gwyn@BRL.ARPA.UUCP (04/03/87)
Some (but not all) of you may find the following helpful when trying to decide whether or not to invest in a //GS or //GS upgrade from //e. I opted to keep my //e and acquire a //GS also, because I suspected there would be problems with some of my software library working on the //GS. I have been pleasantly surprised; so far everything that worked on my //e still works on my //GS (although some arcade games etc. need the system clock rate reduced via the control panel before running them). Turns out I could have traded in the //e or upgraded it. If you're considering an upgrade, keep in mind that you really need a mouse and 3.5 drive; if you have an AppleMouse II it will work in slot 4 if you enable that slot via the control panel. In fact, I was able to get a minimal DeskTop to fit on a floppy and work on my //e with AppleMouse. The new Apple 5.25 and Apple 3.5 drives are a bit expensive but they are very easy to install and work fine. Previous Apple disk drives are supported, except for the Disk II; I understand that the Disk II can be used on the SmartPort by preparing an appropriate cable, but I haven't tried this. The ProFile hard disk and its interface card work fine also. Slot 7 seems best for a hard disk. According to Open-Apple, the SCSI bugs have been fixed with a ROM upgrade available through your dealer. (By the way, Open-Apple is HIGHLY recommended to any Apple II hacker.) The Apple (analog) RGB monitor is okay but not breathtaking (in my opinion, which has been warped by exposure to real frame buffers). The 200 lines vertical resolution of the //GS is a major design lossage; it should have been 400 as some Apple designers urged. I don't know if this can be fixed at this point, but I hope so. The Grappler+ parallel printer interface works in slot 1 if you enable the slot in place of the built-in serial printer port. Be warned that the Buffered Grappler WILL NOT FIT in slot 1 if you install the internal cooling fan (recommended, but noisy). I use a separate Bufferboard in slot 3 (just for power, not enabled). MDIdeas makes some //GS add-ons that are pretty nice and inexpensive. I installed their memory expansion card (256K is really not enough); it takes SIMMs, either 256Kb or 1Mb, for up to 8Mb add-on memory. SIMMs seem to be hard to find locally, though. I also am having a great time with their SuperSonic stereo card (allows stereo use of the Ensoniq DOC) and SuperSonic Digitizer (one-channel audio input digitizer; plugs onto SuperSonic in slot 2). My SuperSonic had one of the RCA phono plug wires connected backward on the board but that was easily fixed. (In each of the two phono cables, black wire should be toward the edge-connector and red wire should be toward the top of the installed board.) The Electronic Arts "Will Harvey's Music Construction Set" supports the SuperSonic (bass on left channel, treble on right) and is a lot of fun. I have made my //GS a part of my stereo system now. The Deluxe MCS looks like a better deal, but I haven't seen the //GS version of it yet. I hope EA allows an inexpensive upgrade from MCS. ASCII Express MouseTalk communication software works just fine with the internal serial port (pseudo-slot 2) and an external modem. I don't think most of their terminal emulations are accurate, so I use the "native Apple" emulation with the following termcap: # # (ASCII Express) MouseTalk "Standard Apple //" emulation # Enable DC3/DC1 flow control with "stty ixon -ixany". ae|apple-ae|ASCII Express:\ :am:bl=500^G:bw:cd=^K:ce=^]:cl=^L:cm=^^%r%+ %+ :co#80:cr=^M:do=^J:\ :ho=^Y:is=^R^N:it#8:kC=^X:kd=^J:kl=^H:kr=^U:ku=^K:le=^H:li#24:me=^N:\ :mr=^O:ms:nd=^U:nx:rs=^R^N:se=^N:sf=^W:so=^O:sr=^V:ta=^I:up=^_:xo:\ :bs:pt: Note that the bell delay is really required; incoming characters are lost during the beep. One problem I have encountered is the lack of detailed technical information about ANYthing. The MCS file formats are not documented, how to program for the SuperSonic is not explained, and so forth. This problem is of course not confined to the //GS, but by gum it is a major nuisance if you want to do anything besides run canned software. The Apple documentation is very good, if you're not really into technical things. The real nitty-gritty reference manuals aren't ready yet, nor is the C compiler. (Manx's Aztec C65 works, in 8-bit mode only though.) I'm pretty happy with the //GS as a replacement for the //e. But I need more tech. info. What ever happened to the days when you got circuit diagrams with every interface card?
gwyn@BRL.ARPA.UUCP (04/04/87)
I believe the Disk II drives can be used in the IIGS, but only by means of the Disk II controller (slot interface) card and enabling the slot (normally #6). Rumor has it that Disk IIs can be used at the end of the SmartPort daisy-chain (which is the way other 5.25 Apple disk drives attach to the IIGS), if one makes up an adapter cable to match the different connector types (and also configure the drive number). Since most likely if you have a Disk II you also have a controller card, it could be moved to the IIGS, although I opted for the new (expensive!) Apple 5.25 drives on the SmartPort daisy-chain instead. (The only reason for this was to leave my Disk IIs attached to my //e.) Since the DeskTop comes on the 3.5" IIGS System Disk, one needs to at least borrow a 3.5 drive to copy it onto a floppy. The files involved are P8 (rename to PRODOS, this is really ProDOS-8 V1.3), DESKTOP.SYSTEM, and something like DESK02 (I'm away from my Apple as I type this). There are more files but they won't fit on the floppy. I don't know what the DeskTop memory requirements are, but I would bet 128K (//c and //e with extended 80-col card).