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ReActiveMicro MicroDrive Turbo Owner'S Manual Download Page 52

 

MicroDrive Turbo 

45 

ReActiveMicro 

 

 

MicroDrive Turbo Revision History 

The 

MicroDrive Turbo

 was originally designed by Joachim Lange of ///SHH Systeme - 

Germany and released in 1996. 

First DMA IDE Controller 

After its release the 

MicroDrive Turbo

 was the first Apple II IDE Controller that 

offered DMA capability, true performance was finally realized for Apple II Computer 
Systems. 

Card Revisions 

In 2004 Gerber Street Enterprises started reselling select items from ///SHH Systeme, 
however stock was very limited. 

Mid-2006 

ReActiveMicro

 took over reselling all ///SHH Systeme items in an effort to 

provide better service and a larger product variety to the Apple II Community. 

Pre-2006 versions of the card were all hand assembled by Joachim Lange of ///SHH 
Systeme. After 

ReActiveMicro

 took over sales in 2006 the units were hand assembled 

by Henry from 

ReActiveMicro

 till mid-2015. 

ReActiveMicro

 then started their structured move to a more automated vendor and 

set their sights to have projects assembled on a larger scale. The 

MicroDrive Turbo

 

was the first such project to be fully assembled. However due to a learning curve and 
testing different vendors Henry continued to hand assemble some 

MicroDrive Turbo

 

units until 2016. 

Online Review 

On August 13, 2016 Joe Strosnider from the YouTube channel Joe's Computer 
Museum posted a review of several Mass Storage options for the Apple II, and the 

MicroDrive Turbo

 was among them. 

He gives some very good feedback regarding the differences between them and how 
the 

MicroDrive Turbo 

performs under real world conditions. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyfwZvTPPJV4peBHupd6Ckw

 

Summary of Contents for MicroDrive Turbo

Page 1: ...Owner s Manual MicroDrive T U R B O T h e F a s t e s t A p ple II Storag e C a r d A v a i l a b l e DMA ...

Page 2: ...MicroDrive T U R B O ...

Page 3: ... their quality and performance In no event will ReActiveMicro com or its suppliers be liable for direct indirect incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect in the hardware or manual even if they have been advised of the possibility of such damages In particular they shall have no liability for any programs or data stored in or used with ReActiveMicro com products including the c...

Page 4: ......

Page 5: ... Card 17 Copy a File from the CF Card 18 Technical Support 19 Uthernet ADTPro with MicroDrive Turbo 19 Copy Protected Software 19 Self Powered IDE to CF Adapters 20 IDE Pin 20 Power Mods 20 The HFS File System 21 HFS MAC File System 21 Firmware 22 ROM Chip Removal 22 Step by Step Instructions 22 Mechanical Hard Disk Drive Setup 24 Setup 24 Install a IDE Connector Cable 24 IDE 40 Pin Interface Conn...

Page 6: ...Back Up 35 Setting Up the Hard Drive 35 Error Messages at Boot Time 36 Drive 1 Error 36 Missing configuration data 36 Error reading boot sector 36 Volume not formatted 37 Unable to load ProDOS 37 Problematic Hard Disk Drives 38 WD Caviar Series 38 HD Installation 39 IDE Interface Overview 41 Introduction 41 The IDE Interface 41 IDE Origins 42 The Evolution of IDE ATA 43 Compact Flash Overview 44 W...

Page 7: ... the MicroDrive Turbo s installation is not much more difficult than any other card in your system Those of you who have never explored the insides of your computer the installation is not difficult if you follow the detailed steps in the Installation section Nevertheless you may decide that this process is not for you in this case arrange for a qualified computer technician to install the MicroDr...

Page 8: ... on the Apple IIGS GS OS driver with GS OS caching support included Can boot a minimum GS OS System in 12 seconds With an Accelerator installed 9 seconds Allows to boot any partition Up to 8 partitions on one CF Card 16 partitions on two CF Cards Fully compatible with all hardware such as TransWarp GS ZIP GSX PC Transporter RAM Cards from Apple Applied Engineering CV Tech Harris Q Labs Sequential ...

Page 9: ...g care of your Apple II files has never been so quick and painless Standard IDE Interface The 40 Pin IDE interface on the MicroDrive Turbo is a standard 16 bit IDE port It is capable of addressing Primary and Secondary Master Slave IDE storage IDE to Dual CF Adapter The MicroDrive Turbo comes standard with a 40 Pin IDE to Dual CF Adapter Users can control which of the Two CF Slots is Primary and S...

Page 10: ...Or on an existing CF Card the Setup utility can modify the default boot Volume The MicroDrive Turbo also offers a temporary option to boot to ANY volume When powering on the Apple II the user will press and hold the key This will pause the MicroDrive Turbo s splash screen The user then presses the corresponding Volume s number key and the MicroDrive Turbo will boot to that Volume Apple IIGS and Ap...

Page 11: ... will see menu item named COPYIIPLUS9 1 2 Using the Arrow keys highlight the item and press 3 Press the letter to select COPY and the letter for FILES 4 Use the Arrow keys to select the Slot where you installed the MicroDrive Turbo and Drive 1 Press 5 Use the Arrow keys to select the Slot and Drive where your backup floppy is located Press You will see a folder named MICRODRIVE 6 Using the Arrow ke...

Page 12: ... the MicroDrive Turbo in Slot 7 then we usually recommend Slot 2 By default the IIGS is set to use Slot 2 for a Modem Since most users no longer use a Modem Slot 2 is a good choice The default setting in the Apple IIGS will need to be changed in order for the MicroDrive Turbo to work in Slot 2 To edit the settings or change the way your Apple IIGS boots you will need to enter the Control Panel The...

Page 13: ...to press when done to save any changes The Startup Option in the Control Panel allows you to control how the Apple IIGS looks for bootable devices when powered on Scan will tell the Computer to look from Slot 7 to Slot 1 Selecting Slot X X refers to the Slot number will tell the computer to ONLY boot that Slot If no bootable devices are found then the Apple IIGS will report Check startup device Yo...

Page 14: ...rbo in Slot 7 When you want to boot to an external floppy drive s simply hold down the key during the boot up sequence This allows the Apple IIe to Skip booting the MicroDrive Turbo and move on to checking the floppy drive s or possible other bootable devices in lower numbered Slots If however you install the MicroDrive Turbo in another Slot then it may not boot and depends on what other bootable ...

Page 15: ... Hard Drive Image Using the Setup Utility Installation The MicroDrive Turbo is shipped Pre Setup Just install in any Slot It is recommended that Slot 7 be used if possible since you will most likely want to boot from the MicroDrive Turbo more often than your Floppy Drive s And when you want to boot to a Floppy Drive s 1 During the boot up procedure press and hold This will bypass the MicroDrive Tu...

Page 16: ...Arrow keys to highlight the folder and press You will now see a file called SHRINK IT V3 4 3 Press to Execute it 4 Press the letter to open an archive MICRODRV IIE S1 is for a 5 disk MICRODRV TURBO is for a 3 disk 5 Select One and press Twice 6 Next Select the Drive on which to write When done be sure to boot the disk and run the Setup utility to make sure it restored correctly Repeat the above pro...

Page 17: ...mance is the key feature that you get with the MicroDrive Turbo only from ReActiveMicro The Pre setup and Pre loaded CF Card The MicroDrive Turbo comes with a Pre Setup CF Card which has 4 ProDOS Volumes on it The CF Card comes pre loaded the same for the Apple IIGS or IIe Volume 1 has ProDOS 8 Utilities loaded on it and is bootable into ProDOS 8 Volume 2 has GS OS v6 0 1 loaded on it and is boota...

Page 18: ...hat Volume You can also use the Setup utility to make booting to another Volume the current setting 3 Upon booting the MicroDrive Turbo you will be taken to Volume 1 which holds the ProDOS 8 utilities You will see folder named MICRODRIVE 4 Using the Arrow keys highlight the folder and press You will now see a file called MICRODRV SETUP 5 Press to execute it 6 Press the letter to select Default Boot...

Page 19: ...s 6 Press and hold both Apple keys then press the key The Blk Size and Dec Hex column values will start to change 7 Keep pressing the Right Arrow key till the Blk Size reads 010000 Release the Apple keys 8 Press the key once The Blk Size should now read 00FFFF ProDOS can only use UP TO 32Megs of space 00FFFF is 32Meg in Blocks You cannot use volumes larger than 32Megs 9 Press the letter to delete ...

Page 20: ... to delete 5 Press the letter to delete the Volume 6 Press the letter twice if you DO NOT want to save your Changes and exit Repeat the above steps if you want to add more Volumes 7 Press the letter to select Write Configuration 8 Press then the letter to save the new configuration Done Setting Up a New CF Card To use a new CF Card or one that has been accidentally formatted on your PC you must first...

Page 21: ... open volume 6 Select Physical Disk X X is the disk number 7 Click the OK button to continue Users with a Computer that has more than one Hard Drive or CF Reader will have to determine exactly which Drive the CF Card Reader to be used is In most cases it will be 1 The size of the CF Card should also be displayed in the Remarks column All Volumes will now be listed 8 Select the volume you wish to b...

Page 22: ... cases it will be 1 The size of the CF Card should also be displayed in the Remarks column 5 Uncheck the Open as read only Option above the OK button WARNING Data on your Volumes can now be over written Be careful and make sure to select the correct Volume 6 Click the OK button to continue All Volumes will now be listed 7 Select the volume you wish to restore an Image to and click the Load from fil...

Page 23: ...would not need to fully restore the Image as with other backup programs Some Emulators can also access and use the Image files too Raw Disk Copiers like HDD Raw Copy can however be useful if you would like to quickly duplicate a CF Card as it will copy the Partition information unlike CiderPress So you do not need to run the MicroDrive Turbo Setup Utility before restoring the HDD Raw Copy Image Thi...

Page 24: ...o be used is In most cases it will be 1 The size of the CF Card should also be displayed in the Remarks column 6 Uncheck Open as read only and click the OK button All Volumes and folders will now be listed Locate the volume and folder if desired in which you wish to place the copied file Roots of Volumes can be identified by the double name such as MDVOL1 MDVOL1 for example Folder and files can be id...

Page 25: ...r to be used is In most cases it will be 1 The size of the CF Card should also be displayed in the Remarks column All Volumes and folders will now be listed Locate the volume and folder if needed in which the file wish to copy is located Roots of Volumes can be identified by the double name such as MDVOL1 MDVOL1 for example Folder and files can be identified by the name AFTER the and the info listed i...

Page 26: ...nsion card Typical slots are 3 for Uthernet Uthernet II Card 7 for MicroDrive Turbo Card 3 Use the IIe version of firmware in your MicroDrive Turbo Copy Protected Software Some programs especially copy protected games and programs that will not run from the Finder or require their own boot process are not aware of the Apple IIGS Memory Manager and therefore will not run from a hard disk because the...

Page 27: ...ed to Pin 20 of the IDE Connector in the form of a small jumper wire on the rear of the board Later boards have a small trace added to the face left side of the board Over the years some users insisted on trying to install the CF Adapter backwards which would cause a short and burn the added trace from the board So all boards from late 2017 and on have a fuse added to the small trace for added pro...

Page 28: ...other advantages other than a larger partition size GS OS cannot boot from a HFS partition If the HFS partition becomes corrupted there are no ways to repair the directory structure The partition will have to be reformatted with a complete loss of data Writing to a HFS partition is very slow and such any speed advantage has gone with using a hard disk writing to a HFS volume is also slow when usin...

Page 29: ... computer operated correctly then the IIe Firmware is installed Step by Step Instructions To remove the Firmware ROM you will need a PLCC Extraction Tool These can be found online such as eBay for around 5 00 Do not pry too hard on the ROM Socket if possible Reference the picture for the areas on which to pry up The New Firmware ROM should be installed in the same orientation with the chip marking...

Page 30: ...MicroDrive Turbo 23 ReActiveMicro ...

Page 31: ...be overlooked Setup First remove the IDE to CF Adapter from the MicroDrive Turbo The unit should just slide off when pulled Be careful to not bend any pins on the IDE male header Install a IDE Connector Cable The IDE interface connector is a 40 pin header type connector and generally is keyed to prevent the possibility of installing it upside down see images on the next page To create a keyed conn...

Page 32: ...n optional Secondary Hard Disk Drive which is referred to as a Slave drive The Black Connector attaches to the Primary Hard Disk Drive which is referred to as the Master Hard Disk Drive Pin 1 Cable Key 1 Pin 2 Pin 39 Pin 40 Pin 20 Blocked 10 min 18 maximum Pin 39 Pin 40 40 or 80 connectors 5 min 12 max 5 min 6 max Grey Stripe denotes Pin 1 Pin 2 Blue color MicroDrive Connector Grey Connector Slave...

Page 33: ...ies must have a common ground Without this the MicroDrive Turbo may not see the Hard Disk Drive s Powering the Hard Disk Drives External hard drives attached to the MicroDrive Turbo Card must be supplied by an external power supply The MicroDrive Turbo Card was intentionally designed to not supplying power for the disk drives Due to excessive current flow the data integrity and proper functioning ...

Page 34: ...ill speed up the installation process of GS OS on the IDE drive everything works fine even without a GS OS driver but somewhat slower Boot the installation disk to run the configuration program MICRO INSTALLER Do not use a GS OS program launcher After you have launched the program the screen gets blanked If your hard disk is brand new you will notice a short time of hard disk activity while the sc...

Page 35: ...back to the menu list Now it s time to save the information you just created Use Menu Item Write Configuration to write your partition map and operating parameters to hard disk The program should report success Leave the Installer program by pressing or using the Menu Item QUIT and confirm quitting This is the only way you should shut down this program Reboot your Apple II this is required before ...

Page 36: ...block from your hard disk Now you can make changes on your partitions or on the boot volume for example It is recommended that making hard disk backups for reason of data security In the case something went wrong it is also useful to have written down the complete setup parameters of your configuration You may change any item without the risk of losing data except the parameters listed here The nu...

Page 37: ...ts the actual size of the new partition Another Look at the MicroDrive Installer The MICRO INSTALLER is a PRODOS 8 system file which is fully compatible and can be launched under ProDOS 8 or GS OS without the need of any further accessories The MICRO INSTALLER can be launched from any environment without the need of BASIC SYSTEM It even can be launched directly by booting the MicroDrive Turbo Inst...

Page 38: ...ve is present If you need a second drive to be configured choose menu item CHANGE drive and the program will behave just like it has when dealing with the first drive Once you have run the MICRO INSTALLER to create a new hard disk configuration there is no need to launch it again from the installation disk The program writes itself on your hard disk into a safe area which cannot be accessed from a...

Page 39: ...ume This can be an Apple system disk your hard disk or a RAM disk If you are planning to use more than one volume as a bootable system volume please be sure to copy the driver into every SYSTEM DRIVERS folder The driver s functions are available after the next reboot of a GS OS system volume You also can use the INSTALLER to install the driver a bit more conveniently For this purpose a copy of the...

Page 40: ...me cable same plug Setting the Hard Drives Jumpers In a One Drive Configuration Your drive should be jumped as MASTER and NO SLAVE PRESENT In a Two Drive Configuration The first drive should be configured as MASTER with jumper SLAVE PRESENT set The second drive should be jumped as SLAVE In some cases you need to set additional jumpers as HOST SLAVE PRESENT or drive SLAVE PRESENT Be sure to power u...

Page 41: ...lly Boot Hold down the key when turning on the computer or rebooting and press the number key of the desired partition from which to boot When holding down the key the boot process will pause until either a number key is pressed or the key is released Releasing the key and not pressing a number key will cause the default volume to automatically boot You are able to boot from ANY of the first sixte...

Page 42: ...disk drive with different volume sizes Setting Up the Hard Drive After you have made the necessary backups and the MicroDrive Turbo Card is connected to your Vulcan you can run the program MICRO INSTALLER on the MicroDrive Turbo Card Utilities Disk Refer to Preparing your hard drive in this manual Be aware that it is possible with some old hard drives that they cannot be setup automatically If you...

Page 43: ... no hard disk connected b The hard disk is not powered up c The hard disk is jumped as a slave drive d Two hard disk are connected and both are set to a master drive e The hard disk has a defect f The first hard disk is not ready within 15 seconds after power up Missing configuration data The MicroDrive Turbo Card cannot load a valid configuration from the first hard disk Master A setup using the ...

Page 44: ...DOS This message appears if the ProDOS boot routine located on the boot sector of any PRODOS volume and loaded into the computer s memory at boot time has found one of the following errors a The boot routine cannot find a directory structure on the boot volume directory may be damaged b The boot routine cannot find a file with the name PRODOS in the root directory of the current boot volume The fi...

Page 45: ... 1 2x and its GS OS driver v2 xx The WD Digital Hard Drives cannot be handled on the Apple IIGS like other IDE drives they require special handling due to some very special properties of these drives To use a WD Caviar Hard Drive you need to re burn your existing firmware EPROM on the MicroDrive Turbo Card The image of the firmware v1 5x for the EPROM is included in this folder If you cannot do it...

Page 46: ...ameters You cannot use the results from the automatic setup this is only true for the Western Digital Hard Drives This means you must know the native hard disk parameters of your hard disk Usually these parameters the native parameters are printed on the hard drive s label You cannot use parameters different from the native hard disk parameters because the Western Digital drives always automatical...

Page 47: ...MicroDrive Turbo 40 ReActiveMicro ...

Page 48: ...turers to describe the drive controller combination used in drives with the ATA interface Because the ATA interface was directly integrated into virtually all PC motherboard chipsets it became the dominate Hard Disk Drive setup The IDE Interface IDE officially referred to as ATA is a generic term that applies to any drive with a built in disk controller It is an ANSI standard or more accurately an...

Page 49: ...rd assembly on a standard hard disk and then mount it in a standard drive bay just like any other drive Because the built in controller in these drives still needed to plug directly into the expansion bus just like any other controller a cable was run between the drive and one of the slots These connection problems were solved in various ways Compaq was the first to incorporate a special bus adapt...

Page 50: ...eliminated many of these compatibility problems Some areas of the ATA standard have been left open for vendor specific commands and functions These vendor specific commands and functions are the main reason it is so difficult to low level format ATA drives To work to full capability the formatter you are using usually must know the specific vendor unique commands for rewriting sector headers and r...

Page 51: ...ten to and read from the flash memory module s The CompactFlash Storage Cards on card intelligent controller manages interface protocols data storage and retrieval as well as Error Correcting Code ECC defect handling and diagnostics power management and clock control Once the CompactFlash Storage Card has been configured by the MicroDrive Turbo it appears as a standard ATA IDE disk drive CF Card I...

Page 52: ...hand assembled by Joachim Lange of SHH Systeme After ReActiveMicro took over sales in 2006 the units were hand assembled by Henry from ReActiveMicro till mid 2015 ReActiveMicro then started their structured move to a more automated vendor and set their sights to have projects assembled on a larger scale The MicroDrive Turbo was the first such project to be fully assembled However due to a learning...

Page 53: ...Apple the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc registered in the U S and other countries ...

Page 54: ......

Page 55: ...www reactivemicro com ...

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