[comp.sys.apple] upgrading an old rom //c

nakada@husc8.HARVARD.EDU (Paul Nakada) (10/23/87)

Here's the scenario..  I have a pre update version of the //c, and so far
I haven't noticed any shortcomings.  I haven't noticed any problems running
a modem at 1200 baud or any software incompatibilities...  the problem
is  that i would like to get a unidisk 3.5 (outrageously expensive as they
are.. but hey..  if you need the storage... )  well anyways.. it doesn't
have the protocol converter firware..  so i'm wondering... can i still get
the motherboard swap done?  and if so, how do i go about getting it..  must
I claim that I am having modem troubles.. ( i think i remember someone
saying that proof of purchase is required for the modem..  which i don't
have considering it's over two years old...)  oh yea...  i forgot to mention
that i refuse to buy the drive from a showroom dealer...  can i just
buy a unidisk 3.5 mail order and show up at a dealer and ask for a swap?
am I asking too much? 
any help in this matter would be much appreciateed..
thanks...
-paul
nakada@husc4.harvard.edu
nakada@harvunxu.bitnet

mackay@dalcsug.UUCP (Daniel MacKay) (10/23/87)

In article <3038@husc6.UUCP>, nakada@husc8.HARVARD.EDU (Paul Nakada) writes:

I used to be a service manager for an Apple retailer, so I have some
clarification on this ROM upgrade/1200 baud thing.

> I haven't noticed any shortcomings.  I haven't noticed any problems running
> a modem at 1200 baud or any software incompatibilities...  the problem

The Unidisk ROM upgrade is completely separate from the //c serial port
problem.  You may have to get a logic board swap for the ROM upgrade
(if your dealer doesn't have a ROM OR your ROM is soldered in, as some were),
but the serial port timing problem always requires a logic board swap, which
may or may not have the ROM upgrade.  //cs which HAVE been upgraded with the
upgrade kit, or had the new ROM from the factory, will have a little 3.5"
disk icon sticker next to the disk port.  

> the motherboard swap done?  and if so, how do i go about getting it..  must
> I claim that I am having modem troubles.. ( i think i remember someone
> saying that proof of purchase is required for the modem..  which i don't

No, all you have to do is buy the Unidisk 3.5" to get the ROM upgrade. 

> that i refuse to buy the drive from a showroom dealer...  can i just
> buy a unidisk 3.5 mail order and show up at a dealer and ask for a swap?

As a service manager for a "showroom dealer", I would have told you to get
lost, or more politely, "Your dealer will be more than happy to perform the
ROM upgrade."


+---------+				Dalhousie University
|    _    |     From the		Halifax, Nova Scotia
|   (_)===|     Disk of ...		Canada
|         |      Daniel		mackay@dalcs.UUCP
+---------+			...{utai,uunet}!dalcs!dalcsug!mackay

lwv@n8emr.UUCP (Larry W. Virden) (10/25/87)

Most Apple bug fixes are performed by honest dealers without regard as to
whether you purchased a product from them or not.  Apple pays them the
same amount whether or not you purchased your Apple, disk, etc. from them.

Let me also mention that I dont know what you are considering so out of
order for the cost of the Unidisk.  I think that $300 for a drive that gives
you 6 times the storage capacity as a 5.25 drive is a great price.  Also it
was the same price as Apple charged for their 5.25 drive the last time I checked
- sure you can buy 5.25 drives cheaper, but Central Point has cheaper
3.5 drives as well - I just dont know if they work on a IIc.  If not, perhaps
someone else can figure out a way to do this.

-- 
Larry W. Virden	 75046,606 (CIS)
674 Falls Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 (614) 864-8817
cbosgd!n8emr!lwv HAM/SWL BBS (HBBS) 614-457-4227.. 300/1200 bps
We haven't inherited the world from our parents, but borrowed it from our children.

halp@TCGOULD.TN.CORNELL.EDU.UUCP (10/29/87)

My upgraded ][c, including memory increase to 384K, doesn't have a little 

Apple icon next to the disk port, but happily runs Apple Unidisk 3.5. The 
upgrade was done by an authorized Apple dealer.

****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   | 

mackay@dalcsug.UUCP (10/29/87)

If you press control-reset on a //c with the new ROM, to get to ROM 
BASIC, then type PR#7<ret>, you get a message "Appletalk Offline".

This is sort of interesting, because, of course, PR#7 normally means
"Boot from the device found in slot 7".  Disregarding the fact that the
//c has no slots whatsoever, it indicates that the guys who put the
new ROM together were thinking of AppleTalk.

Incidentally, if you do this on a //c with the OLD ROM, the machine
will boot from the external drive instead of the internal drive-
can come in handy if your internal drive dies one day.

Anyone know what the message means?

+---------+				Dalhousie University
|    _    |     From the		Halifax, Nova Scotia
|   (_)===|     Disk of ...		Canada
|         |      Daniel		mackay@dalcs.UUCP
+---------+			...{utai,uunet}!dalcs!dalcsug!mackay

fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) (11/02/87)

In article <174@dalcsug.UUCP>, mackay@dalcsug.UUCP (Daniel MacKay) writes:
> 
> If you press control-reset on a //c with the new ROM, to get to ROM 
> BASIC, then type PR#7<ret>, you get a message "Appletalk Offline".
> 
> This is sort of interesting, because, of course, PR#7 normally means
> "Boot from the device found in slot 7".  Disregarding the fact that the
> //c has no slots whatsoever, it indicates that the guys who put the
> new ROM together were thinking of AppleTalk.
> 
> Incidentally, if you do this on a //c with the OLD ROM, the machine
> will boot from the external drive instead of the internal drive-
> can come in handy if your internal drive dies one day.
> 
> Anyone know what the message means?

Yes.  (Some of this is a little fuzzy in my mind, it's been a
while.)  Early in '85, some bug fixes and enhancements to the
//c ROM were made.  Most important was code to support use of
external drives other than the disk//c, specifically the UniDisk3.5
(a dumb name, I thought at the time, and still do).  Support
for daisy-chaining  drives though a "protocol converter" was
added, and one of the programmers involved in this saw that they
could also fit the required foundation to suport AppleTalk.

So they put it in.  Nobody (least of all Apple) has ever built
the required hardware (a converter box) to connect any AppleTalk
devices to the //c, but the ROM code to support it is there.

Because they never expected to officially support such a device,
I was told to not document the feature in the "Apple //c Techinical
Reference Manual" that was published in late 1985.  I always
expected that someone (lots of 'em) would notice this interesting
message and get curious.  If you get the //c tech ref., you can
look at the ROM listing in it and see what the code does.

I think that there is now another way to boot off an external
drive, but I can't remember what it is now.  Should be in the
manual.

	seh