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Recommended floppy for IIe or Platinum

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KevinO

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Des Moines, IA USA
I picked up my first 2 Apple computers last year at VCFMW. I'm just now getting around to playing around with them. I have a IIe and a IIe Platinum, but no disk drives.

My question is what disk drive is recommended. Do I go with the original style Disk II or maybe one of the "newer" plastic styles like the A9M01017 or the A9M0108 DuoDisk? I don't mean to try to sound like I know anything about these, because I don't. I'm just getting the model numbers from what I'm seeing on ebay!

Just looking for an experienced opinion on which of these drives tend to be more reliable after 30 years.
 
In my experience no drive is more reliable after 30 years than any other. It all depends on how the drive was handled for the past 30 years. I prefer the duo drive just because I think it looks better with the IIe and is easier to have the two drive and one connection.

Just my two cents.
 
Duodrive is nice since you can easily dub disks. Other than that I'm not an active Apple user (I have most of the II series other than the original II) but as said, I haven't found any particular better or worse drives. The only note is the early Apple II systems had that ribbon cable/internal connector vs the nicer DB-19 external plug that you'll be doing.
 
KevinO said:
I picked up my first 2 Apple computers last year at VCFMW. I'm just now getting around to playing around with them. I have a IIe and a IIe Platinum, but no disk drives.

My question is what disk drive is recommended. Do I go with the original style Disk II or maybe one of the "newer" plastic styles like the A9M01017 or the A9M0108 DuoDisk? I don't mean to try to sound like I know anything about these, because I don't. I'm just getting the model numbers from what I'm seeing on ebay!

Just looking for an experienced opinion on which of these drives tend to be more reliable after 30 years.
Click to expand...

You don't want to use an original Disk II with either of your Apple II's as it would be necessary to also buy a disk drive controller card to put in the computer. I'm not sure if the Duodisk will plug into the back of the computer or not, I've never seen one or used one. The A9M01017 can be daisy chained to each other so they both connect to the DB-19 on the back of the computer.
 
I have pretty much one of every Apple II 5.25" drive, and really no one is any more reliable than another, they are all REALLY well built, and fairly simple to work on. *Really cant go wrong with any of them.

I will agree though that with a //e, a Duo disk "looks" the best on it ;-)

* Keep in mind the "Disk II" drives use different controller than the later ones, and are not daisy chainable, but there are cable adapters to go either way, electrically the controllers all function the same basic way and allow for two 5.25" drives either way.
 
There are no major physical differences between Apple-branded 5.25 drive mechanisms, so it really comes down to aesthetics and, in my opinion, which ones are easier to service.

DuoDisk drives are the most difficult to service. If drive 1 has a problem, you probably won't be able to use drive 2 until it's fixed or swapped. UniDisk and Apple 5.25 drives are a little easier to work on. The only complaint I have for these (and the DuoDisks) is that head calibration can be really loud because of the mech and plastic enclosure. Disk II drives are tanks. They're the easiest to open, service and modify. All Apple drives have one serious boogie-man - they all use belts. Over time, belts may fail or slip so you'll need to occasionally calibrate them. The obvious advantage for using 2 external drives is if drive 1 fails, swapping drive 2 over is quick and painless until you replace or repair drive 1.

Most aftermarket half-high drives are direct drive (no belts) and can format out a few extra tracks (if you're into that). You can still get brand new Teac mechs for the Apple II on eBay. When they die though, there isn't much to service and tuning is pretty much out of the question. I've never had any significant issues with third party drives.
 
magnusfalkirk said:
You don't want to use an original Disk II with either of your Apple II's as it would be necessary to also buy a disk drive controller card to put in the computer. I'm not sure if the Duodisk will plug into the back of the computer or not, I've never seen one or used one. The A9M01017 can be daisy chained to each other so they both connect to the DB-19 on the back of the computer.
Click to expand...

They all need a controller of some kind. The Platinum is more likely to have a DB19 controller card, the beige is more likely to have a Disk II IDC controller.
 
a2fan said:
They all need a controller of some kind. The Platinum is more likely to have a DB19 controller card, the beige is more likely to have a Disk II IDC controller.
Click to expand...

There are adapter cables available to convert either way though, so really with the right cables it doesnt matter which drive/controller combination you use.
 
For the Beige IIe, a duodisk.

For the Platinum IIe, a pair of 5.25 drives.

The two controller types:
fMMggd8.jpg


The top one is for the earlier Disk ]['s, the bottom is for the duos and apple 5.25's.
 
TX_Dj beat me to it as I was opening my IIe platinum and taking a picture of the 655-0101 controller in it, that I have for my DuoDisk. I don't remember having to buy the card (so it was in the IIe already), but I do remember getting a duodisk with the cable (it's probably not a specific cable (TBC)) but it was less hassle/questions on my end.
 
Olivier said:
TX_Dj beat me to it as I was opening my IIe platinum and taking a picture of the 655-0101 controller in it, that I have for my DuoDisk. I don't remember having to buy the card (so it was in the IIe already), but I do remember getting a duodisk with the cable (it's probably not a specific cable (TBC)) but it was less hassle/questions on my end.
Click to expand...

Duo-disk cable is actually duo-disk specific, since it was the only drive to have a removable cable, the rest all used permanently attached cables. That said the "computer end" of the duo disk cable was the standard 19-pin floppy connector just like the "unidisks" and "5.25 Drive" (bottom card in TX_Dj's pic)
 
a2fan said:
They all need a controller of some kind. The Platinum is more likely to have a DB19 controller card, the beige is more likely to have a Disk II IDC controller.
Click to expand...

The difference is that the newer //e and Platinum //e both have the controller built in so you can use the newer drives without any problem. With the original Disk II drives you need to add a card in a slot so you can use them.
 
magnusfalkirk said:
The difference is that the newer //e and Platinum //e both have the controller built in so you can use the newer drives without any problem. With the original Disk II drives you need to add a card in a slot so you can use them.
Click to expand...

It's not built in, just commonly included. Being they are 30 years old who knows what's in them now.
 
It looks like both of mine have the 655-0101 installed, so I am probably going to try the duodisk.

Another question...the platinum hangs when the disk controller is installed. Is this normal without a disk drive attached?
 
RWallmow said:
There are adapter cables available to convert either way though, so really with the right cables it doesnt matter which drive/controller combination you use.
Click to expand...

Personally, I wouldn't want the hassle of acquiring those adapters unless I had to. My primary intent was to imply the controllers are not 'built-in' and to specify what was most likely going to be present in either of the machines.
 
KevinO said:
It looks like both of mine have the 655-0101 installed, so I am probably going to try the duodisk.
Click to expand...

If the plastics have yellowed, the color clash between platinum and beige won't be as noticeable.
 
magnusfalkirk said:
The difference is that the newer //e and Platinum //e both have the controller built in so you can use the newer drives without any problem. With the original Disk II drives you need to add a card in a slot so you can use them.
Click to expand...

RWallmow said:
It's not built in, just commonly included. Being they are 30 years old who knows what's in them now.
Click to expand...

Correct. The only II's with "built in" controllers were the //c, IIgs, and IIc+.

KevinO said:
Another question...the platinum hangs when the disk controller is installed. Is this normal without a disk drive attached?
Click to expand...

That is the expected behavior for all systems except those with built in controllers, which will tell you they failed to boot the disk. All types which don't have built-in controllers will just "sit there" with the ROM splash at the top of the screen if there's either no disk in the drive or no drive connected. As david__schmidt pointed out, pressing Control-Reset on any II that fails to boot will drop you to ROM basic or monitor.
 
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