SmartDisk II · User documentation · Latest firmware
What the SmartDisk II is, which computers it works with, its four emulations, its features, what is new in the latest firmware, the XL board, the keys, and a map of the other pages.
All the pages
Page 2
The SmartDisk II board and its XL variant, the connectors and power jumpers, how to connect it to an Apple II, IIc, IIgs or Macintosh, which emulation to pick for which connection, and what to check before the first power-up.
Page 3
What your SD card must be (FAT32 with 32 KB clusters), how to prepare it on the board or on a computer, where the images and the configuration file go, what the file manager shows, and what the board does when the card is missing or pulled out.
Page 4
How to put a new firmware on your SmartDisk II over USB (drag and drop a UF2 file) or from the SD card, which file to take for the standard board and for the XL board, how to install the bootloader with an ST-Link, how to check the version, and how to go back.
Page 5
How to use the SmartDisk II every day: power on, the keys, choosing an emulation, browsing the SD card, mounting an image, favorites, creating and deleting images and folders, ejecting, the sounds, and loading images from the Apple II screen with the Smartloader.
Page 6
Every screen of the SmartDisk II display with its picture, what each line shows, what each key does, every item of every menu and the screen that comes next.
Page 7
Every setting of the SmartDisk II for each emulation, in the order the OLED shows it: what it does, its values and default, whether it asks first, whether it restarts the board. Also the Settings page of the Apple II, Log to SD and the saved settings file.
Page 8
Use the SmartDisk II as a 5.25 inch Disk II drive. Which images it takes (WOZ, DSK, DO, PO, NIC), how to mount them, how writes and write protection work, what the WeakBit option does, and what to do when something does not work.
Page 9
SmartPort emulation (hard disk)
Use the SmartDisk II as a SmartPort hard disk with four volumes. The images it takes (.po, .hdv, .2mg), how to fill the four slots, how to choose the boot volume, what the Apple II sees, and the limits to know.
Page 10
The Smartloader lists the images of your SD card on the Apple II screen and boots the one you choose, as a Disk II, SmartPort or 3.5 inch image. It also has a Settings page, so you can change the options from the Apple II keyboard. Screens, keys and limits.
Page 11
3.5 inch drive emulation (IIgs and Macintosh)
Use the SmartDisk II as an Apple 3.5 inch drive on an Apple IIgs, or as an external 800K drive on a Macintosh. Which images it plays, how to mount them, how to turn on writing, and how the eject works.
Page 12
Make a new disk image on the board: blank, bootable ProDOS or DOS 3.3, empty ProDOS or empty Macintosh (HFS). What each choice creates, how to type the name, and a reference of every image format the SmartDisk II reads, for each emulation.
Page 13
Which computers, image formats and copy protection schemes work with each emulation of the SmartDisk II, the limits of each format, the requirements for the SD card, and what does not work.
Page 14
Troubleshooting, FAQ and the log
Something does not work? Start with the quick checks, find your symptom (blank display, Apple does not boot, image refused, SD card messages, Macintosh does not see the drive, no sound), read the questions people ask, and learn how to collect a log and send it.
Page 15
What is new and fixed in each version of the SmartDisk II firmware, newest first, from the latest release back to the first versions of October 2024.
Page 16
One table per question: which computer can use which emulation, and for each emulation which file formats you can read, write and boot, with the limits that decide whether a disk starts.
Page 17
What the bootloader does at each start, the firmware update over USB and from the SD card, the update of the bootloader itself from the SD card or with an ST-Link, the bootloader files and what each message means.
This is the entry page of the SmartDisk II documentation. It describes the features of the last firmware release. Before you start, upgrade your SmartDisk II to the latest firmware (see Firmware update). The other pages are listed in the map at the end.
What the SmartDisk II is
The SmartDisk II is an SD card based floppy emulator for the Apple II and for the Macintosh. It plugs into the drive connector of your computer and reads disk images from an SD card. You choose and mount an image from a small OLED display and four keys. A fifth way, the Smartloader, shows the list of images on the screen of the Apple II itself.
It is built around an STM32F411 microcontroller on a “BlackPill” board. It produces the signals of the disk hardware bit by bit, so copy protected software runs as it does on a real drive.
Two boards exist. The SmartDisk II has a 0.96 inch OLED and four keys. The SmartDisk II XL has a 1.54 inch OLED and a rotary encoder instead of the UP and DOWN keys. Both run the same features. See the two boards.
What it plugs into
| Machine | How you use it |
|---|---|
| Apple II+, II Europlus, IIe | As a Disk II (5.25 inch). With a SmartPort card (Liron, SoftSP6 or Yellowstone) also as a SmartPort hard disk. |
| Apple IIc (ROM 4) | Disk II and SmartPort. |
| Apple IIgs (ROM 01 and 03) | Disk II, SmartPort, Smartloader and the 3.5 inch drive. |
| Macintosh with an external 800K drive port | The 3.5 inch drive, read and write, with the setting 3.5 Mac host on. |
The compatibility matrix shows, in one table, which computer can use which emulation, with which file format, read and write, and what boots. The compatibility page gives the full list, the limits and the things that do not work. The hardware page describes the cable, the connector and the boards.
The four emulations
One board emulates four kinds of device. You choose the one to run in Settings > Emulation type, or from the Smartloader, which hands over to the others. The Settings list and the main menu then show the entries of that emulation only.
| Emulation | What the Apple (or the Mac) sees | Typical use | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disk II | a 5.25 inch Disk II drive | DOS 3.3 and ProDOS floppies, WOZ images of protected games | Disk II emulation |
| SmartPort HD | up to four SmartPort block devices (the four volumes of the SmartPort screen), ProDOS volumes | hard disk images for ProDOS and GS/OS | SmartPort emulation |
| Smartloader | a 5.25 inch boot disk that shows a file browser on the Apple II screen | choose and boot an image without touching the keys of the board | Smartloader |
| Disk 3.5 | a 3.5 inch drive (400K or 800K) on a IIgs, or an external 3.5 inch drive on a Macintosh | 3.5 inch images, read and write | 3.5 inch drive for a IIgs or a Macintosh |
Disk II. The SmartDisk II reads the track under the head from the image on the SD card and sends it to the controller with the timing of a real drive (4 microseconds a bit cell, or what the WOZ file asks for). It takes WOZ, DSK/DO, PO and NIC images. Writes go back to the image on the card. The option 5.25 write turns them off.
SmartPort HD. The SmartDisk II answers the SmartPort commands. Each of the four units mounts a .po, .hdv or .2mg image. You choose the boot unit with Boot Img Index or First to boot.
Smartloader. A small program, loaded by the Apple II as if it were a boot disk, draws the list of folders, favorites and images on the 40 column screen. You pick an image. The SmartDisk II mounts it and the Apple II restarts from it. The Smartloader also has a SETTINGS page, so you can change the options from the Apple II keyboard. It needs a clean write stream from the Apple II (see the compatibility page, accelerators).
Disk 3.5. The SmartDisk II plays the part of the Apple 3.5 inch drive on the IIgs disk port, or of an external Macintosh floppy drive. It takes 400K (one side) and 800K (two sides) images, as plain blocks, DiskCopy 4.2 or MOOF.
What’s new in the last release
- Macintosh 3.5 inch drive, read and write. A Macintosh with an external drive port reads your images and writes to them (option 3.5 write). Initializing a blank disk works. Turning 3.5 Mac host on asks first, then restarts the board.
- MOOF images. The 3.5 inch drive takes Applesauce
.mooffiles. It reads them, writes into them in place, and Create disk can make blank, ProDOS (bootable and empty) and HFS.mooffiles. - More in Create disk. Empty HFS (Macintosh) volumes for the 3.5 inch drive, a 1440K HFS image when 3.5 Mac host is on, and
.mooffiles. A better name editor, and New folder and Delete folder in the file manager. - 3.5 SuperDrive (experimental). On a Macintosh host, the setting 3.5 SuperDrive makes the board answer as a 1.44 MB SuperDrive and mounts 1440K images (read only). It is experimental.
- Smartloader settings page. The main menu of the Smartloader has a row SETTINGS. It shows the options of the running emulation, so you can change them from the Apple II. The new option Auto-boot last image (Autoboot last img on the OLED, AUTO-BOOT LAST on the Apple II, on by default) controls the countdown at start. When an option restarts the board, the Smartloader restarts the Apple II too.
- Smartloader search and file operations. In the Smartloader, S or / searches the whole card by name, and O opens the options of a file or a folder: delete, copy, move, favorite, new folder and create disk. The Help page lists every key. See Smartloader.
- Empty drive page. When no image is mounted, the OLED shows a drawn drive with “Insert a disk”. ENTER opens the file list.
- Sounds. With Sound effect on, you hear an eject sound and an insert sound. A refused image or an SD card problem plays a failure sound.
- SD card checks at power up. The board shows SD INVALID for a card it cannot mount and CLUSTER NOT 32K for a card with the wrong cluster size. When a card comes back, the board no longer restarts by itself: press ENTER.
- Settings follow the running emulation. The Settings list shows only the options of the emulation that runs.
- Log to SD. The option Log to SD writes the console log to
SMARTDISK.LOGon the card, so you can send it back when you report a problem. - NIC and SmartPort images. NIC images are writable. SmartPort accepts
.po,.hdvand.2mgin any letter case and refuses files that cannot be volumes. - More robust display and card. The board recovers a lost OLED bus by itself, and pulling the SD card out no longer makes the sound effect buzz.
- The XL board. A second board with a 1.54 inch SSD1309 OLED and a rotary encoder. It has its own firmware image.
Key features
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Browse and mount from the OLED | The file manager lists the card: folders first, then alphabetical, up to 255 entries a folder (the entries “.” and “..” included). ENTER on an image mounts it. |
| Image page | Shows the mounted image: name, type, a track line, and RD, WR or ER while the Apple reads, writes or hits an error. |
| Empty drive page | A drawn 5.25 or 3.5 inch drive with “Insert a disk” when no image is mounted: at start with no image, after an eject by the computer, after Unmount image. ENTER opens the file list. |
| Favorites | Mark an image as favorite from its menu (Toggle favorite). Open the list from the main menu (Disk II, 3.5 inch) or from the SmartPort screen. The list keeps 10 entries. |
| Boot modes | Boot last image mounts the last image at power up. Boot last dir opens the last folder. Boot favorites opens the favorites. They work for the two floppy emulations. SmartPort always shows its own screen. The Smartloader shows its menu on the Apple II. |
| File manager | Browse folders. The directory options are Refresh, Create disk, New folder and Delete folder (an empty folder only, never the root; it asks first). The image menu has Toggle favorite, Unmount image and Delete image (it asks first). |
| Create disk | Makes a new image in the folder you are looking at: ProDOS bootable (ProDOS 2.4.3 with BASIC.SYSTEM), DOS 3.3 bootable (both need the files SDPRODOS.BIN and SDDOS33.BIN in the root of the card), ProDOS empty, HFS (Macintosh) empty, or blank. Media: 5.25 inch 140K, 3.5 inch 400K, 800K or 1440K (HFS), 32 MB hard disk. File types: .po, .2mg, .dc42, .hdv, .dsk, .nic, .woz, .img, .moof. The running emulation decides what is offered. A name already taken gets _2, _3. See Create disk and image formats. |
| Name editor | Type the name of a new image or folder with a wheel of 42 characters: A to Z, 0 to 9, dot, dash, underscore, space, a case switch and [OK]. A strip shows the characters around the cursor. Hold UP or DOWN to go faster. Hold RET to delete. |
| Write support | Disk II: writes to WOZ, DSK, PO and NIC reach the card (5.25 write, on by default). SmartPort: writes reach the image. 3.5 inch drive, on a IIgs and on a Macintosh: 3.5 write (off by default). |
| Write protection | An image is write protected when its FAT read-only attribute is set, when its own flag says so (WOZ, 2MG or MOOF), or when the write option of the emulation is off. |
| Image formats | WOZ 1 and 2, DSK/DO, PO and NIC (Disk II). PO, HDV and 2MG (SmartPort). 2MG, PO, IMG, DC42, DC and MOOF (3.5 inch). See the table below. |
| Weak bits | Option WeakBit: a weak bit track gives noise, as on a real disk. |
| Screen saver | Option Screen saver: the OLED goes off after 30 seconds without a key. Any key wakes it and does nothing else. |
| Sounds | Option Sound effect: a click on the keys, an eject sound, an insert sound, and a failure sound for a refused image or a card problem. |
| Make filesystem | Settings > Make filesystem formats the card with an MBR, one partition and FAT32 with 32 KB clusters (FAT16 for a card of 2 GB or less), label SmartDiskII. It checks the result. It asks first and the answer is NO by default. |
| Smartloader on the Apple II screen | A list of folders, favorites and images on the 40 column screen. It boots the chosen image. It can change the emulation type (Disk II, SmartPort, and on a IIgs the 3.5 inch drive) and the settings. It searches the card by name, and it copies, moves, deletes and creates files and folders. Keys below. |
| Copy protection | The schemes of the table below. |
| Log to SD | Option Log to SD (off by default): the console log goes to SMARTDISK.LOG on the card, only while the emulation is quiet. At 256 KB the file becomes SMARTDISK.OLD. |
| Settings that follow the emulation | The Settings list shows only the options of the emulation that runs. In Smartloader mode, it shows those of the emulation the Smartloader loads. The table is on the settings page. |
| Display recovery | If the OLED stops answering, the board recovers the display bus and looks for the display again every 5 seconds. |
| Firmware update | You copy a UF2 file to the board through the bootloader, over USB or in the UPGRADE folder of the SD card. See Firmware update. |
The keys
The board has four keys. On the XL board a rotary encoder replaces UP and DOWN.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| UP | Moves up in a list. On the XL board, turn the knob counter-clockwise. |
| DOWN | Moves down in a list. On the XL board, turn the knob clockwise. |
| ENTER | Opens the selected entry, mounts the selected image, changes the selected option. |
| RET | Goes back one screen. |
The Smartloader uses the keyboard of the Apple II. See Smartloader.
Image formats by emulation
| Format | Disk II (5.25 inch) | SmartPort HD | Disk 3.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WOZ 1.0 | read, write | no | no |
| WOZ 2.0 and 2.1 | read, write | no | no |
| DSK, DO (143360 bytes, or 163840 for 40 tracks) | read, write | no | no |
| PO | read, write (143360 or 163840 bytes) | read, write (size a multiple of 512 bytes) | read, write if 3.5 write is on (400K or 800K) |
| NIC (nibbles, 286720 bytes) | read, write | no | no |
| 2MG | no | read, write (not a 2MG of nibbles) | read, write if 3.5 write is on (ProDOS order only) |
| HDV | no | read, write | no |
| DC42 and DC (DiskCopy 4.2) | no | no | read, write if 3.5 write is on |
| IMG (raw blocks) | no | no | read, write if 3.5 write is on (800 or 1600 blocks) |
| MOOF (Applesauce, GCR 400K or 800K) | no | no | read, write in place if 3.5 write is on |
The Disk II emulation refuses a WOZ file of a 3.5 inch disk. The 3.5 inch emulation takes no WOZ. Sizes and limits are on the compatibility page.
Copy protection
The SmartDisk II plays these copy protection schemes.
| Copy protection | Status |
|---|---|
| Fat Track | Passed |
| Weak Bit | Passed |
| Cross-track synchronisation | Passed |
| Half Track | Passed |
| Data Latch | Passed |
| Timing Bits | Passed |
| E7 | Passed |
| Optimal Bit Timing (below 4 microseconds) | Passed |
| Various Bit Counter | Passed |
| SpiraDisc | Passed |
The Locksmith “Certify” and “Fast copy” functions work. The list of WOZ titles that run is on the compatibility page.
Licence
This project may be distributed, remixed, adapted and built upon, in any medium or format, for non-commercial purposes only, and only with attribution to the creator. Commercial rights are reserved to the author.
Map of the documentation
| Page | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Hardware and installation | The boards, the revisions, the cable, powering, first start |
| SD card preparation | FAT32 with 32 KB clusters, formatting, folders |
| Firmware update | Bootloader, UF2, what to flash |
| Bootloader | Update from the SD card and over USB, ST-Link, the bootloader files |
| Usage guide | Menus, mounting an image, favorites, the file manager |
| OLED screens reference | Every screen with its picture |
| Settings reference | Every option, its default and its effect |
| Emulation: Disk II | 5.25 inch images, writes, weak bits |
| Emulation: SmartPort | Hard disk volumes, boot unit |
| Emulation: Smartloader | Browsing and settings on the Apple II screen |
| Emulation: 3.5 inch drive for a IIgs and a Macintosh | IIgs boot, Macintosh external drive, MOOF, SuperDrive |
| Create disk and image formats | New images, the formats |
| Compatibility | Machines, formats, copy protection, limits |
| Troubleshooting, FAQ and the log | Problems, messages, Log to SD |
| Firmware release notes | What changed, newest first |
| Compatibility matrix | One table: computer, emulation, format, read, write, boot |
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