I'm considering picking up a SCSI card for my IIgs. I have a CFFA3000 so not sure I need it for HD but for some reason I'm considering it for a CD-ROM. However, I really don't remember much software coming out on CD. So other than the want factor... help me justify it...
thanks,
Well the ONE main reason for a SCSI controller besides of the CFFA3000
is the fact that you may setup at SCSI Harddisks NATIVE partitions of
different Operation systems like UCSD, CPM and DOS ( or even if you have
a coprocessorcard with 8080 or 8086 or 68000 or 6809 ) also using MS-DOS,
CPM68k or OS9 natively from harddisk.
Of course you may also boot from the CFFAcard by using the disk-emulation mode....
but it´s different stuff storing your files in a native partition, than converting each
time the stuff from "alien"-operation system to ProDOS partition of CFFA.
That´s at least the reason i use the RAMfast SCSI Controller besides of the CFFA3000.
sincerely speedyG
The reason for a SCSI adapter is for plugging in actual SCSI devices. For a IIgs, that would be limited to storage devices - i.e. probably not a flatbed scanner. About the only thing I use mine for any more is to connect a Zip drive which can be shared among older Macs as well as the IIgs. People sometimes like to hear/see/feel spinning media. I definitely like/want spinning media when it comes to 5-1/4" floppies. Anything higher density than that... I want solid state.
(I was going to respond to Speedy's assertions about native partitions... but I'm not actually sure what that's about. The CFFA3000 can of course host native partitions on a CF card, and they can host any operating system the Apple II line will run - even though it's easier to virtualize them within an image file. Anyway, probably a different topic.)
I once had a SCSI hard drive in a Tulin case which was not compatible with the Ramfast, but was compatible with the Apple ii SCSI Card.
The SCSI Card will ensure that you can hook up such a hard drive to your Apple II.
The other thing you might want to know is that there are devices that will allow you to hook up an external SCSI hard drive to a PC so that you can use Ciderpress to access the drive.
Nowadays the SCSI hard drives are cheap as dirt, they are compatible and can be connected as discussed to PC via any PC SCSI controller and can be easily accessed with ciderpress, apple compatible SCSI cards natively supported by apple2 software on ebay are currently several times cheaper than the CFFA, and as David likes I prefer real floppies, too especially when it comes to copy protection schemes that CFFA does not support, but I prefer floppies because as an old apple user I have plenty of drives and diskettes.
Thanks for the help. I believe I have found a high-speed SCSI card and drive for a reasonable price. So if the pictureverify it, I'll be a happy camper.