Andrea wrote: > Is there someone who can explain me how to fromat a profile? I have an Apple > /// and a IIe, TKS It is a rather complicated process, requiring a collection of rare parts: 1. You can only do it on an Apple ///. 2. You must have the Apple /// ProFILE controller card. 3. You need a copy of the special formatting firmware which is specific to your ProFILE model (5 MB or 10 MB). It must be burned into an EPROM. (I forget the size of the EPROM, but it is probably a 2708 or 2716). 4. You need the special "piggyback" version of the Z8 CPU, i.e. one which accepts an EPROM plugged in on top of it. 5. You need the software which controls the formatting process. This has to match the firwmare version and is probably tied to the drive capacity. The special Z8 CPU and EPROM must be installed in the ProFILE in order to do the low level format, replacing the normal Z8 CPU on the drive's internal controller board. That is all I know about the process, and I've never seen it in operation. -- David Empson dempson@actrix.gen.nz David Empson schrieb: > 4. You need the special "piggyback" version of the Z8 CPU, i.e. one > which accepts an EPROM plugged in on top of it. > Today it is quite impossible to get Z8-02 piggibacks. You can use a Z8 In-Circuit emulator from Zilog (available through Farnell, RS Components etc) instead. These units are rather expensive, but available. Patrick David, Partick: Is all of that truely needed? I have 2 ProFILE drives (both 10 meg) in case. I finally got a /// up and funtional. and that required formating the ProFILEs. Now I do NOT mean LOW LEVEL format of course, but a wipe and reinitalize in SOS. To do this.. I had to create bootable floppys via the *.do (they are treated like dsk files by ADT) files available from the Sara emulator project: Download Sara: http://www.mirrors.ausmac.net/ftp/Emulation-SW/apple/apple-iii-emulator/ get the do files: http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/sara.html Then I read up on the /// at the Apple II History page (BIG thank you to Steven Weyrich for his work!)for background and to get the flavor of this unique box Apple II History: http://apple2history.org/history/ah01.html Then I followed the links to the Washington Apple Pi /// FAQ page: http://www.wap.org/a3/default.html to learn how to use the software I had just recovered. What this entalied was creating a bootable floppy that contained the Driver for a ProFILE drive. Then installing the ProFILE card in slot 4 (default), booting and using the System Utility to FORMAT the Profile just the way you would a floppy. It seemd to work and I have stored many a file to both drives since then. -Bart Bart wrote: > David, Partick: > Is all of that truely needed? To do a low-level format, yes. > I have 2 ProFILE drives (both 10 meg) in case. > I finally got a /// up and funtional. and that required formating the > ProFILEs. Now I do NOT mean LOW LEVEL format of course, but a wipe and > reinitalize in SOS. That isn't a "format" - all it does is overwrite the directory (usually called an "erase" operation by Mac OS and GS/OS). If you have any bad blocks on the ProFILE, the only way to recover them is to do a low-level format. If the bad blocks are in a critical area (e.g. the first seven blocks) then the drive is useless without doing a low-level format. -- David Empson dempson@actrix.gen.nz