k processor on it, but I don't see any
Mac
> ROMS.
> 
> This might be a terminal emulator board that someone
> thought was a Hydra Board.
> 
> Regards,
> Al Hartman
> Philadelphia, PA
> 
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