User`s guide

forward. The early version of the external Mac mechanism is mounted in a
plastic casing that resembles the Apple II platinum drive except that the manual
eject button is absent.
Remove the mechanism from the casing, but save its round external cable and
db-19 plug --- that cable/plug can be used later to adapt flat-ribbon Apple II
drives for use with the IIgs or IIIc! The Mac externaldrive's plastic casing
can be saved for use as a coin bank, or discarded.
You should anticipate that the older Mac drive has had plenty of use; most
Mac users have fewer drives attached to their computer than is common for the
Apple II.
The 3.5" drives are sturdier than hard drives, but to protect the drive's
head assembly from damage during rough shipment, the seller should be asked to
ship the unit with a disk inserted.
DISASSEMBLY OF THE APPLE 3.5" PLATINUM DRIVE
Use a well-light work area that gives you plenty of elbow room, with
containers to hold bolts and other small parts All dimensions
(left/right/top/bottom/front/rear) refer to the unit's own dimensions, NOT to
your own egocentric viewpoint as the observer. Standard precautions against
static or other electrical damage must be followed: Discharge static frequently
by touching grounded metal, wear a grounded wrist strap, hand all power OFF
when attaching/removing drives, put insulating tape over the d
b-19 drive plug when not in use.
Move slowly and patiently when removing or inserting the mechanism from its
housing ---- metal parts must not be forced or bent. These tools areneeded: (a)
medium and small Phillips-head screwdrivers, (b) a small pliers, and (c) a fine-
tipped felt marker. This procedure was outlined in an essay by Lorne Walton
(Apples BC, 1992), but many further details have been added here to facilitate
disassembly and drive replacement.
The first step is to remove the worn/defective mechanism from its Apple II
platinum casing. Flip the casing on its back and rest it on soft cloth. Re,ove
the four shiny bolts from the bottom of the casing. With the unit inverted,
slowly lift the bottom half-shell of the plastic casing upward and push the
external cable's attached grommet towards the upper casing. The unit's bottom
casing should come off cleany.
Use the felt marker to label the unit's own main dimensions, writing on the
metal internal shroud: front-bottom, rear-bottom, left side, right side. Examine
the metal innards as they lie upside down in the upper casing. Note that a red
and black wire pair are tucked on the inner edge of each side --- These two
wires go to the eject switch (right front) and to the red in-use LED lamp (left
front).
At the unit's rear, observe that the wire pairs terminate in RED and BLACK
plugs. Use the felt-tipped marker to write "R" and "B" on nearby metal surfaces
to identifythe positions of these two plugs. These letters will help during
reassembly when reinsterting the two plugs onto their proper pins. Next, use the
small pliers to grasp each plug, slowly and carefully pulling it backwards to
remove it from its mounting pins.