Re: Sun MFM controller formatting

the communication between the Sun MFM controller and a Mac or a PC (or the Lisa) is not very complicated.
There is a connector P1 which has only 3 cables: Ground, TXD, RXD. You cant't do many mistakes - if you do, the communication simply won't work.
I used my Mac IIci with Microphone II (VT100 Terminal emulation or Smart emulation) for the communication.
Even if it's very interesting, you can't do many things, because the firmware is very buggy and the format routines are unfinished. You can't format your hard disk using these routines. I have tried it several times and contacted SunRem- they have confirmed this problem. SunRem used a different method to format the hard disk (perhaps a different LLF EPROM)

Helmut

On 22 Jul., 23:09, "Lisa2.com" <r..._at_email.domain.hidden> wrote:
> My best guess is that the formatting/testing routines in the sun
> firmware would not be run with a Lisa or MacWorks based application
> (using the HD par. port interface), but run directly off the board
> over some type of simple terminal connection.  The ST-506 interface
> uses RS-422 signaling for data (you can clearly see the RS-422 line
> drivers on the board), and the Lisa supports RS-422 (and also every
> mac at that time).  Looking a the picture of the board, it's not
> obvious where to connect the terminal, but I will bet it's there
> somewhere.
> Rick
>
> On Jul 22, 12:52 pm, Al Kossow <a..._at_email.domain.hidden> wrote:
>
>
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>
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> > Was there a utility program for formatting and verifying a Sun MFM disk
> > in a Lisa? I dumped the firmware and scanned the PCBhttp://bitsavers.org/pdf/apple/lisa/sun_remarketing/Sun_MFM_Controller/
> > and noticed there appears to be a formatting program in the prom.

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