Description: Apple II SCSI Card: Product Description (11/96)
Header: Apple II SCSI Card: Product Description (11/96)

 Article Created: 20 October 1996
 Article Reviewed/Updated: 15 November 1996

 TOPIC -----------------------------------------------------------

 This article contains the technical specifications for the Apple II SCSI card.

 DISCUSSION ------------------------------------------------------

 Technical Specifications
 ========================

 Hardware
 --------
 Provides an electrical interface between external SCSI devices and the CPU.

 Provides the address and control lines required by the Apple II's
 microprocessor for accessing and controlling the SCSI chip and Smartport
 firmware.

 Provides other circuitry to interface the 5380 IC with the Apple II CPU
 control signals.


 NCR 5380 SCSI IC
 -----------------
 Implements SCSI bus (5380 data sheet in Chapter 2 of the Hardware Technical
 Reference manual).


 On board RAM
 ------------
 8 banks of 1K, accessed with special logic circuits. Used for status of
 devices at SCSI bus initialization (including the status of the Apple II SCSI
 card itself)


 On Board ROM
 ------------
 8 banks of 1K, aAccessed with special logic circuits and used for storing
 Smartport firmware


 Interface
 ---------
 25-pin SCSI connector


 Input/Output
 ------------
 Parallel transmission, two modes for data i/o operations
 - PDMA (pseudo-DMA), default
 - Block Move only supported by 65816 CPUs and must be enabled by the
 application
 - Maximum storage area under ProDOS: 32 megabytes


 Firmware
 --------
 Smartport program converts the microprocessor commands or calls issued by CPU
 to a format compatible with external SCSI devices

 Issues calls to the microprocessor to give it the status of the external SCSI
 devices and allow the CPU to control their operation

 Commands supported: STATUS, READ BLOCK, WRITE BLOCK, FORMAT, CONTROL, INIT,
 OPEN, CLOSE, READ, WRITE

 Boot capability with Autostart ROM when you install the card in the slot with
 highest priority, which may depend on the operating environment

 When Smartport does not find the SCSI device capable of starting up the
 system, Smartport returns control to the environment of the Apple II and the
 startup search continues through lower-priority slots.


 Electrical
 ----------
 Voltage requirement: 4.75 to 5.25 volts DC
 Power consumption in milliamps (ma)
 Standby: 340 ma
 Operating: 390 ma


 Environmental
 -------------

 Ambient temperature:  50 to 104 deg F (10 to 40 deg C)

 Relative humidity: 20 to 95 percent (non condensing)


 System Requirements
 -------------------
 Apple IIGS, Apple IIe or Apple II Plus
 Apple II SCSI Card
 Apple SCSI System Cable
 One or more SCSI-compatible peripherals, can be a high-speed printer interface


 Daisy chaining
 --------------
 Apple II with the SCSI card in slot 5 and ONLY a serial printer or modem card
 in slot 2.

 - Running ProDOS 1.2: 4 external devices
 - Running ProDOS 16: 7 external devices


 Additional SCSI system components as required
 ---------------------------------------------
 Cable Terminator
 Peripheral Cables
 Cable Extenders   (Maximum total length of cables: 20 feet (6.5 meters).

 Read the manual for the Apple SCSI Cable System before trying to connect any
 SCSI devices.


 Article Change History
 15 Nov 1996 - Reviewed for technical accuracy, revised formatting.
 Copyright 1986-96, Apple Computer, Inc.
 Keywords:  specsht