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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 3/4
Archive-name: apple2/faq/part3
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 may not be the latest version of this FAQ-- this is an archived
copy. For that, drop by http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html
--- Begin part 3 of 4
How do I get files off the net? 8/26/96
Quick summary:
1: Make sure you know how to download files from ftp sites
2: Make sure you have a Binscii decoder
3: Make sure you have a Shrinkit unpacker
4: Unpack with the programs
And, in more detail, starting with a word of explanation:
[There used to be details about older Apple II packing programs in the
FAQ, but as they're pretty much never used anymore, the info on them
has been relegated to the 'obsolete' section of the comp.sys.apple2
FAQ at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.old.html]
5.1 What are Binscii & Shrinkit, and why do I need them? 8/26/96
Shrinkit was written by Andy Nicholas to be able to take multiple
files or disks and compress them into one file. This allows a authors
to distribute programs, documentation, and anything else as one
complete file. It is analogous to (but NOT the same as) Stuff-It or
[PK]ZIP for Macs and IBMs. Shrinkit comes in many different forms, as
is noted in the section on downloading it.
Binscii is a method of turning Apple II files into pieces that can be
safely transmitted by the internet, such as usenet and email, and
restored to the Apple II file later. It is used for two major reasons:
1) Since it splits files up into manageable pieces, it lets huge files
be transmitted without fear of being cut short. 2) Since it translates
files to strictly printable characters, mediums that cannot safely
send binary files (i.e. files put through Shrinkit) such as email and
usenet can send binscii'd files.
Binscii is similar to the unix 'uuencode' encoding, but it is not
identical, and far superior. It allows Apple II filetype information
to be restored when the file is unpacked. Secondly, binscii is usually
not concerned about email or news headers (it ignores them when
unpacking), and also can unpack the various pieces of a binscii'd file
in any order, and the original file will be be intact as long as all
the pieces were unpacked. Finally, you do not have to rejoin all the
binscii pieces into one file before unpacking.
Why these two programs are so necessary in downloading is the
following: pretty much all Apple II programs are first compressed with
Shrinkit, and if they are to be sent via email or to
comp.binaries.apple2, the shrunk file is then binscii'd. To unpack,
you will need to first un-binscii the file, if appropriate, and then
un-Shrink it.
Ok, fine. What do Binscii and Shrinkit files look like?
If you are given a file, first look at the end of the filename. If it
ends in ".BSC" or ".BSQ" (no quotes, and upper/lower case doesn't
matter), you most likely have a binscii file. Shrinkit files tend to
end in ".SHK", but ".BXY" is also used.
If that isn't helpful, or you have a file without a name, then take a
look at the first few lines of content. After any optional news or
email header, a binscii file should look like this:
FiLeStArTfIlEsTaRt
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789()
GSOMEFILE.SHK AQhmAAAAA8)4MIAI02DA9ARMQEDtAQhmAIVZ
gYITA6u7xADA0MjM3YTNBlDOENkQwYURzITM2UDN5gzNDJUQGVERyEDM1QzM4cjN
CFUOFR0QxAjR0MjM3YTNBlDOENkQwAQRzITM2UDN5gzNDJUQGVERyEDM1QzM4cjN
The first two lines are constant throughout all binscii files; the
third contains the filename ('SOMEFILE.SHK' here) and then the encoded
file.
On the other hand, a .SHK file cannot have any news or email header,
and has only about 6 characters at the start (not all viewable on a
normal screen, especially non-Apple IIs) that identify it. Thus,
trying to look at the first few lines is pointless.
Finally, you can always try to unpack the file, as the binscii and
Shrinkit programs will notify you if the file is not in the format
they can unpack. As files are always binscii'd last, you should thus
try and unbinscii an unknown file first, then try to unshrink it.
Enough technical discussions, now on to the specifics of where and how
to get binscii and shrinkit running on your system.
_________________________________________________________________
5.2 Where can I get Apple II software and info on the net? 3/2/97
If you're looking for an OS (operating system) for your Apple II,
there's pretty much no way to download it and write it to an Apple II
disk without an Apple II handy. However, there are other ways of
getting it; see section 7.2 of this FAQ.
[A quick note about URL notation: For those of you with full net
access, you can run a web browser (like Lynx if you are dialed in from
your Apple), which will understand URLs directly. Otherwise, ignore
the 'http:' ones and see the next section on how to use the FTP ones.)
Hint:
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^
Hostname Directory
Major FTP sites and mirrors:
* ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2 Maintained by Dan Zimmerman,
this large and well organized Apple II Archive is the best place
to look for sofrware.
* ftp.apple.com, dts/aii Apple's main ftp site. Get Technical Info,
ProDOS 8 and GS System Software, etc. here.
*
ftp://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/Apple_SW_Updates/US/Apple_II/HyperCa
rd_IIGS_1.1/ Hypercard GS. This is also available at
ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple.Software.Updates
/US/Apple_II/HyperCard_IIGS_1.1/
* ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/appleII/eamon/guild/original/
Eamon (text-based RPG system for Apple IIs) adventures in DOS 3.3
or ProDOS format.
* ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2 We (The Apple II users of the
internet) paid a good chunk of money for this drive, so it's the
biggest, and may have the best selection, but the worst
organization and disregard of legality, due to blind association
with a pirate. The WWW interface at
http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/ is almost always available.
* ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/archive/apple2 Another large Apple
II archive. Once again, the WWW interface at
http://www.umich.edu/~archive/apple2 can be less overloaded.
* ftp://ftp.hypermall.com/pub/gno or
http://www.gno.org/pub/apple2/gs.specific/gno/base204/ . GNO/ME
2.0.4 distribution.
* http://www.openix.com/~jac Archive of all postings to
comp.sources.apple2.
* ftp://names.wvu.edu/pub/apple3 - Apple III stuff
And for information, here's some of the major resources:
* http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html- Hypertext version of
this FAQ, and even more FAQs on all sorts of questions and
subjects
http://delphi.com, the best place for quality flamefree Apple II
people and discussions.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html Applesoft Basic
reference FAQ.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/dos.html Apple II DOS & Commands
FAQ.
http://www.hypermall.com/History What is the history of the various
models in the Apple II series?
http://www.gno.org/~gno/FAQ.html comp.sys.apple2.gno FAQ [For the
GNO/ME multitasking environment for the Apple IIGS]
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/pinouts.html Pinouts for many
different Apple II connectors
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/snd.mus.html Apple IIGS sound and
music capabilities.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/sys6files.html Reference of GS/OS
System 6's filestructure, with notes as to which files are required,
etc.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html Flopticals and Apple
IIs.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html CDROMs and Apple IIs.
http://www.teraform.com/~lvirden/Misc/apple2-languages.txt Apple II
Programmmer's Catalog of Languages and Toolkits
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/zip.html Upgrading and modifying
Apple IIGS accelerators.
http://www.crl.com/~joko/ssii.html - ShareWare Solutions II Homepage
http://www.tals.dis.qut.edu.au/staff/willie/ Willie Yeo's verified
list of commercial Apple II products reclassified to be publically
distributable.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/index.html - Nathan Mates's Apple II
Links. Lots of 'em.
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/bbs.html - Mike Shecket's BBS listing
Other FTP Sites:
* ftp://ftp.sheppyware.ml.org/Public-FTP/ Eric Shepherd's Apple II
software.
* ftp://ftp.ms.uky.edu/pub/appleII Mostly very old Apple II software
* ftp://ftp.cc.utexas.edu/gifstuff/apple GIF viewing software for
Apple IIs only. (And outdated. Major sites listed above have
better selections)
* ftp://info2.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive
Looks like a umich mirror again
* ftp://syr.edu/software/kermit/appleII Kermit sources for the Apple
II.
* ftp://watsun.cc.columbia.edu/kermit/a Kermit stuff in forms that
look unusable to Apple II users.
Archives of C.S.A2 Newsgroups:
Dejanews, http://www.dejanews.com, is an excellent searchable archive
of pretty much all major usenet groups, including all of the Apple II
newsgroups. It's only good back to about March 1995 as of 8/31/96, but
they may be trying to extend that back.
Other, more limited archives:
===============================
wuarchive.wustl.edu /usenet/comp.sources.apple2 (complete!)
/usenet/comp.binaries.apple2
?ftp.tohoku.ac.jp /pub/news/comp.binaries.apple2
hp4nl.nluug.nl /pub/newsarchive/comp/sources/apple2 (incomplete)
mcsun.eu.net /pub/newsarchive/comp/sources/apple2 (incomplete)
nic.funet.fi /pub/archive/comp.sources.apple2 (complete?)
relay.cs.toronto.edu /pub/lists.1989 (1989 only)
If you have a Shell account, you can use 'archie' to find ftp sites
with a particular file.
_________________________________________________________________
5.3 How do you download files off the net?
This is important because once you're on the internet, most of the
files are available only on 'ftp' and www sites. ('ftp' stands for
File Transfer Protocol, and www stands for the World Wide Web, but all
you need to know is where to get Apple II files from. See the section
above for a list of ftp sites.)
1. (For ProLine users) Get files to your host
1. Dial up your host and log in.
2. I'm not familiar with ProLine, so I'll be vague here. Just go
into the files section and look... Anyone wanna clue me in?
2. (for those with a Shell account) Get files to your host
1. Choose an FTP site from the FAQ
2. At your UNIX prompt, type "ftp _____" (fill in hostname)
3. At the "Login:" prompt, type "anonymous" (or "ftp" if you are
a bad speller like me ;)
4. Type in your e-mail address when prompted for a password.
5. Type "bin" unless you are only getting text files
6. Type "cd ______" (directory) to move to the right directory.
7. type "ls" to see a list of files.
8. Locate each file (more "cd ___"'s and "ls"). Also, "cd .."
will move up a directory in the tree.)
9. use "get ______" (filename) to get it
10. When you are done using FTP, type "quit"
3. From a WWW browser, most browsers are not set up to download .SHK
files in binary, which will make them impossible to unpack. There
are some solutions to this. Dan Zimmerman has made the Apple II
archive at Caltech automatically send files in binary mode; go to
http://apple2.caltech.edu/a2archive.html
If you are using Lynx, when the cursor is on the file to download,
you can hit 'd' to download the file, which for most people forces
a binary download. [Lynx has too many versions with the same
version 'number' and possible configurations to be able to list
which ones will work.]
Using most WWW browsers under unix (Netscape, Mosaic, lynx, maybe
some others) you can try editing the file '.mime.types' (no 's) in
your home directory on most unix systems. (Contact your local
sysadmin or guru for help on unix editors). Add the following
lines to the file:
application/x-Shrinkit shk SHK sdk SDK
application/x-BinaryII bny BNY bqy BQY bxy BXY
This will work for most files downloaded with lynx, netscape, and
mosaic. Non-unix browsers can do similar things, but you'll need
to read the documentation on them.
4. From email or comp.binaries.apple2, the files are pretty much
always in BINSCII format, so you do not need to worry about binary
downloading. Simply save the email or news articles to disk (most
things do have multiple parts, so be sure to get all of them), and
download that to your Apple II. You can keep the posts as separate
files, no need to paste them all together when saving or
downloading. For a multiple part binscii file, the order in which
you unpack them does not matter as long as you unpack every part.
5. Get files to your Apple II
See the next section on transfering Apple II files.
5.4 How do you transfer Apple files to/from other personal computers?
Normally, you cannot stick a 5.25" disk in a non-Apple II machine and
have it read it. This is because the disk writing formats are
different at a hardware level, and no software exists (or will exist)
to let a PC read an Apple II 5.25" drive. However, with rarer addon
hardware, you can bridge the gap. This has been an insolvable problem
for nearly 15 years; if it could be solved in software, such a thing
would exist.
That being said, here's a list of ways that do work:
5.5 How do I transfer DOS 3.3, Pascal, CP/M files?
Unless you have a null modem (see below) and a comm program for the OS
in question, you'll most likely have to use a real Apple II to
transfer the files to an OS that a lot more systems can read, such as
ProDOS.
The ProDOS system software, the DOS 3.3 FST (optional part of GS
System 6.0 and 6.0.1), and Copy ][+ can all read and convert files on
DOS 3.3 disks to ProDOS disks; all but the DOS 3.3 FST can write from
ProDOS to DOS 3.3 disks. All data files should translate fine, but any
program requiring a specific OS will probably not run under the wrong
OS.
For translating between ProDOS, CPM, Pascal and DOS 3.3, try the
program Chameleon. You have to use the 'force disk as ProDOS' option
to copy to/from your hard drive.
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/apple2/8bit/util/chameleon.bsq
Once the file is on a ProDOS disk, you generally have a lot more
transfer options available.
5.6 How do I transfer files by [null] modem?
This is probably the most accessible option; it can be done by an
Apple and any other computer as long as both have serial ports,
cable(s) to go between them, and communications software on both
sides.
Modems allow you to transfer computer data over phone lines; a null
modem essentially yanks the middleman of a phone. Null modem cables
(which are identical to serial printer cables) are essentially a cable
which plugs into the serial port of two computers, and is wired such
that when one computer sends, the other receives, and vice versa. With
a communications program that supports file transfer on both ends, you
can send files from one side to the other. There are a few companies
selling null modem cables and the like; see the appropriate section of
this FAQ- 10.2 for their info.
For those who haven't picked a program to download with, here are the
better Apple II programs listed alphabetically; for other systems,
you'll have to find a comparable program. All of the non-commercial
programs are available from FTP sites. If you don't have a comm
program already, your best bet is to have someone mail you one on a
disk or buy ProTerm. (See resources).
Program Comp Emulations Protocols Note
---------|----|---------------------------------------------------------------
ANSITerm GS$ color ANSI, PSE X,Y,Z-modem Editor, scrollback, etc.
Agate E mono ANSI X,(Y,Z D/L only) Unpacks ZIP, buggy
ColorTerm GS color ANSI X-modem Desktop based
CommSys E none X-modem Works on ][+
FreeTerm GS none X-modem Desktop based
GSVT GS VT-100 none Desktop
GTerm GS color ANSI none Written in BASIC/ML
GenComm GS none none Text, Shell Compat.
Kermit-65 E VT-100 Kermit, X-modem Hard to use,Works on ][+
MegaTerm GS color ANSI none ProDOS 8
PTP E$, VT-100 X-Modem, (Y-mdm D/L) From Quality Computers
ProTerm E$ PSE, VT-100 Kermit, X,Y,Z-modem From InSync
SnowTerm GS VT-100 (+) none Desktop based
Spectrum GS$ ANSI, VT100, PSE, Viewdata Kermit,X,Y,Z Modem GS Desktop Prog
TIC E$ VT-100 (+) X-modem Small, Scripting.
Telcom GS VT-100, PSE X, (Y D/L only) Shell compat
Z-Link E VT-100 X-modem Good.
----------Key:---------
| Key: $ = A commercial program + = And other obscure ones
| Computer: E = works on GS and //e, GS = only works on GS
| D/L = Download from other computer
---
PTP = Point-To-Point. I don't think it's being sold anymore. Anyone
know? See the resources section for where to buy the commercial
programs.
Once you are set up with a comm program on both ends, with a modem,
here's how to send files:
1. Find out what file transfer protocols your Apple communications
package supports. (see below for a list)
2. On your local comm program, set your file transfer type to Text
(TXT) or Binary (BIN) depending on what type of file you are
downloading. If there is an option to "strip incoming linefeeds",
try turning it on.
3. Get your host to send you the file. I don't know about ProLine,
but UNIX users can use these commands:
For Z-Modem: "sz ___ ____ ____" (file names)
For X-Modem: "sx ____" (one at a time)
For Kermit: "kermit", then "put _____" (filename)
Z-Modem is by far the fastest of the three; if you are getting
random connection errors, you may need to do "sz -e ___ ____ ____"
to force a safer (but slower) xfer method.
4. If needed, tell your local communications program to Receive. You
must do this quickly, or the other host will give up trying to
send the file.
5. Write down the full pathname of the files you downloaded and where
you put them. There will be a quiz later. Pathnames look like
"/DISK/DIR/FILE.NAME"
Note: If something goes wrong, hit ESC, Ctrl-X or Ctrl-C 3 times.
If you can't get one protocol to work, try the next one down.
Z-modem is much faster than the others. You will want to find a
program that supports it.
With a null modem, it is similar. First, you need to tell both sides
that they are online. Reading the manual is strongly encouraged! This
is easy for some programs, where you can just start them or set an
option, and they're running. Other, like Windows 95's Hyperterminal,
are almost dead set on dialing a modem first. You'll also need to set
both sides to communicate at the same speed and connection parameters
(8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, aka '8N1' is customary). When you've
got that done successfully, you can type on either computer's keyboard
and have it appear on the other's screen.
Once the null modem connection is set up, you can transfer files. From
the receiving end, issue the command(s) to receive a file in some
protocol, such as Kermit, X-Modem, or Z-Modem. Then, from the sending
side, issue the command(s) to send a file in that same protocol. The
file should then be transferred. (As above, reading the manuals and/or
documentation for the software used is highly encouraged).
A very nice null modem is the CrossWorks product, which has been taken
over by Sequential Systems. It is a null modem cable as well as Apple
II and IBM PC software that lets you translate certain types of files
between both sides, such as Appleworks files, and keep the formatting
roughly intact. See the vendors lists below.
5.7 How do I read/write files from other platforms with an Apple II?
As noted above, Apple II drives write differently at a hardware level
than IBM PC drives; you will not be able to write to IBM PC 5.25"
disks or 720K 3.5" disks from Apple IIs unless you have special
hardware.
If you have an Apple //e, the Bluedisk from ///SHH systeme, which lets
you plug in IBM PC 3.5" and 5.25" drives to an Apple II; you should be
ablt to transfer files with standard file copy programs. Another
option is the AE PC Transporter card, which had PC disk drive support
for 5.25" and 3.5" drives, as well as the software to translate
between the two. You also get the ability to run a number of IBM PC
programs on your Apple.
If you have a 3.5" drive on your system capable of reading 800K or
1.44MB disks, you can read Mac (HFS) disks of the right size directly
with some pieces of software:
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu apple2/8bit/util/a2fx.8.bsq
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/apple2/8bit/util/hfslink.b3.bsq
Null modem's also an option if your Apple II has a serial port. Such a
port is built into the //c, IIc+ and IIGS; you will need to purchase a
card such as the Super Serial Card to add such functionality to a ][,
][+ or //e.
5.8 How do I read/write files from other platforms with an Apple IIGS?
With support for both 3.5" and 5.25" drives, the Apple IIGS is the
best all-round platform for transferring files between various setups.
First, all of the Apple II programs and methods are available to it;
see the section just above this for those.
With GS System 6.0 and 6.0.1, the GS gained the ability to read and
write Macintosh 800K and 1.44MB floppies from within all programs, not
just the dedicated transfer programs mentioned above for pre-GS
machines. (1.44MB disks require some additional hardware, such as the
Apple 1.44MB Superdrive and Superdrive controller, the Bluedisk, or
SCSI Floptical drives). Use the System 6 installer (select 'Custom'
install to get the list of addons) to install the HFS (Macintosh) FST
on your boot disk, then reboot to load it. It may be a bit of a
squeeze to fit the HFS FST and such on a 800K boot disk, and GS System
6.0/6.0.1 pretty much requires at least 1-1.25MB RAM to do stuff.
System 6.0.1's optional MS-DOS FST allowed read-only (not write)
access to MS-DOS formatted disks, though disks with Windows 95's VFAT
extended names will not have the long names displayed. The GS's normal
800K drives are not capable of reading MS-DOS 720K or 1.44MB disks
directly; you will need to get a 1.44MB capable drive, as listed in
the paragraph above.
For the ability to write to MS-DOS disks, you will need Peter Watson's
(email: paw@acslink.net.au) MSDOS utilities (latest version is 2.30),
which can read/write MS-DOS formatted disks, both FAT (pre-WIN95) and
VFAT (WIN95) disks, including Zip disks. It's not currently usable
from within the Finder or other programs, but you need a program shell
such as that included with The Byteworks' Orca series, Procyon's
GNO/ME, ProSEL-16's shell, or the minimal shell included in the
msdostools package.
ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple16/utils/MSDOS.util/MSDOS.TOOL
S.SHK
System 6.0 also added read-only support for Dos 3.3 and Pascal 140K
disks. The Pascal FST in System 6.0.1 (and probably 6.0 also) will not
recognize disks with legal punctuation in the disk name; Nathan
Mates's GUPP program fixes that. See the System 6.0 mini-FAQ in this
FAQ for details on where to download GUPP.
5.9 How do I read/write Apple II files from a Mac?
If you can read/write Apple II 3.5" disks, Macs can usually read/write
to them, but please note the many quirks noted below. Apart from the
Apple //e emulation card (see below), Macs never really had 140K 5.25"
support. Using a null modem is almost always an option; see above.
With Mac System 7.5 and up, the Control Panel 'PC Exchange' lets
inserted ProDOS and MS-DOS disks appear on the desktop and copy files
to and from them, making the procedure rather simple. Before 7.5
(starting somewhere in Mac System 5 or 6 series), the program 'Apple
File Exchange' was bundled on the system disks; it could manually (and
very slowly) copy individual files, but only from within Apple File
Exchange. Consult the system software disks for your Mac if you can't
find these programs.
Macs downloading to Apple II disks to be read by ProDOS 8 applications
is usually not an issue of directly dragging a downloaded file to the
destination disk. Despite the claims of 'compatability' or 'ease of
use', you're likely to need a special program to help to get a ProDOS
8 program such as BASIC.SYSTEM for Binscii, Shrinkit 3.4, Appleworks,
etc., to read the files. [GS/OS can deal fine with the additions to
the file, but if you're trying to get the ProDOS 8 version of binscii
running, that is no help.] The usual symptom of this problem is a
'FILE TYPE MISMATCH' error on trying to read the file.
It is reported that the Mac program 'ProTYPE' can be used as a helper
app to clean up the crud Macs add to files before copying them to an
Apple II. There was also another program to do the same, but it
disappeared recently from the net, which is apparently "normal" for
Mac ftp sites. ProTYPE is currently available online (at an Apple II
based site, so it hopefully won't disappear like the last rather
useful program) at
ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/Mac/ProTYPE.hqx
Consult the various Mac FAQs for information on how to download and
use Mac programs. See section 1.3 of this FAQ for references on
finding other FAQs.
Some have said that you can apparently change the type and creator to
'TEXT' and 'pdos', before copying it to the ProDOS disk-- that'll
prevent it from adding the resource fork when writing to a ProDOS
disk. Others claim that won't do the trick for them.
Once you have the ability to download .bsq files and unpack them,
there are some Apple II files to remove forks. [These files are packed
with Binscii. If you don't have binscii because it's got a resource
fork on it, you can't use these fork removers. Thus, you'll need to
deal with it on the Mac end at first.]
HFS.LINK, listed above can apparently read out the data from either
fork; there are also the programs ConvertForks 1.0 or ForkSplit 0.5.
Also, the Apple //e emulation card (available for a few models of
Macs-- see the section on it) allows you to plug in a real Apple II
5.25 drive, and read files off of it.
5.10 How do I read/write Apple II files from an IBM PC?
IBM PC drives operate differently from Apple II drives at a hardware
level; there is NO software to overcome that. The only way to bridge
the gap with only a PC or an Apple II is by using (rare) addon
hardware. [Technical details: PCs use MFM disk encoding; Apple IIs use
GCR. The disk controller card does the decoding of the bitstream, and
if it's in the wrong format, it'll mess up the bits before software
can get anywhere near it. Thus, a new disk controller card is a bare
minimum.]
If you have a Macintosh and access to an Apple II with 3.5" disks
(such as most GSs), you can copy the files to a ProDOS disk and let
the Mac read that disk. It can then copy them to a MS-DOS disk with
the same software that read the ProDOS disks; see above for Mac
specifics.
Null modem is probably the best method; as noted above, the Crossworks
product from Sequential Systems is a good product that lets you
transfer and translate certain Apple II and IBM PC file formats.
There's supposedly a program that reads 1.44MB ProDOS disks on a PC
(which the PC does support), but you need the ability to write such
disks from the Apple II side anyhow.
There are a few rare hardware boards that you can plug into a PC and
get it to access Apple II disks; the Trackstar Plus and Quadram boards
are reported to be usable in IBM PCs. (Quadram's Quadlink reportedly
only supports the IBM PC XT and older; the Trackstar Plus works well
in any PC with space for a very full-sized ISA board and VGA
capabilities) Neither is available new anymore, and can command a
premium now on the used market, as IBM PCers who sold off their Apple
IIs realize the follies of their ways. :)
5.11 How do I download and unpack binscii?
[If you'd rather skip this and most of the next step, Steve Cavanaugh
has a disk containing this, Shrinkit 3.4, and many other useful
programs. See the Resources section (10.2) below.]
1. Binscii has many programs that can unpack it, but if you have none
of them, you will need to first get 'BINSCII.TXT', the only
binscii program that can be transferred without any of the others
or Shrinkit. [Spectrum 2.1 and later can also unpack Binscii, so
if you have a GS and want to purchase this program for general
telecom use, that's an alternative.] After you have this binscii
program and Shrinkit, you can unpack other binscii decoders.
2. There are non-Apple II Binscii programs (sciibin is available in
source code form ready to be compiled on unix and other
platforms), should you desire, but to download and unpack
Shrinkit, you will almost certainly need a minimal Binscii decoder
on your Apple II. Thus, it's in your best interest to download a
binscii decoder.
3. Make sure you have a method of getting files to a ProDOS disk on
your Apple. That may include downloading with a communications
program, or copying to a disk from another computer. Please note
that Apple II and IBM PC 5.25" and 3.5" disk formats are different
at a hardware level, so without (rare) addon hardware on one or
both sides, you cannot use an IBM PC to download stuff to an Apple
II disk.
Macs running system 7 can write to ProDOS 3.5" 800K disks, but
please note that the Macintosh system software has the bad habit
of adding a "resource fork" to files. This makes them UNREADABLE
from most Apple IIs, unless you run a special program on them from
the Macintosh side. Please see the section on file transfer from
Macintosh to Apple II for where to get that program.
If you do not have ProDOS, please contact your local Apple II User
Group for a copy-- they can copy it free of charge. If you do not
have a modem program, but do have a modem or null modem to another
computer, Steve Cavanaugh's disk that was mentioned above has some
simple comm programs. Alternatively, the commercial program
ProTERM 3.1 by Intrec is by far the best general Apple II
communications program, so if you have at least a 128K Enhanced
Apple //e, a //c, IIc+, or Apple IIGS, it is worth it to invest in
this program. See the sections on dealers below for Intrec's
address and phone number.
The rest of this tutorial assumes that you have read the above
sections and have a basic clue as to how to navigate the internet
and download files.
4. Download the file 'BINSCII.TXT', written by Todd Whitesel to your
Apple II. A copy is linked in at Nathan Mates's Apple II Resources
WWW pages, http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/binscii.txt Or, check
the major Apple II ftp sites (see above), as well as
ftp.ugcs.caltech.edu, pub/nathan/binscii.txt
This is a text file. (Previous versions of it were named
'binscii.exe', which most people confused as being a MS-DOS
executable, which the program most definitely is not.) It must be
downloaded in text mode to your computer, or it will require some
work to get it working. Check the ftp and [z]modem transfer
options to make sure binary mode is off before downloading it to
your Apple II.
If you used a Macintosh to write the file to a ProDOS disk, be
warned that it'll sometimes add a 'resource fork' to the file,
rendering it unusable under ProDOS and Basic with a "FILE TYPE
MISMATCH" error on trying to access it. To avoid that, see the
section on file transfer from Macintosh to Apple II for a Mac
program to clean up after that problem.
5. See if you can unpack it. You will need to get to Applesoft Basic
under ProDOS to do this. [ProDOS identifies itself as such when
booting, and Basic is the ']' prompt available by running
'BASIC.SYSTEM' if you booted to the Finder]. From the prompt,
change to the disk/directory with the BINSCII.TXT file in it. [A
reference on Dos 3.3 and ProDOS commands is not part of this FAQ,
but is available at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/dos.html]
Next, verify that the file was transferred as a text file. From
the prompt, type the following:
PR#3
CATALOG
If the "PR#3" command causes your computer to crash, hang, or display
garbage, you do not have an 80-column card in the normal place.
[This is rare, and only happens on ][+s, or stock //es.] Reboot
your computer and try again without the PR#3 command. The catalog
should have a line like the following (though the date and time
will vary)
BINSCII.TXT TXT 12 20-AUG-96 20-AUG-96 3:14 5645
[If not in 80-column mode, that'll be wrapped to 2 lines.] Anyhow, the
number we wanted was the very last number, which should be 5645.
If that number is 5737, you downloaded in binary mode off an IBM
PC. That's fixable. If the number is 512, you disregarded the
warnings above about how the Macintosh will make an Apple II file
unreadable; see the section on file transfer from Macintosh to
Apple II for a Mac program to clean up after that problem.
Also, note the file type in the second column, which is 'TXT'
here. If it is already TXT, you can skip forward to step 5. Fixing
the filetype. First, note what it currently is. If it's not 'TXT',
common alternatives are 'BIN' or '$00', but almost anything is
possible. The second and fourth line of the following commands,
assume it's '$00', with file length 5645. Modify those two values
to match what you saw in the catalog listing above:
RENAME BINSCII.TXT,BINSCII.ORIG
BLOAD BINSCII.ORIG,A$2000,T$00,L5645
CREATE BINSCII.TXT,TTXT
BSAVE BINSCII.TXT,A$2000,TTXT,L5645
This first renames the old file, loads it up, creates a file of the
right length and then writes the new file.
6. Now that the file type is correct, trying to install binscii. Type
the following:
EXEC BINSCII.TXT
If you get a lot of ?SYNTAX ERRORs and beeps, then you most likely did
not download it in ascii mode. You should try again, making sure
of ascii mode, or try typing in this program. If the file size you
got from the CATALOG above is not 5645, change the 5645 in line 10
to whatever it is.
10 D$=CHR$(4): L=5645
20 PRINT D$"BLOAD BINSCII.TXT,A$2000,TTXT,L"L
30 FOR I=8192 TO 8192+L: IF PEEK(I)=10 THEN POKE I,13
40 NEXT: ONERR GOTO 60
50 PRINT D$"DELETE BINSCII2.TXT"
60 PRINT D$"CREATE BINSCII2.TXT,TTXT"
70 PRINT D$"BSAVE BINSCII2.TXT,A$2000,TTXT,L"L
Use the basic command 'RUN' (no 's) to run this program. After it is
done, you should have a better chance at being able to "EXEC
BINSCII2.TXT" and run it.
7. After all of this is done, you should have the 'BINSCII.SYSTEM'
program on the disk/directory you EXECd binscii from. To run it,
type
-BINSCII
That should start it. For now, with no files to decompress, just exit
it. Congratulations, you can now unpack BINSCII files.
8. There are fancier BINSCII decoders, but this one is the only that
can be easily transferred. If you have a GS, you might want to
consider downloading the gsciiplus program from some of the
following ftp sites:
apple2.archive.umich.edu, apple2/gs/archivers/gscii.bsc
apple2.caltech.edu pub/apple2/addons/nda/gscii231.shk
However, to unpack this, you will need a Shrinkit program
(detailed in the next section) to unpack them before you can use
them. Once unpacked, you will need to copy the 'gsciiplus' NDA to
the DESK.ACCS folder inside the SYSTEM folder on your boot GS/OS
disk.
5.12 How do I download and unpack a Shrinkit unpacker?
Ok, getting and downloading binscii is the hard part, promise. Because
binscii takes care of the worry of filetypes, end of lines and the
like, you don't really need to worry about those problems again.
Which Shrinkit program you should download depends on which model of
Apple II you have. These programs are listed in increasing order of
features and better user interfaces, so Unshrink ][+ will run on
pretty much anything that you got binscii running on, while
GS-Shrinkit 1.1 will only run Apple IIGSs. Apple IIGS programs can
have file formats known as 'forked files' which ProDOS 8 and regular
Shrinkit cannot unpack, so if you wish to download and unpack most GS
programs, GS-Shrinkit is required. (The exceptions are demos and the
like distributed as a shrunk copy of a disk)
At least an Apple ][+ with 64K running ProDOS:
Your only option is Unshrink ][+ and Autounshrink, available
via ftp from
apple2.caltech.edu, pub/apple2/ARCHIVERS/unshk2plus.bsc
apple2.caltech.edu, pub/apple2/ARCHIVERS/autounshk.bsq
At least an Enhanced Apple //e with 128K, or //c, IIc+, IIGS:
Although you can run Unshrink ][+, Shrinkit 3.4 is far better.
Get
apple2.caltech.edu, pub/apple2/ARCHIVERS/shrinkit34.bsc
At least an Apple IIGS with at least 1.5MB Ram, running GS/OS System
5.0.4 or later, hard drive recommended:
GS-Shrinkit is the best choice, though if you spend most of
your time in ProDOS 8, you may also want to get Shrinkit 3.4 as
well as detailed above. You can get GS-Shrinkit from
apple2.caltech.edu, pub/apple2/ARCHIVERS/gshk11.bsc
Download the appropriate file(s) to your computer, and unpack them
with the binscii decoder.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The gscii plus NDA (and related unpackers, like the
sscii command) can NOT correctly unpack the GS-Shrinkit 1.1 file. You
_MUST_ use the binscii program that was mentioned and downloaded in
stage 1, or wait for GS-Shrinkit 1.1A.
Run them Shrinkit program you just unpacked. GS-Shrinkit can be run by
double-clicking on its icon in the Finder or the equivalent for other
launchers. For the other programs, from the Basic ']' command in the
disk/directory where you unpacked the program type 'CAT' to get a list
of files. Find the filename of the program, and then '-FILENAME' to
run it. (Replace 'FILENAME' with the name you saw in the list)
5.13 How do I unpack a generic .SHK or .BSQ file?
Now that you have all the files you want on your Apple II, you will
first need to run the binscii program on any BINSCII'd files you
downloaded, and then the Shrinkit program on the results of the
un-binsciiing and/or any .SHK/.BXY files you downloaded. Once you're
done with that, it's up to you to play around with the files you
unpacked.
After unpacking the .BSQ files, you'll notice that .SHK files are
usually produced. You do not need to keep the .BSQ files around to
unpack the .SHK files; you may delete the .BSQ file(s) at your
convenience. Similarly, once the .SHK file is unpacked, you can delete
it if you do not expect to need to unpack it again anytime soon.
5.14 I can download .BSQ files fine, but .SHK files can't unpack. What's
wrong?
If these files are coming from a standard Apple II ftp site, such as
those listed in section 5.2, they should unpack fine as long as you
download the files in BINARY mode at every stage, which includes from
the ftp site to any intermediate machines along the way. Any single
text download will usually corrupt a .SHK file enough to make it
impossible to unpack. Make sure that you're downloading in binary at
each and every stage. Binscii (.BSQ) files contain enough extra
information so that they aren't affected by ascii downloads.
There are the occasional bad uploads to the ftp sites, but these tend
to be reported quickly and dealt with. If you're having a problem with
a file, and are very sure that the file is bad on the ftp server,
please email the administrator to resolve the problem. Administrators
should have tools to verify the integrity of any files on their sites,
and deal with any problems on their end. [Administrator's email
addresses are usually listed when you connect to a ftp site.]
5.15 Apple Archive Format (aaf)
Apple Archive Format was invented as a standard way to post source
code to comp.sources.apple2. The C and Basic source code to aaf
unpackers are available on the various FTP sites, in aaf format.
Fortunately, files in aaf format can be turned back into source code
with a simple text editor. Just break the file up into component files
and remove the first character of each line.
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu /apple2/unix
Alternative location, including dox: http://www.openix.com/~jac
_________________________________________________________________
Filetypes and dealing with files of various types
6.1 A quick note about ProDOS filetypes
ProDOS keeps some information about a file's type. Files can be text
(TXT), binary (BIN), executable (SYS), fonts (FON), etc. Most other
file systems do not have a place to store this information, so it may
get 'lost' when you upload the file. Similarly, when you download a
file, you may not know the file type. Most comm programs will use some
default. For NuFX archives, this is not a big deal, since you can
still unpack an archive if the filetype is wrong (and the archive
protects the filetype of the files inside the archive). For other
files, you may need to change the file's type. One utility that comes
well recommended is File Attribute Zapper II.
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu /apple2/8bit/util/fazz.2.3.bsq
6.2 Net standard formats
There are several formats that are used widely on the Internet. The
most common in FTP sites are tar (.tar) and compress (.Z). From a unix
box, to undo a Tape Archive, type 'tar -xvf filename.tar', to undo a
compress, type 'uncompress filename.Z'. Since tar does not make the
file smaller, and compress can only compress 1 file, many times you
will find files that are 'tarred an feathered'. They have a '.tar.Z'
extension. Just run uncompress then un-tar the result. Other USENET
groups will use uuencode (.uu) to send binaries. From a unix box, just
type 'uudecode file.uu'. BinSCII is better than uuencode because 1) It
stores the ProDOS filetype. 2) It splits the file into manageable 12K
chunks. 3) It does a CRC checksum on each chunk.
Most of these 'Unix' standard formats are available on the Apple. See
the table below.
Format Types
+-------------------------------------------------------+
|NuFX|Bin |uuen-|com- |.ZOO|Bin |LZH/| Stuff| ARC| Other|
Program | | |SCII|code |press| |Hex |LHA | -It | | |
--------|-|----|----|-----|-----|----|----|----|------|----|------|
Angel[1]|e| | | | X | X | | X | | X | .ZIP |
BSC |c| | E | | | | | | | | |
Balloon |g| X | | | | | | | | | |
Binscii |e| | X | | | | | | | | |
DeArc |e| | | | | | | | | D | |
GSCII+ |g| | X | X | | | D | | | | .AAF |
GShk |g| X | | | D | D | | | D | D | |
LHext |x| | | | | | | D? | | | |
Nulib |c| X | | | | | | | | | |
PMPUnzip|x| | | | | | | | | | .ZIP |
SciiBin |c| | D | | | | | | | | |
Shrinkit|e| X | | | | | | | | | |
Spectrum|g| | X | | | | X | | | | |
sscii |x| | X | X | | | X | | | | |
(Key: E = Encode only, D = Decode only, X = Encode and Decode)
(Type: e = Apple //e, g = GS Only, x = GS EXE file, c = C Source code)
[1] Angel is pretty Buggy, but it's worth a try.
Where to get those programs listed above
This FAQ already lists exactly where to get Binscii and GSCII+ as well
as the Shrinkit programs, as well as the top level directories of
several major ftp sites. To save some hunting around in the directory
structures, Apple II versions of most archive programs are located at
the following places:
Caltech's Apple II Archive: apple2.caltech.edu, pub/apple2/ARCHIVERS
Ground: ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/Mirrors/caltech/ARCHIVERS
_________________________________________________________________
6.3 What do the file extensions mean?
Many times, people put filename extensions (extra characters at the
end of a filename) to denote what type of file it is. Please note that
these are just accepted standards. If a file does not indicate it's
type, you will probably have to guess. The following is a table of
some common filename extensions. (Note that upper/lower case usually
doesn't matter in extensions) See the previous section (on archivers)
for programs that will deal with these files.
Extension What is it? (What program do I use?)
--------- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Text only files:
.html [TEXT] ASCII text file with (ascii) formatting codes. Used to
format documents on the World Wide Web, some other places.
.htm [TEXT] .html, but the extension got trimmed to 3 characters
.txt [TEXT] An ASCII text file: usually English text.
Archive files:
.aaf [TEXT] Apple Archive Format for source code (aaf.unpacker)
.ACU Applelink Conversion Utility (Shrinkit)
.ARC ARC Archive (IBM ARC, GS Shrinkit, //e Angel or DeArc2E)
.CPT Compactor Pro archive (Compactor Pro on a Mac only)
.BSC [TEXT] Binscii file. (Binscii)
.BSQ [TEXT] Binscii'd NuFX file. (Binscii--then Shrinkit)
.BXY NuFX archive with a Binary II header. (Shrinkit)
.BNY BLU archive. (Shrinkit)
.BQY NuFX or Binary II with BLU header. (Shrinkit)
.BNX NuFX with BLU header. (Shrinkit)
.dsk Disk image of 140K 5.25" Apple disk. No legitimate and copyrght-
enforcing Apple II sites use this format, so it is not covered in
this FAQ.
.exe [TEXT] Executioner file. May only work in DOS 3.3. See above.
Note: .EXE generally means IBM executable (binary) program.
.gz Gzipped file. No legal Apple II software distributed in this format.
.HQX [TEXT] Mac BinHex file. (BinHex on Mac or GSCII+ on GS)
.LZH LZH Archive (IBM/Amiga LZH program, //e Angel)
.LHA LHA Archive (IBM/Amiga LZH program, //e Angel)
.QQ BLU archive. (Shrinkit)
.SEA Self-extracting archive (Usually Mac, might be Shrinkit archive)
.SIT Mac StuffIt archive. (StuffIt on Mac (preferred) or GS ShrinkIt;
GS Shrinkit will only decode very old StuffIt files.
.SHK NuFX archive. (Shrinkit)
.SDK NuFX with a shrunk disk image. (Shrinkit)
.tar Unix Tape Archive (Unix 'tar -xvf', GS EXE tar)
.tgz Gzipped .tar file
.uu [TEXT] Unix uuencode file [TEXT] (//e uudecode, Unix uudecode)
.uue [TEXT] Unix uuencode file [TEXT] (//e uudecode, Unix uudecode)
.ZOO IBM Zoo Archive (GS Shrinkit or IBM ZOO program, //e Angel)
.ZIP IBM Zip Archive (GS EXE Unzip, IBM PKUNZIP, Unix unzip, //e Angel)
PMPUnzip
.Z Compressed file (GS Shrinkit, Unix uncompress, //e Angel)
Common graphics file extensions:
.AVI Windows Movie. No Apple II program can display this.
.BMP Windows and OS/2 Bitmap format.
.GIF Graphics Interchange Format: Compressed picture.
(IIGIF for //e, many programs for all other computers)
.JPG Newer graphics format. (GS viewers only)
.JPEG Newer graphics format. (GS viewers only)
.MOV Quicktime Movie. No Apple II program can display this.
.MPG Movie format. No Apple II program can display this.
.MPEG Movie format. No Apple II program can display this.
.TIFF Graphics format (GS SHR Convert and others)
Common sound file extensions:
.AU Sun (unix) audio format. rSounder 3 can read, AudioZap 2.0 can
read/write.
.MOD Amiga Music file. Some GS programs can read & play these.
.WAV Windows file. rSounder 3 can read 8-bit WAVs, AudioZap 2.0 for GS
can read/write, other programs can guess at reading
All 'text only files' files can usually be opened directly in any word
processor, assuming they were downloaded in ascii mode. (Downloading a
text file in binary mode from a non-Apple (Apple II or Macintosh)
machine will probably be formatted incorrectly.)
All of these types, except the ones marked [TEXT] are BINARY files.
Binary files cannot be sent over e-mail, posted to the newsgroups or
FTP'd in text mode. You must FTP them in binary mode (see the section
on FTP). You can download either with kermit, X-,Y- or Z-Modem.
See the next few sections for how to use transfer text, pictures,
general graphics, and sound/music files.
Generally, anything labeled as 'Archive' above can and do contain
multiple files, and even subdirectories. Most archivers (except for
tar) also compress the files so that they take less disk space and
time needed to download them.
Sometimes you will find multiple filename extensions. Simply take the
filename extensions apart one at a time starting with the rightmost
and you should be able to reconstruct the original file. (i.e.
somefile.bsq.tar.Z would mean: uncompress, untar, unbinscii, then
unShrink to get the original file!)
6.4 How do I USE stuff I have transferred to/from an IBM/Mac?
A:If you get a 'File Type Mismatch' error on when trying to read a
file you transferred via a mac, then you will need to remove the
resource fork from the file. See the section on file transfer from
Macintosh to Apple II for where to get that program.
In general, only certain types of files can be usefully transferred
back-and-forth between computers. One thing that you CANNOT do is run
programs designed for another type of computer. But often you can
transfer data files between similar programs (Spreadsheets) on
different platforms. Here are some pointers:
6.5 How do I use text files from other computers?
One helpful hint is that all computers can read text files. Most word
processors can save your file as text and import as text. But with
text files, you will loose all your formatting (font type, centering
and so-forth). For spreadsheets, saving as DIF will make conversion a
breeze. Databases can be saved as tab-delimited records. (Note that in
AppleWorks, you have to go to Print to save in these formats). Look
for options like "Import" or "Export" (or "Save As" in the Mac world).
If you want to do better, there are several options available. A
commercial program called MacLinkPlus can do some conversions. Some
Claris programs do conversions automatically. Also, AFE can convert
between some kinds of documents (For example AppleWorks Word Processor
to MsWorks) if you have the right translator.
ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/info-mac/util/afe-appleworks-msworks.hqx
For IBM folks, The CrossWorks program can convert between many Apple
and IBM formats, and even comes with a universal null modem cable.
Alternately, If you use AppleWorks a lot, you can get SuperWorks for
the IBM, a clone of AppleWorks. It can import AppleWorks files
directly. For graphics, SuperConvert can convert between all
Apple-specific graphics formats and many Mac, Amiga and IBM specific
formats. It can also save as GIF, which is a universal standard.
6.6 How do I view picture files from other platforms?
A: There are quite a few programs available, each capable of reading
different file formats:
GIF, BMP, other lossless compressed formats:
* IIGIF is a freeware GIF converter for any Apple II (but there is a
patch needed for the Apple //c). It reads in GIF and saves as
hires or double-hires.
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/apple2/8bit/graphics/iigif.bsc
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/apple2/8bit/graphics/iic.patch.for.
iigif
* MACDOWN is also freeware and lets you do the same with MacPaint
pics.
* A ProDOS 8 version of The Graphics Exchange from Roger Wagner
Publishing.
[The following software only work on an Apple IIGS]
* Convert 3200 is one of the best programs still being sold for
graphics conversion on the GS. A short list of file formats it
handles is: Apple Preferred Format (GS) and PaintWorks Gold
format, various 3200 color GS formats, as well as Windows-OS/2
BMP, Compuserve GIF, Amiga .IFF/ PC .LBM, Paintbrush PCX, Binary
PC and several varieties of TIFF files. It can save in a number of
those: Apple Preferred, Windows BMP, Paintbrush PCX, TIFF, Binary
PC and Print Shop GS.
For more information, please see
http://www.crl.com/~joko/convert.html.
* The Graphics Exchange converts between many formats of graphics;
the 16-bit version is also available from Roger Wagner Publishing.
* Prizm v1.0 Converts .GIFs, Amiga IFFs, Raw Files, and some other
types to Grayscale (very fast), 16 colors, 256 colors, and 3200
colors! Size of picture limited by availabe RAM (Not sure where
it's available from anymore either; it was commercial.)
* SuperConvert (commercial program, published by Seven Hills
Software) loads all GS formats, plus GIFS and other non-GS
specific formats and saves in all GS formats (including Finder
Icon files). It has more dithering options than most of the other
programs, but you may have to play with it to find the best one.
It can also save in TIFF and GIF formats if you want to move Apple
II graphics to other machines. Version 4.0 of this program is
faster and adds support for JPEG files.
* SHRConvert is the earlier, shareware, predecessor to SuperConvert.
It does a pretty good job on the types of graphics it supports.
SHRConvert used to be available for download at
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/apple2/gs/graphics/shrconvert.2.1.b
sq, but it appears to be pulled off ftp sites at the author's
request when SuperConvert was published.
* Platinum Paint is a commercial program that can import all GS
formats plus MacPaint. It can only save in SHR and Apple
Preferred. Version 2.0 can make Animations too! Platinum Paint was
sold by Scantron Quality Computers.
* The Byte Works has a TIFF Viewer/Converter that'll read in TIFF
files on the GS.
* Animasia is reported to have some sort of .DXF (3D format used by
CAD programs among others) importer; it runs only on the GS.
* ShowPic 6 is a shareware NDA that can display most GS formats. You
can also save the resulting graphic as a IIGS SHR painting.
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/apple2/gs/gsos/nda/showpic.6.0.bsq
* DreamGrafix supports all 3200 color picture types and also 16
color and 256 color pictures. This is a very impressive commercial
paint program with its 3200 color support. EGO Systems (now since
out of business) has teken over distribution of this; see the
dealers section of this FAQ for their address.
Note: 'All GS formats' includes Superhires (type $C1 and $C0), hires,
double-hires and PrintShop/PrintShop GS.
JPEG and other lossy formats:
As far as I know, JPEG viewers are only available for the Apple IIGS,
no other Apple II machines. Seven Hills Software's commercial program
SuperConvert (version 4.0 or later) can view and convert them. A
number of free viewers are available at
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/graphics/viewers. Check them out
if you're interested.
6.7 How do I use Icons/Fonts/etc from other platforms?
A: For reading Mac icons and such, try "Resource Spy"
ftp://apple2.archive.umich.edu/pub/apple2/gs/util/resource.spy.bsq
Note that Mac TrueType fonts will require you to purchase the
'Pointless' program by Westcode software before you can actually use
them on a GS. Once you have that installed, you can copy Mac TrueType
fonts off a Macintosh disk and use them without any conversion through
Resource Spy. IBM Truetype fonts are in a different and unspported
file format. Conversion programs exist for the Macintosh (and possibly
IBMs as well), but no GS converters exist.
No Truetype readers exist for non-GS Apple IIs to my knowledge;
Postscript fonts are not displayable by any Apple II programs to my
knowledge. EGO Systems' LaserBeam 1.1 can download PostScript fonts to
an attached Laserwriter.
6.8 How do I listen to sounds/music from other platforms?
Ian Schmidt has put together an Apple II Sound & Music FAQ which has
much more detail on this subject. It is available online at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/snd.mus.html.
For non-GS Apple IIs, there are two programs available. Michael
Mahon's Sound Editor 2.2 is supposed to have very good playback. It is
available from http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/sound22.shk
'IISound' is also available for regular Apple IIs; it can play back
many sorts of sounds, and is reported to use the same playback
routines as Mahon's program above. You can get it from:
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/Zocalo/pub/apple2/8bit/music.and.sound/iisoun
dv4.2.shk.
With the expanded sound circuitry of the GS, the number of sound
programs is dramatically increased. On the GS, the program
'MacSoundGrabber' can read Mac sounds out of Mac files, and save them
in a GS format; you can get it from
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/sound/macsoundgrab.shk.
Alternatively, you can use the 'rMover' addon for Hypercard.
Also, programs such as rSounder 3 and AudioZAP for the GS can
read/play WAV files and lots of other formats. rSounder can also save
converted files (8-bit input only) as GS Resource-based sounds,
suitable for the System 6 Sound control panel.
With most 8-bit mono sounds, you can simply import the file as binary
and use the editor to strip off any header and Zero (0) bytes, which
cause the sound to stop prematurely on playback due to the way the
GS's Ensoniq chip handles samples. 16-bit formats (a number of WAVs,
possibly also .AUs) will sound like garbage; only rSounder 3 and
AudioZAP 2.0 (available only after paying the $20 shareware fee for
AudioZAP 1.x) can deal nicely with those.
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/sound/rsounder3.shk.
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/sound/audiozap.shk.
About the only non-Apple II music format which is readily playable is
the Amiga .MOD format. Many players exist, from fairly lousy to ones
doing a pretty good job. Recommended ones are MODZap, Beatbox,
Shellplay/Deskplay; most of those are available from
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/music/modplayers.
6.9 How do I transfer Hypercard/Hyperstudio files?
Apple bundled a 'rMover' program with Hypercard GS that facilitated
the transfer of files that didn't require custom XCMDs. It can
transfer in both directions. I've never used it, but the necessary
files should be available with the rest of Hypercard at
ftp.support.apple.com, pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Apple_II/HyperCard_IIGS
. These files are unfortunately only unpackable on Macs. The .bxy
files (despite the filetype extension) are not readable on Apple IIs
unless you manually strip off the 512 byte header
Apparently the Mac version of HyperStudio will run GS HyperStudio
stacks without conversion.
_________________________________________________________________
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 3 of 4