CYerkes@UMASS.BITNET (Chuck Yerkes / Hampshire College) (05/05/87)
Hi, I've got a bunch o' requests/questions/comments:
I am looking for an Apple ][+ reference manual. There is a
'Computer Store' in town that is, like most, useless in that the
sell only. Support? "Nope, never heard of the reference manual.
Here call Addison-Wesley, long dist., and get told that the
dealers have it, not them." Does anyone have one?? I *need* it
for my apple (Hacking w/ no memory locations and timing chart
references is a bit impossible. Thanks.
Also, A recommendations for a good ProDOS reference/users
manual. I'm faking it now and need help.
Has anyone tried making their keyboard separate from the case.
I'd _LOVE_ to take a 3rd party keyboard (maybe w/ function keys
and a keypad!) and replace the ][+ keyboard. It's nice to sit
back and type.
Summary: ProDos book, ][+ reference manual, and External keyboard info.
Thanks.
65802 comments . A friend (MKRIEG) did it to his ][+
successfully. It is a 6502 (w/ extended instruction set). same
speed. same pinouts. same everything. Then you set a status bit.
It becomes an 8 bit version of the 65816. (like the 8088 is 8
bit, 2 consecutive reads for a 16 bit number.) Why do this?
Because people are writing (and you can too) for the switch.
Moreover, for you hacker (gasp) types, you can do 16 bit
multiplication in assembly in one swell foop. 65,535 in very
small cyclage. 32 bits in the time it once took 16. VERY fast
graphics calculations. For word processing, and such, most of the
time is spent waiting for user input. A friend programs mostly in
basic, and puts time-essential routined in assembly, runs fine.
Good investment for some people, not for others. But doesn't
that apply to _everything_?
And an extra note to stir up some controversy:
Since 6502s are SO cheap, I wish they made the GS a 68020
(/030) w/ math coprocessor machine, using a lookup table to
convert op codes and a 6502 for the Disc I/O for because of the
Apple's timing strangeness. The 6502 _is_ a nice control system
chip, but as a computer?...
+-----------------------------------------------+
REALITY (& Summer) Chuck Yerkes, Box 1023
Amherst, Mass. 01004
- - - - - - - - -
BITNET: CYerkes@UMass.Bitnet
ARPA CYerkes@umass.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.EDU
+-----------------------------------------------+a228arig@cdfb.utoronto.UUCP (05/06/87)
> Has anyone tried making their keyboard separate from the case. > I'd _LOVE_ to take a 3rd party keyboard (maybe w/ function keys > and a keypad!) and replace the ][+ keyboard. It's nice to sit > back and type. Yes, I've tried to take the //+ keyboard and putting it further away from the case. I've had nothing but trouble. I took the keyboard out of the case, put it in another keyboard-only case, and connected it to the computer using a long 16 conductor ribbon cable. The result was noise, repeating characters (hit an 'a' key, and get 15 of them, even after you let go the key.), and things like that. Apparently, the parallel set-up is not meant to be streched very far. All the 3rd party keyboards I've seen are serial. There were a few such keyboards on sale about a year ago, but I haven't seen any in a long time. There were also interfaces that would take standard IBM keyboards (serial) and convert them to apple pinouts, but I haven't seen those in a while either. They were selling for about $65 last summer... --Tak ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP: {utzoo, decvax, ihnp4, cbosgd, utcsri, mnetor}!utgpu!utcdfa!cssu ARPAnet: cssu%cdfa.toronto.edu@relay.cs.net CSnet: cssu%cdfa.toronto.edu BITNET: cssu@utcdfa.UTORONTO == University of Toronto -- Toronto, Canada == -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TMPLee@DOCKMASTER.ARPA (05/07/87)
A couple of years ago I bought a 3rd party add-on keyboard for my II+. Works just fine. It came with a little serial-to-parallel interface card (doesn't plug in anywhere, just sits in the case someplace.) I think a re-wired a few things so that a couple of the function keys went into the game-port inputs for those few programs that can't understand true ASCII and need the shift-key mod. (Was using screenwriter at the time and had to re-do its character table to get it to accept the lower-case from the keyboard.)
jg@eagle.UUCP (05/07/87)
I have used a separate keyboard on my ][+ for a few years now, and contrary to other people have had no trouble at all. The keyboard is basically a Taiwanese clone keyboard (clone of ][+) in its own separate case connected by about 2m of screened 15 core cable to a real ][+. The one improvement that I did make to the keyboard was to remove its encoding board and replace it with a Videx Enhancer, as you can imagine this was not at all straightforward, as the whole thing had to be wire-wrapped, but the result is just as reliable, despite the miles of wiring. All that I can suggest is that you try it, hopefully you will have results similar to mine! The improvement in reduction of eye-strain & bad backs (from leaning over the keyboard) will be worth the effort, honest!
randy@peora.UUCP (05/07/87)
In article <8705042240.aa00535@SPARK.BRL.ARPA>, CYerkes@UMASS.BITNET (Chuck Yerkes / Hampshire College) writes: > Has anyone tried making their keyboard separate from the case. Yes. Long ago when I started using my Apple ][+ as a Unix terminal, I quickly became tired of monocase without many of the special keys that Unix loves to use (can you say '{', '|', etc?). I bought a full ASCII Cherry keyboard w/ case which now sits on my lap while I type. It was fairly simple to pull the dip plug on the Apple and plug in a dip terminated cord running to my keyboard. I was worried that the signals might get lost in a distant detached keyboard, but my cable is ten feet long and I've never had any problems. You'll need that manual you wanted to get the pinouts. I had to build the cable w/ terminators myself. The keyboard generates parallel data w/ strobe (just what the apple wants). It has several user defined keys (if the user has a soldering iron). I even used one key (with an extra wire to the Apple) for the reset key. For awhile, I had the two keyboards ORed together (yes, actually using two OR chips). I could type on either keyboard. It was in interesting idea, but I never really used it. I finally took the OR board out. I would recommend Cherry (if they're still in business). I've never had any problem with the board and their documentation was excellent. Summary: You can have a detached keyboard without much effort. Randy (A2S2 01471) Hendry
nemesis@UCSCB.UCSC.EDU (Michael) (05/08/87)
Could you please send me any more info you have on installing separate apple ][ + keyboard (cherry type)! I am very interestead in such an add-on device. I'm sure many others are, too, and as such the apple net is the perfect place to post it. If you don't want to post it to the net, could you please send it to ARPA: arti012@ucsci.ucsc.edu or : nemesis@ucscb.ucsc.edu