LYMAN@IASSNS.BITNET.UUCP (02/18/87)
Good news for upgradingers. As Mark Twain might have said (in paraphrase) reports of Videx's demise have been greatly exaggerated. They still carry both the Enhancer ][ and a lower case character generator chip. The prices are: $149.00 Enhancer $29.00 Lower Case chip (included in above) Both available via mail order at least. Glad to hear about the 65C02's compatibility. By the way, since the chip only addresses 64K what exectly does it mean when a program says it needs 128K? If it is using the extra 64 as a ram-disk, won't it run (if slower) on my ][+? Lyman Hurd
Henry_Chiavaroli.WBST129UL@XEROX.COM (11/02/87)
I AM LOOKING AT EXPANDING MY PRESENT SYSTEMS MEMORY OR BUYING A NEW MACHINE. CAN ANYONE GIVE ME INFORMATION ON ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING? 1] APPLIED ENGINEERING RAM FACTOR AND/OR TRANSWARP BOARDS. 2]LASER 128EX COMPUTERS. 3]USING A MOUSE ON THE II+. IS IT POSSIBLE? IF SO, HOW? THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY INFORMATION. HANK
halp@TCGOULD.TN.CORNELL.EDU ("Bruce P. Halpern") (11/04/87)
1. Applied Engineering RamFactor and Transwarp.
Both very good. May or may not require a new power supply, depending
upon exact state of yours. AE replacement power supply is good. Shop around
thru magazines, etc. for best prices, e.g., CDA Computer Sales (800-526-5313)
is offering Transwarp for $175 plus shipping (2%). See ad on page 162 of
November A + .
2. Laser 128EX
Reviewed on pages 131-137 of December, 1987 A + (which is the correct citation
for #1, above, also). In general, strongly recommended for those who do not
need full features of ][e or ][gs.
Again, check for prices. Central Point's are often very good.
3. Mouse in ][+
The AppleMouse ][ can be installed in a ][, ][+, or ][e. You need the AppleMouse
][ card, which comes with a mouse. Once again, check prices.
****DISCLAMER: My comments, etc., are my own shakey opinions ********
| Bruce P. Halpern Psychology & Neurobiology & Behavior Cornell Ithaca |
| ARPA: halp@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu |
| BITNET: HALP@CRNLTHRY D57J@CORNELLA D57J@CRNLVAX5 |
| PHONE: 607-255-6433 Uris Hall, Cornell U., Ithaca, NY 14853-7601 | michal@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (02/16/90)
I salvaged an Apple ][+ that has not been used for 5 years. I plugged it in, it works! So I got into thinking that I could upgrade it to something more contemporary. I know very little about the Apple ][+ Here is what the apple ][+ has: 1. 48 k ram 2. floppy disk controller + 1 disk drive 3. Applesoft Basic in ROM + Autostart ROM (Revision 1 board) 4. DOS 3.3 So far, I have managed to figure that in order to make this apple a terminal I must do the following: a. Get an 80 col card (suggestions ?) b. Modify shift key to include lower case letters (how to do this ?) c. Get a SuperSerial Card (suggestions ?) d. Get an external modem (2400 - which) e. Terminal software ( I heard Kermit will run under dos 3.3) f. Optionally, substitue d,e with an internal modem (?) Is this the correct minimum for turning the above apple into a vt100 terminal? Lastly, I would like to find out what is exectly 'ProDOS' (short of being a better DOS, I guess) , is it a comercial product, what is the most recent version of it, and what are the hardware requiraments for running it. What are the benefits of having it ? Sorry if this is trivial, to me it is new. -- Merlin [The Magician] (AKA Michal Chmielewski) US Mail: Academic Computing Services, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA E-mail : michal@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu, michal@ukanvax.bitnet, AT&T (913)-864-0443
cs122aw@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Scott Alfter) (02/17/90)
In article <22245.25da947a@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> michal@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: > Here is what the apple ][+ has: > 1. 48 k ram > 2. floppy disk controller + 1 disk drive > 3. Applesoft Basic in ROM + Autostart ROM (Revision 1 board) > 4. DOS 3.3 OK, looks like you're going to need a bit of stuff to get it going! > So far, I have managed to figure that in order to make this apple a >terminal I must do the following: > a. Get an 80 col card (suggestions ?) Videx-compatible 80-column cards seem to be the most popular, but I never owned a II Plus, so I couldn't say for sure. I think the only company that makes 80-column cards for the II Plus anymore is Applied Engineering, with their Viewmaster 80. (Videx-compatible and everything-else-compatible, as is every- thing from AE.) > b. Modify shift key to include lower case letters (how to do this ?) Some companies sell shift-key modifications, but I have a magazine article from 1984 that tells how to do this modification yourself. You say you have a Revision 1 motherboard, so here goes: 1) Remove the cover from the computer. Remove all cards from the slots. Remove the motherboard from the case. Remove the bottom of the case from the rest of the case. Turn the case/keyboard unit upside-down. 2) At this point, the keyboard's curcuit board should be visible, with a 40- pin encoder chip in the lower left corner of the board and the keyboard cable in the upper left. Cut, strip, and solder a wire between pin 16 of the keyboard cable header (you'll see it as the upper-right corner of the header) and the leftmost contact of the three contacts on the SHIFT switch. (This switch is labeled number 53; the number is over the rightmost contact. Go over two more contacts and solder the wire to that terminal. 3) Reassemble the computer. This is probably not the best description. Again, I've never done this, so don't come crying to me if you fry the motherboard. If you're not completely confident that you can handle this, buy one of the commercial modification kits. > c. Get a SuperSerial Card (suggestions ?) > d. Get an external modem (2400 - which) If the SSC is intended to be used with an external modem, I'd get an internal modem instead. The Applied Engineering DataLink 2400 has an SSC front end and works like a Hayes Smartmodem 2400. > e. Terminal software ( I heard Kermit will run under dos 3.3) Yes, it will, but you'll need ProDOS to get a copy at all (more later). > f. Optionally, substitue d,e with an internal modem (?) As far as I'm concerned, internal modems are the only way to fly. They fit inside the computer and don't collect dust on the outside. If you ever move, all you'll have to do is disconnect the phone lines from the connectors on the back. An external modem is more hardware to pack up. Besides, an internal modem costs less than the equivalent serial-card/external-modem combination. >Is this the correct minimum for turning the above apple into a vt100 terminal? Add a 16K "language card" to the list. These cards are still available from several sources--hell, AE came out with a new design for this type of card, the Pocket Rocket, just a couple of years ago! (Their design uses only four chips.) You'll need the language card to run ProDOS. A second 5.25" drive (plenty of Disk II clones out there) and more memory beyond 64K would also be nice. The language card is an absolute must-have--no serious commercial software will work with less than 64K anymore. >Lastly, I would like to find out what is exectly 'ProDOS' (short of >being a better DOS, I guess) , is it a comercial product, what is the >most recent version of it, and what are the hardware requiraments for >running it. What are the benefits of having it ? ProDOS is, for all practical purposes, THE operating system for the Apple II today. It offers many advantages over DOS 3.3: speed, a hierarchial file structure, the ability to use 3.5" disks, hard disks, and RAMdisks, and other features too numerous to mention. The only software anymore that uses DOS 3.3 are copy-protected games that use modified versions of DOS 3.3. You can almost (but not quite) be guaranteed that ProDOS-based software will not be copy-protected and can be moved to a hard disk at a later date. ProDOS requires 64K, so you'd better get a language card (but I already said that!). Scott Alfter------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet: cs122aw@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu _/_ Apple IIe: the power to be your best! alfter@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu/ v \ saa33413@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu ( ( A keyboard--how quaint! Bitnet: free0066@uiucvmd.bitnet \_^_/ --M. Scott, STIV
kirk@pro-realm.cts.com (Kirk Kamberg) (02/18/90)
In-Reply-To: message from cs122aw@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu >As far as I'm concerned, internal modems are the only way to fly. They fit >inside the computer and don't collect dust on the outside. If you ever move, >all you'll have to do is disconnect the phone lines from the connectors on >the back. An external modem is more hardware to pack up.Besides, an internal >modem costs less than the equivalent serial-card/external-modem combination. >Scott Alfter----------------------------------------------------------- I disagree with this. I would never buy an internal modem. Here are my reasons: 1. It draws power from your computer's power supply. More strain = faster fail, and the II+ power supply was kinda weak anyway. 2. No indication of what is going on with the modem when you are using it. Sure, you can hear it connect, but having the indicator lights telling you exactly what it is doing is very useful. 3. This is the big one. Portability! I have one modem, and I can use it on my IIe, IIgs, and Amiga just by using a T-switch. If you buy an internal modem, you are stuck *forever* using it on the machine you bought it for. Pay the extra couple bucks for an external so you don't hate yourself later if you want to switch to a different computer. 4. If you use the super serial card + modem, you can also use the serial card later on if you want to drive an Imagewriter or other serial printer. That's about it. Just my opinion... Pro-Realm | Proline: kirk@pro-realm 3/12/2400 baud | BITNET: kirk%pro-realm.cts.com@nosc.mil (914) 691-3863 | UUCP: crash!pnet01!pro-realm!kirk My opinions only! | ARPA: crash!pnet01!pro-realm!kirk
tomk@pro-grouch.cts.com (Tom Kelly) (02/20/90)
In-Reply-To: message from michal@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu The shift key mod is just a wire from the keyboard encoder board to the game port (IC socket). Send me E-Mail and I will look up the exact connections. UUCP: crash!pro-grouch!tomk ARPA: crash!pro-grouch!tomk@nosc.mil