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From: nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2,comp.answers,news.answers
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Followup-To: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: comp.sys.apple2 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Part 2/4
Archive-name: apple2/faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: March 31 1998
Version: 5.1.38
URL: http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html
The next section is the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting of
the comp.sys.apple2 newsgroup. Copyright (c) 1997 by Nathan Mates
(email: nathan@visi.com), all rights reserved. This document can be
freely copied so long as 1) it is not sold, 2) any sections reposted
elsewhere from it are credited back to this FAQ with the FAQ's
copyright info and official WWW location
(http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html) left in place.
This FAQ is posted on the WWW for 24 hour a day (barring system and/or
internet malfunctions) availability from
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html. Please do NOT make a
copy of this FAQ and post it on the web; I'm continually updating and
fixing sections of it. A html link is fine.
--- Begin part 2 of 4
Adding Hardware:
6/13/97 4.1 What cards should go in which slots in my Apple II?
A:This depends on what the card is, and what model your Apple II is.
Apple IIs traded the 'IRQ' hassles of IBM PCs for more specific
functions as to which functions should go in each slot.
Slot 0 (only available on the Apple ][ and ][+) is pretty much
reserved for 'Language Card' 16K RAM upgrades and ROM code for
Integer/Applesoft Basic.
Slot 1 tends to be used for printers in pre-GS machines, and either a
printer or used for Appletalk in GSs, though most software supports
printers in any slot. The printer port in a //c, IIc+, and GS
(optional-- see the control panel) are all bound to slot 1. On a ROM
00/01 GS with Appletalk on, one of slots 1 & 2 must be set to 'Your
card'-- whichever card that is will have its associated port used for
the Appletalk connection. In an appletalked ROM 00/01 GS, you may want
to place your Hard Drive's card in slot 1 and boot off that. In the
ROM 3, you can set slot 1 or 2 to Appletalk directly and use its
associated port.
Slot 2 tends to be used for modems and other serial comm devices,
though most software supports modems in any slot. The modem port in a
//c, IIc+, and GS (optional-- see the control panel) are all bound to
slot 2. On the GS, it can also be used for Appletalk; see slot 1
above.
Slot 3 is pretty much reserved for 80-column cards, as almost every
piece of software under the sun that wants 80 columns assumes that
they'll find such a card there. The //e has an extra 'auxillary' slot
that provides an alternate slot 3 with extra functionality for
RAM/video upgrades. With an 80-column card in the auxillary slot on a
//e, a regular card should not be placed in the 'regular' slot 3
unless otherwise noted here. The GS's memory expansion slot does not
affect slot 3, but programs wanting to use 80 columns want slot 3 set
to that function.
The few exceptions to this use of slot 3 for 80 columns are cards that
only take power from the slot, but don't need to communicate to the
system, such as Accelerator boards, the 'Swyftcard' for the //e (mini
word-processor and other tools in ROM), and certain video boards like
Apple's Video Overlay Card (VOC) and Sequential System's Second Sight
(SS). The accelerator boards on a GS require a short cable to the CPU
socket on the motherboard, so they're limited by distance; slot 3 is a
good place to park them. If you find that slot 3 is unavailable with a
Zip GS, you can move the Zip to slots 1 or 2 by flipping the cable to
the CPU socket on both ends. On a ROM 00/01, slot 3 provides extra
video signals required by the VOC or SS, so those boards must go
there. ROM 3 GSs provide those signals to slots 1-6, reducing the
crowding for that slot.
Slot 4 is the most open of the slots. It tends to be used for mouse
controller cards (//e, some //cs, emulated on GS), CP/M cards, or
other things.
Slot 5 tends to be used by Smartport and other 3.5" controller cards,
or more 5.25" disks. If you don't have such a drive, other cards can
be placed in them.
Slot 6 is almost always used for 5.25" drive controller cards. Any
software using Apple's UCSD Pascal OS on a 5.25" disk must boot from a
5.25" disk mapped to slot 6. If you don't use such programs or don't
use 5.25" disks anymore, this slot may be used for some other
functionality.
Slot 7 doesn't have as much of a defined role, but is useful for
placing Hard Drive controllers in; Appletalk support in a ROM 00/01 GS
and //es with the workstation card require that Slot 7 be set over to
Appletalk. [With a GS, move the HD controller to a different slot, and
set it to boot off there.]
Before the GS, Apple IIs were set to boot off the disk controller (any
type, matching a few identification bytes) in the highest numbered
slot. Depending on the type of device, if the disk is not ready, it'll
either wait forever for a valid disk (such as the original Disk ][
controller), or give up and let the next highest slot boot. GSs can be
set via the text control panel to either 'Scan' the slots in the same
order, or boot directly off any slot.
If you occasionally want to boot off a different disk than your
default (e.g. HD controller in slot 7, but want to play copy protected
games on a 5.25" disk in slot 6), there are some utilities to let you
cancel booting off the current drive and boot another. Eric Shepherd's
'ProBoot' program is a good utility to do just that:
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/addons/patches/proboot52.shk
4.2 Can I add more memory to my Apple II?
A: Yes. The hard part is getting machines before the GS to recognize
all of it. The Apple ][ and ][+ have a practical limit of about 64K,
which is accomplished by the 16K language card in slot 0. [Some
accelerators provided 128K, as well as some very old ram cards, but I
don't have any real info on that.]
The //e had the widest variety of memory expansion options. The AUX
slot used for 80-column cards could also handle memory expansion--
Apple's own Extended 80-column card provided an extra 64K of memory.
Other cards in that slot could reportedly add several megs of memory.
There were also RAM cards for slots 1-7, the so-called 'slinky' cards,
also capable of adding a meg or more. Most of these cards are only
available used, but Sequential Systems is still making and selling a
1MB //e RAM card.
Later models of the Apple //c had an internal memory expansion port,
which RAM 'cards' could be added internally-- see the section on Apple
//cs for how to determine if a //c could have RAM added. Such RAM
cards are only available used; Sequential used to make one, but it's
not listed anymore on their WWW page.
The problem with adding extra RAM to Apple IIs (before the GS) is that
not much software would take advantage of it at all. Only a few
programs like Appleworks had any form of support-- versions 1.x or 2.x
needed to be patched to recognize more memory, 3.0 and up could use an
externally supplied file. [To get the patch or the file, see the disks
that came with the RAM card.] Applesoft and Integer Basic, most games,
and the like don't care about any RAM beyond the 48-128K they require
to run.
The GS, due to its processor design, can directly address up to 16MB
of memory (about 2MB is reserved in the GS's design for ROM), though
RAM cards only go up to 8MB in a ROM 01 and 7MB in a ROM 3. [The 1MB
on the ROM 3's motherboard reduces the RAM card's range] Sequential
Systems and Alltech Electronics still sell 2-8MB RAM boards for the
GS; there were also lots of other manufacturers. Alltech's Sirius
board takes 1MB 30-pin SIMMs, so if you have a cheap source of them,
you may find it cheaper to buy an empty board and populate it
yourself.
Going to 7 or 8 MB of RAM on a GS is not always recommended. A number
of devices, especially Apple's Hi-speed SCSI board, cannot handle DMA
(Direct Memory Access, used to speed Hard Drive cards and
accelerators) past the first 4MB of RAM, so you may take a performance
hit, or the board may not work at all. The RamFAST SCSI board appears
to be better about supporting past 4MB RAM, but there are still
reports of problems.
The GS can also have //e 'slinky' cards plugged in, but aside from
Appleworks and ramdisk support, the memory on these boards is NOT
available to GS programs. This is because they are accessed via slots
1-7 manually, one byte at a time in sequential order, while the 65816
wants program RAM to be directly accessible in random order. It would
require rewriting a program to address slinky cards from a GS, and as
the numbers of those are extremely limited, no real support for them
was ever widespread.
4.3 Can I accelerate my Apple II?
A: Yes. Over the years, many accelerators were produced for the varios
models in the Apple II series. Most of these were slot-based cards
such as the AE Transwarp 1-3, though the ZipChip (4 and 8 Mhz models)
and RocketChip (5 and 10 Mhz models) were drop-in processor
replacements. For the GS, the Transwarp GS and the Zip GS were the
only options. No accelerator for any Apple II is available new
anymore-- you'll have to look for one used. A separate FAQ for
upgrading ZIP GS or TransWarp GS accelerators is available at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/zip.html.
For only a few dollars, you can buy a faster 65C02/65816 from an
electronics parts catalog. However, this most likely won't do you a
bit of good without an ungradeable accelerator card. This is because
the Apple II's system bus runs at 1Mhz, and provides a 1Mhz signal to
the processor socket. The processor derives its timing off that
signal; running it at a speed under what it's rated at is perfectly
safe and legal. Accelerator cards or chips provide their own
oscillator at a faster speed, plus the logic necessary for a chip to
interface with the slower 1Mhz bus.
4.4 Can I hook up a modem to my Apple II?
A: Yes, most external serial modems should work great with an Apple
II. Models such as the //c, IIc+ and IIGS have a serial port built in;
the ][, ][+ and //e do not and will need to have one added.
An Apple ][, ][+ or //e with Apple's Super Serial Card and an external
modem that's fast enough can connect at 9600 baud fine; 19200 may be
iffy. (Past 19200 pretty much requires an accelerated Apple II). There
is an addon to the Super Serial Card called the Turbo ASP that has a
theoretical maximum of 230,400; see the entry for Lightning Systems in
the dealer's section of this FAQ.
The very first revision of the //c motherboard had a faulty serial
setup that prevented most machines from reliable serial communications
faster than 2400 baud. See the section on the //c in this FAQ for
information on how to determine if a system is likely to be affected.
Various companies sell cables for the Apple //c's more oddball 5-pin
serial ports; check out Atlaz Computer Supply (516-239-1854) or LYBEN
Computer Systems at (800) 493-5777.
The GS (and probably the IIc+) and the appropriate software (such as
ProTERM, Spectrum or ANSITerm) can connect at up to 57600 baud. (Once
again, an accelerator is recommended for the higher speeds).
For any Apple II, speeds past 9600 pretty much require you to get a
'Hardware Handshaking' modem cable. This is a cable with connections
between the handshaking pins (cheapo cables may only have the 3 wires
necessary to do simple serial) and thus allows the computer to tell
the modem that it is temporarily too busy to receive data, so the
modem doesn't send more data until the computer's ready.
Internal modems for Apple IIs only seem to have gone up to 2400 baud,
which was fast for the time the boards were made, but is now fairly
outdated. You cannot use internal PC modems in Apple IIs.
4.5 Can I hook up a LaserWriter, DeskJet, etc to my Apple //e?
A: A number of them. The best bet is probably the HP DeskJet series.
Most supported printers have either regular serial or parallel
connections. The tricky part is getting the software to do what you
want. The DeskJet, for example will print very nice-looking text with
regular old "PR#1". But if you want to change the font or print
graphics, you may have to purchase some software. One excellent
program for these types of printers is PublishIt 4.
For AppleWorks fans, there is the program called SuperPatch. Among
it's patches is a cool DeskJet 500 (most DeskJet 6xx printers should
be compatible, but check the documentation) printer driver. You can
print sideways, and change fonts with normal AppleWorks commands. The
DeskJet driver is built in to AW 4.0 and later.
The Apple Stylewriter family is not supported by any //e program to my
knowledge.
4.6 Can I hook up a Laser printer, ink jet, or bubble jet printer to
my Apple IIGS?
A:In short: a number of them, but not all. Please look through the
following list to check if a particular model you're looking at is
supported. Also, the following applies to all programs which support
the GS system toolbox methods for talking to printers through drivers.
Most GS programs support this; Print Shop GS is an exception-- it'll
pretty much only work with the printers listed in the program, and
then only at its printing resolutions.
On the GS, you can hook up most LaserWriters made by Apple via
AppleTalk-- if it supports Postscript and Appletalk, it should work.
[Apple's Quickdraw printers are not usable.] A GS program can
typically print to a LaserWriter if it's connected to the GS via
AppleTalk; just install the LaserWriter drivers from the System 6
disks. Note that some LaserWriters from Apple may be 'Quickdraw,' not
true Postscript printers, so they won't work from the GS. The
Laserwriter, Laserwriter II, LW IINT, LW IINTX are all known to work
fine.
Of the Apple Stylewriter family, ONLY the original Stylewriter will
work on the GS, and then only from GS/OS with the System 6 drivers. As
Apple has not written drivers or released the specifications so that
drivers could be written by third parties, none of the rest of the
Stylewriter models works when connected to a GS.
The HP DeskWriter family is mostly only for Macintoshes; the DeskJet
3xx, 5xx or 6xx (xx= any 2 numbers, plus some optional letters)
printer families is much more friendly to all models of the Apple II.
If you get a DeskJet, or PaintJet, etc, you can hook them up via a
parallel printer card or serial cable depending on what ports the
printer has. The exceptions to this are HP's recent 'Windows Only'
printers, such as the HP DJ 820C models, which don't work at all with
Apple IIs.
But, in order to use pretty much any inkjet or bubblejet printer that
the GS can talk to effectively, you will need Harmonie (originally
published by Vitesse; now taken over by Joe Kohn's Shareware Solutions
II (better-- supports color printing on HP inkjets that have such
support built in) or Independence (cheaper, but only black & white
printing) from Seven Hills. They are new printer drivers for GS/OS
programs only. These two programs extend the ranges of printers
supported by the GS. If you want to print from an 8-bit program, see
the previous question.
Harmonie's drivers also support a number of printer modes that other
printers can handle. Apparently the Canon BJ-200e works well with
Harmonie 2.1's Epson LQ or Epson LQ 4000 drivers.
As provided by Richard Der, here is a list of printers and such
supported by Harmonie; there may be other printers that are compaible
with such models listed here, but are not listed. Nobody's gotten a
list of printers supported by Independence to me yet, unfortunately.
Printers supported by Harmonie:
--Canon Dot Matrix--
Canon 1080
--HP DeskJet (or DeskWriter) Ink-Jet--
DeskJet (Manual states all DeskJet and DeskJet 5xx drivers
DeskJet 500C work with DeskWriter series of the same number
DeskJet 520 using the high speed Printer 57.6 serial port
DeskJet 550C driver included with on the disk)
DeskJet 560C *560C driver is compatible with DJ/DW 600C and 660C
printers. The DJ 400 is like th DJ 600C. The DJ 560C
driver is listed as a 600x300dpi one whereas all the
rest are 300x300dpi. [Other models like the 680C/682C
should work also.]
--Epson LQ 24-pin Dot Matrix (or Canon Ink-Jet)--
Epson LQ (Epson LQ drivers work with Canon BJ models for
Epson LQ 4000 hi-res 360dpi printing. Some older models have
Epson LQ 800 dip switches that must be set to enable automatic
Epson emulation -> for example, the BJ-200e
requires DIP switch 12 to be set to ON. The printer
manual should say what to do for the specific model.
BJ-10e, BJ 100, BJ-200, BJ-210, BJ-4100, and BJ-600
models also list Epson LQ emulation and should work
with one or more of these drivers.)
--Epson 9-pin Dot Matrix--
Epson MX 80
--HP LaserJet laser Printers--
LaserJet
LaserJetIIP
LaserJet III (Newer LaserJet models also work with these drivers
as are any HP compatible laser printers)
--Misc. Dot Matrix Printers--
Okimate 20
Panasonic 1124
Pinwriter
--Misc. Ink-Jet--
HP PaintJet
QuadJet
Gareth Jones adds the following from his list on his Harmonie 2.11
disk:
-- Apple Dot Matrix Printers--
ImageWriter LQII
ImageWriter II
Users have reported that the HP Deskjet 690C works well with the
Harmonie 560C driver, as expected.
I'd like to get a list of all printers that are 1) officially
supported by Harmonie/Independence, 2) not officially listed, but a
driver exists that works well with them and 3) don't work at all with
Apple IIs. Given that I have neither the time nor the money to test
every printer on the market, I'd appreciate feedback sent to me at
nathan@visi.com.
4.7 Can I use Macintosh RGB or IBM VGA/SVGA Monitors with my ][?
A: Not normally. Even with the GS's RGB monitor connector, the GS puts
out a 15Khz horizontal refresh signal. Most modern monitors (notable
exceptions are the old NEC Multisync 1 and 2 monitors) require the
signal to be at least 30Khz, and thus won't display the picture. If
you have a question on whether a given monitor will work, check the
manual for it or contact the manufacturer to see if it'll support
15Khz horizontal syncs. Older Apple II RGB cards (such as those to
extend AE Ramworks cards) should have the same problem.
The one way to bridge the "use Apple II monitors with Apple IIs" rule
of thumb is to purchase the Second Sight (tm) VGA display board from
Sequential Systems. (See the dealers section of this FAQ for their
address and WWW page). The Second Sight mirrors Apple II video modes
fairly well onto the VGA display, as well as supplying some VGA modes
that programmers have begun to tap into. With it, you can connect
VGA/SVGA monitors to your //e or GS
If you are desperate for a monitor, the Apple II line puts out a video
signal from the back port that can be hooked into the 'line in' port
of a NTSC VCR or modern TVs-- just use a male-male RCA phono jack,
which electronics shops should carry. Alternatively, a 'RF Converter'
(try your local Radio Shack or the equivalent) can be used to connect
that signal to a TV without a 'line in' connector.
4.8 Can I use my GS Monitor on a Mac or PC?
A:As stated above in using other monitors on the GS, the GS monitor
expects a 15Khz horizontal refresh signal. In addition, the monitor
itself has an 0.37" dot pitch, which as far as modern monitors go,
that is atrocious. It'd be best to get a monitor designed for other
systems on them.
If trying to connect to a Macintosh, only the original Mac Nubus 8-bit
(256-color) video card is known to work with the GS's monitor. Once
connected, you'll be able to do 640x480 in interlaced mode.
[Interlaced mode is flickery to many people, and a very subpar video
mode]
I have never heard of anyone successfully connecting the GS monitor to
a PC; you'd need to find a video board you could program to get the
15Khz horizontal refresh signal out, and then you'd still probably be
locked to the 640x480 interlaced mode.
4.9 Can the Apple II connect to keyboards, mice, etc. from other
platforms?
A: IBM PC keyboards are almost impossible to connect to any Apple II
directly; the only possibility is to buy a device used to connect such
a keyboard to a Macintosh, and try that with your GS. [The 'PC
Transporter' addon card supports PC keyboards, but only in IBM PC
mode; can't use them for Apple II programs.]
IBM PC Serial Mice (usually have 9-pin serial connectors) can be
connected to Apple //es with Sequential System's board. Although the
connector is shaped identically, the //c, //e, and GS's 9-pin joystick
port in back is not a serial port; serial mice just won't work if
connected to it. (If you have a GS, just buy a Mac ADB mouse and use
that)
Most Macintosh (except for the ones with the phone jack connector,
such as the original Mac and Mac 512) keyboards and mice are Apple
Desktop Bus (ADB) devices. ADB made its debut on the Apple IIGS; it
was later adopted by the Mac SE and other computers in the line. This
means that most Mac ADB mice and keyboards will work on the GS. There
are no reported incompatabilities with Mac mice that I've heard about,
though multibutton mice may only have one button work on the GS.
Macintosh keyboards may not work; here is a list of ones known to work
and not, compiled by Bradley P. Von Haden (bpvh@primenet.com)
The Apple IIgs can use some Mac ADB keyboards. I have compiled the
following list of keyboards that do and do not work with an Apple
IIgs. Additions/corrections encouraged.
Last updated: 07 February 1997
Format:
Manufacturer, Model [information note] ($ - resellers: the first
company listed has the best price without considering shipping
and handling)
Work with an Apple IIgs:
Apple ADB Keyboards I and II
AppleDesign Keyboard ($85 - MM, MW, MZ)
Apple Extended Keyboard (original)
Apple Extended Keyboard II ($155 - MM, MW, MZ)
Adesso 105 Extended Keyboard ($80 - MZ ??, Tiger SW)
Adesso 102 Extended Keyboard w/ Trackball [Trackball does NOT work]
($100 - MZ ??, Tiger Software)
AlphaSmart Pro ADB keyboard [www.alphasmart.com] ($270 - MZ,
Educational Resources, MW ??)
Arriva Extended ($40 - MM ??)
Interex Mac-105A Extended ($55 - MM ??, Syex Express; $34 - Computer
City)
Key Tronic MacPro Plus ($130 - MZ ??, APS Tech.)
OptiMac Extended Keyboard (???)
PowerUser 105E Extended Keyboard ($60 - MW)
SIIG, Inc MacTouch Model 1905 (~$100.00)
SIIG, TrueTouch [ROM 03 only]
Sun OmniMac Ultra [extended, ADB type] (???)
Suntouch ADB Extended Keyboard ($75 - Syex Express)
VividKey Extended Keyboard ($60 - MM ??)
Do not work:
Apple Adjustable Keyboard
MacALLY Peripherals Extended Keyboard
MicroSpeed Keyboard Deluxe MAC
Not Sure (basic):
Adesso Easy Touch ext kb ($44 - MZ)
Adesso ProPoint ext kb w/ thinkpad ($60 - MM, MZ)
Adesso Easy Touch ext kb ($50- MZ)
Alps GlidePoint kb ($110 - MZ)
ClubMac Extended Keyboard ($39 - CM ??)
Datadesk MAC 101 E ($80 - MW, MZ ??)
Datadesk TrackBoard ($100 - MW, MZ ??)
Key Tronic Trak Pro Plus ($230 - APS Tech. ??)
Performance Soft Touch Personal ext kb ($40 - MZ
Performance Soft Touch Extended Keyboard ($40 - MZ)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride 97 ($90 - MM ??)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride 105 ($59 - MM ??)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride 110 [MAC/IBM switchable] ($80 - MM ??)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride KidBoard ($100 - MM ??)
Spring Sun Tech MacPride Strong Man (??)
Not Sure (ergonomic):
Adesso NUForm Ergonomic ext kb ($58 - CM, MM, MW, MZ)
Adesso NUForm Ergomomic ext kb w/ pointer ($59 - MZ, CM, MM, MW)
Adesso NUForm Ergonomic ext kb w/ touch pad ($86 - CM, MM, MW, MZ)
Adesso Tru-From Ergonomic ext kb ($68 - CM, MM, MW)
Adesso Tru-Form Ergonomic ext kb w/ pointer ($80 - MZ, CM, MM, MW)
Adesso Tru-Form Ergonomic ext kb w/ touchpad ($96 - CM, MM, MW)
Contact Information:
(CM) ClubMac (800-258-2622) (http://www.club-mac.com)
(MM) MacMall (800-222-2808) (http://www.macmall.com)
(MW) MacWarehouse (800-255-6227) (http://www.warehouse.com)
(MZ) MacZone (800-248-0800) (http://www.maczone.com)
Some have noted that the Adesso NUForm keyboard works only on a ROM 3
system, but not a ROM 00/01. The 'MACPride Strong Man' keyboard is
reported to work fine on a GS. Also, the 'Alphasmart' keyboard
(http://www.alphasmart.com) is reported by its manufacturer as
GS-compatible.
4.10 I want a Y-adapter for my GS keyboard.
A: Redmond Cable has an ADB Y-connector cable for separating your
mouse from the side of your keyboard (also can be used to work around
a failing ADB port on the keyboard). See the Resources section (10.2)
of this FAQ,
4.11 Can I hook up a scanner up to my //e or IIGS? Can it do OCR?
A: Yes and Yes. (OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition -- the
ability to convert a scan into text) Just pick up a Quickie scanner
(by Vitesse) and InWords (by WestCode Software). You can scan 4"
columns (you must have 512K to 1 Meg) and can even paste them together
to make 8" scans. Then you can use InWords to "read" text and put it
into a text file or AppleWorks Word Processor file.
[Update, 3/15/97: it does not appear that InWords is being sold
anymore by WestCode software. I've emailed the company to try and
determine its status.] Apple put partially completed support for a few
Apple flatbed scanners onto the System 6.0 Golden Master CD, but the
test program for it could not save a scan to a file. No programs are
known to support various popular TWAIN-compliant scanners such as
those from HP.
4.12 What about clock/calendar capabilities?
The GS is the only machine in the Apple II family to have a built-in
clock/calendar. There were a number of clock/calendar cards for the
][, ][+ and //e. ProDOS 8 had built-in support for the Thunderclock'
without any modifications; other cards may require their own drivers
to be installed, or may emulate a Timemaster H.O. The 'No Slot Clock'
(still being sold by Alltech Electronics and possibly others) fits
under a ROM chip in the ][, ][+, //e, //c and IIc+, allowing them
clock capabilities.
ProDOS 8 does have a problem in its year calculating code-- the
designers assumed that a table holding only 6 years would be
sufficient. They were wrong. You'll have to patch ProDOS every few
years to keep it up to date; a text file including a Basic program is
on Apple's FTP site:
ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/aii/sys.soft/slotclock-patch.txt
4.13 Can a Disk ][ be used on a GS smartport?
A: Yes. Contact Jameco Electronics (http://www.jameco.com, phone:
1-800-831-4242) S20 PIN HEADER TO DB19-PIN CONNECTOR MODULE ADAPTS
II/II+ DRIVES FOR APPLE IIC. PART NO: 10022 PRODUCT NO.: AAM APPLE IIC
ADAPTER $3.95
If you don't mind some soldering, you can make this cable up yourself.
Take a look at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/diskiicable.html
4.14 Can the Apple II connect to 3.5" drives or flopticals for other
platforms?
A: For 400K or 800K Mac 3.5" drives, in general, no. Apple's 3.5"
drive that was sold with Apple IIGSs has logic to sense which machine
it is hooked up to (Apple II or Macintosh) and it works accordingly.
Most 3rd party drives don't bother to put in Apple II support in their
drives. Some may work if you hook them up to a UDC instead of an Apple
3.5" inch card. Old style Mac 800k drives are very slow.
Mac 1.44MB (High Density) 3.5" drives can be used if you have both
both the High Density 3.5" drive and the new Apple 3.5" superdrive
controller card. If you don't have both, you will only be able to do
regular density (800K). Of course, you will also need High Density
Disks. ProDOS 8 programs not only recognize the 1.44MB disks, but most
programs format and recognize HD disks just fine. You can even boot
off of a HD disk, allowing plenty of room for GS/OS Desk Accessories
and such. There are a few drawbacks: you cannot boot copy-protected
software or some FTA demos. Also, you can't daisy-chain a 5.25" off a
HD card. Also, it takes up a slot, even on the GS.
Unfortunately, Apple never seemed to have sold very many of the
Superdrive controller card, while used superdrives are apparently
plentiful, so you may have a hard time getting your hands on a
superdrive controller card.
The SCSI Floptical drive (also rare, but may be a bit easier to find)
can also read and write 1.44MB and 720K disks, as well as its special
21MB disks, but not 400K or 800K Apple II disks. You'd need a SCSI
controller card, and special drivers with an Apple High Speed SCSI
board or a recent ROM version with the RamFAST board. For more
information, please see the Apple II & Floptical FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/floptical.html, and this FAQ's
section on SCSI.
IBM PC 3.5" drives (as well as all sorts of low and high density 5.25"
drives) can be connected only with the (discontinued) Applied
Engineering PC Transporter card, or the Bluedisk card from SHH Systems
(See the section on dealers and hardware addons of this FAQ for their
address and WWW page).
There are also reports that the "CTI Drive" allows you to hook up IBM
3.5" and 5.25" disk drives (no High Density support yet) to your Apple
II. [IBM drives are cheaper] Some software is included to read MS/DOS
disks on your Apple. Otherwise, ProDOS and GS/OS recognize them like
normal drives. Unfortunately, information on this "CTI drive" is
minimal at best, and nobody's responded to my requests for more
information on them.
4.15 How about hooking up cheap IDE Hard Drives?
A: ///SHH Systeme makes several IDE controller cards for the Apple II
family; they claim to be as fast to faster than the RamFAST card.See
http://users.ids.net/~kerwood/shh.html, or contact jlange@tasha.muc.de
for details like technical specs, pricing, and S/H procedure.
Their Microdrive card supported only 256MB of capacity per drive, and
2 drives per card. The MicroDrive/Turbo supports 2GB per drive and 2
drives per card. [Sizes of drives are always increasing, but you
should be able to connect a drive larger than that.]
4.16 Can an Apple II connect to a SCSI device?
SCSI is a protocol (method of transmitting data) that lets you hook up
to 8 SCSI devices on a SCSI bus (SCSI devices connected together).
There are Hard Drives, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, scanners, and more
available as SCSI devices.
To get SCSI on an Apple II, you need to buy and install a SCSI card.
(//cs and IIc+s have no native SCSI cards, but Chinook (later bought
out by Sequential) made a Smartport capable drive as your only choice
for HDs). At first, there was the Apple Rev 'C' SCSI card (named after
the final ROM version--all previous versions MUST be upgraded to work
with current software). There were several clones from the likes of
CMS and Chinook. Then Apple came out with it's High Speed DMA SCSI
card. This has the ability to do Direct Memory Access to the RAM in
your computer, which speeds things up. This created a lot of problems
with cards that were not DMA compatible.
CV Technologies (bought out by Sequential Systems) also has a DMA SCSI
card called the RamFast. This card has 256K or 1MB of on-board RAM to
make it even faster than Apple's card. It can also supply terminator
power if you drive does not supply it. Both of the new cards support
things like SCSI tape backup units, removable SCSI drives, SCSI
CD-ROM, and of course SCSI hard drives. Both the new cards also
require an Enhanced //e. RamFasts have had their ROM upgraded many
times; you may want to look into getting the latest if you have
removable devices such as Flopticals, CD-Roms, Zip Disks, and tape
drives.
Most fixed and removable SCSI disks can be connected to Apple IIs with
the addition of a SCSI card. People have used Zip, Syquests,
Bernoulli, CD-ROMs, Floptical devices. With older revisions of the
SCSI cards, they may NOT recognize them as removable devices, leading
to crashes and/or data corruption if you switch removable disks with
the computer on. Most SCSI HDs can also be used, but certain SCSI II
devices that insist that the SCSI card have a SCSI ID (the Quantum
Fireball seems to be one of the main culprits) won't work with at
least the RamFAST 3.01f ROM version and possibly others.
There are separate mini-FAQs for connecting Floptical and CD-ROM
devices; you may view them at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/floptical.html and
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/cdrom.html
You must manually give each device it's own unique ID number from 0-7.
The SCSI card is usually set to 7. On a SCSI chain, there must be a
Terminator (a bunch of resistors) at each end. Some drives have
internal terminators (3 small yellow-orange packs) that can be
switched on and off, and some drives come with an external terminator
(a "plug" to put on the back of the drive). Nothing other than the
ends of the chain should be terminated.
Also, somebody on the bus must supply terminator power (one of the
SCSI lines). If There are any problems (multiple things with the same
ID, too much termination or not enough, or no terminator power), you
may be able to use the drive, but your data will get corrupted. Most
of the time, the computer will refuse to recognize the drive.
There are two types of SCSI cables: the 50 pin Centronics-type (like
on parallel printers) or the 25-pin "D" connector. The 50-pin is the
SCSI standard, the 25-pin is the Apple standard. There are also cables
with the 50-pin centronics connector on one side and the 25 pin "D"
connector on the other.
4.17 Tips on setting up a SCSI system:
* Joe Walters, bird@mcs.net has updated the RamFast/SCSI manual, and
allowed it to be posted online. The WWW version is available at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/ramfast.html
* You can have multiple drives on one SCSI card, just make sure you
remove the termination on all the drives but the last one. This is
because the newer SCSI cards are terminated (and they count as a
SCSI device).
* Always check that the cords are plugged in properly. Never
connect/disconnect anything when the computer is on.
* SCSI ID numbers 0 and 7 tend to have special meanings; the Apple
High Speed SCSI displays multiple copies of partitions online if a
drive has that ID. Use 1-6 instead.
* The Apple High Speed SCSI card is not DMA compatible past the
first 4.25MB of RAM on a GS ROM 00/01 (5MB on a ROM 3). If you've
got more than that amount of RAM, and are noticing some problems
in your system (especially with Alltech's Sirius Ram card), you
may want to consider turning off DMA.
* The computer will boot the hard drive with the highest SCSI ID,
which should be ID 6.
* Try letting the drive 'warm up' for 15 seconds before turning the
computer on. The SCSI cards look for drives only at startup, and
may ignore any drives that are not ready.
* If problems persist, try turning off DMA. If this helps, you may
have a non-DMA compatible card, such as the early versions of the
TransWarp, early versions of the GS RAM, or any 8-bit accelerator.
Alternately, try setting up a RAM disk for all but 4 MB. Some RAM
cards can only do DMA in the first bank.
* Check that each device has a unique ID. Most drives have a
thumbwheel on the back to set the ID. Your SCSI card (yes, it
counts too) is probably ID 7. Number your drives from 6 downwards
for best compatibility. The IDs have nothing to do with what slot
the card is in.
* Is there a terminator at each end of the SCSI bus? (the DMA cards
are terminated, and some drives are internally terminated.)
* Try the software that came with the card. It may give helpful
diagnostic messages (I.E. the Apple DMA SCSI utilities-- Does it
say "No Apple SCSI card found" or "No SCSI devices found"?)
* RamFast boards have gone through many ROM revisions. The latest is
3.01f; if you want to use any removable disks (Zip/Syquest disks,
CD-Roms, Flopticals, tape backups), you should contact Sequential
Systems (see above for address) to purchase a ROM upgrade for your
board.
* Do you get the message "Unable to Load ProDOS"? If so, it's
booting your drive but you have no system software on it. Try
hitting Control-Reset, then PR#5 (or PR#6) to boot a floppy. Then
install the system software (i.e. ProDOS or GS/OS).
* In extreme cases, try reformatting the drive, repartitioning, and
re-installing the System software.
* If the drive access light blinks in a regular pattern before the
computer is turned on, it is telling you that it has a hardware
malfunction. It needs to be serviced.
* Did you try re-installing the System software? Many times, the
data on a drive will get corrupted if you run the drive with
improper terminators or conflicting SCSI ID's. Sometimes you will
not notice the corrupted data until after you fix the problem. If
re-installing the System software helps, it was probably a
software problem, not a hardware problem.
* The Apple HS DMA SCSI card requires an Enhanced //e. It will not
work on the older //e without an Enhancement Kit.
* To really put a drive through it's paces, copy a LOT of stuff from
one partition to another (copy the entire partition if you can).
If there is a problem with DMA or SCSI ID's, it will probably show
up as a strange GS/OS error. (GS only)
* Make sure you do not have the Apple SCSI drivers installed if you
have a RamFast. It may cause random problems (they leave an
interrupt handler dangling if they can't find their card.) (GS
only)
* Make sure you are booting the right slot. If the card is in slot
7, you can set the startup slot to Scan or 7. (GS only)
* If you boot up and only 1 partition shows up, you need to install
the SCSI drivers. (GS only)
* If you boot up and it says "Drive XXX is already on the desktop"
over and over: Probably a SCSI ID problem. (GS only)
* If you add a CD-ROM, drivers are availiable from Trantor Systems
LTD, 5415 Randall Place, Fremont, CA 94538 (415)770-1400 (GS only)
* At least one device must supply terminator power to the bus (Pin
26). The Apple Cards do not supply this, and some drives don't
either. Result: The drive won't be seen by any software.
* Some CMS Platinum drives had pin 40 disconnected for obscure Mac
compatibility reasons. This can cause problems with the Apple IIs.
* Make sure you use the drivers from GS/OS, and not the ones that
ship with the Apple HS SCSI card. (Doesn't apply to RamFast).
* To low-level format an AE Vulcan drive, go into PART.MANAGER, move
the highlight to "format" and type "AE". Then say yes to all the
prompts.
4.18 What about internal Hard Drives?
There were a few models of internal HDs made for Apple IIs over the
years. Applied Engineering's Vulcan and Applied Ingenuity's InnerDrive
were both power supply replacements that had the HD in the power
supply and a cable running off to a card in one of the slots. These
tended to fail a lot; to low-level format an AE Vulcan drive, go into
PART.MANAGER, move the highlight to "format" and type "AE". Then say
yes to all the prompts.
Alltech Electronics is currently manufacturing their 'Focus' line of
internal hard drive cards, which is a HD on a card with all of the
necessary interface on the card. Contact them for drive sizes
(20-500MB versions appear to be available) and pricing.
4.19 What about a Parallel port Zip drive?
This is theoretically possible, but would require a very extensive
amount of work. Your best bet is to get a SCSI Zip drive, and connect
that to an Apple II SCSI card (see section 4.15 above), and use that.
Here's a rundown on the problems with a parallel Zip drive: such a
connection requires a bidirectional (2-way communication) parallel
card. 95+% of all Apple II parallel cards are unidirectional and won't
work, except for the rather rare Apple Profile controller card. Next,
there's the issue of talking to it. Thanks to the publically available
Linux kernel source code, you could examine driver source and port it
to the Apple II. After that, only the GS appears able to read
PC-formatted Zip Disks (see section 5.8 "How do I read/write files
from other platforms with an Apple IIGS?"); no non-GS reader exists to
my knowledge.
4.20 What's this ProFILE hard disk, and how do I use it?
A: Apple's ProFILE drive was a 5 or 10MB HD with a parallel port
connection. While the cable may fit (a missing pin in the connector
didn't block the connection) fine in the SCSI port on an Apple II SCSI
card or Macintosh, it will NOT work as a SCSI device. It requires a
special (and apparently much rarer) ProFILE interface board to fit in
an Apple II or III. Regular parallel cards for the Apple II were not
bidirectional transmission capable, so they won't work. As that drive
was much slower than SCSI, and is now much rarer, general users should
consider going for a SCSI or IDE controller.
4.21 How about a replacement power supply?
A: There are several places that sell replacement power supplies, such
as Alltech Electronics and other replacement parts stores. [See
section 10.2 for addresses, etc of these vendors]
If you don't mind having the power supply not inside your Apple II,
Stephen Buggie takes power supplies designed for IBM PCs, and fits
them with plugs for either GS or ][, ][+, or //e. These sit outside
your Apple II (which helps reduce heat inside the case), and are
reported to work quite well. Various levels of power (150W - 250W)
models are available. For more information, contact Stephen Buggie at
buggie@unm.edu.
4.22 What are the pinouts for all the various Apple II connectors?
A: While these pinouts are a little too big to include in this FAQ
outright, you can still find them in the same place on the WWW as this
FAQ, in Nathan Mates's set of Apple II Resources. The pinouts page is
available at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/pinouts.html.
_________________________________________________________________
Email suggestions to nathan@visi.com. As always, let me know of any
mistakes, updates, corrections, additions, etc.
There are a lot more questions with answers not included directly in
this FAQ; please see http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html for
more of them.
Copyright 1997 by Nathan Mates (Nathan Mates)
--- End Part 2 of 4