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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="Author" content="Rubywand"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.75 [en] (Win95; U) [Netscape]"> <title>R024GSSPECS Csa2 html</title> </head> <body> <address> <a NAME="top"></a><font color="#FFFFFF">.</font><font color="#666666"><font size=-1>The official Csa2 (comp.sys.apple2) Usenet newsgroup Apple II FAQs originate</font></font></address> <address> <font size=-1><font color="#666666"> from the</font> <b><font color="#009900">Gr</font><font color="#FF9900">o</font><font color="#FF0000">u</font><font color="#CC33CC">n</font><font color="#3366FF">d </font></b><font color="#666666">Apple II site. Ground Apple II administrator: Steve Nelson</font></font></address> <br><b><tt><font color="#FFFFFF"><font size=-2>.</font></font><font color="#666666">Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground Resource file: R024GSSPECS.htm</font></tt></b> <br><b><font color="#FFFFFF"><font size=+2>. .<a href="A2FAQs1START.html"><img SRC="entrance.jpg" BORDER=0 height=14 width=69></a>..<a href="A2FAQs2CONTENT.html"><img SRC="contents.jpg" BORDER=0 height=14 width=67></a>.</font></font></b> <br> <br> <p><b><font size=+3>Apple IIgs Specifications</font></b> <p><b>by Supertimer</b> <br> <br> <p>The IIGS is an amazing machine given its age. It can run a free version <br>of Wolfenstein 3D, has its own UNIX, and even its own TCP/IP capable of 32 <br>simultaneous sockets! Email is due to be released soon and as is ftp. <p>A web browser of sorts is already here as is telnet! <p>Here are some information and specs for the IIGS: <p>There are two things you need to do to get the IIGS usable. First, get a <br>hard drive for it. http://www.allelec.com/ Alltech Electronics sells an <br>internal hard drive for the IIGS that is a hard drive on a card. No extra <br>controller needed. It is an IDE controller plus notebook mechanism. It <br>costs $59. For that price, you also get the most modern Apple IIGS System <br>Software, GS/OS (System 6.0.1), which is normally on six separate floppy <br>disks (a hard drive is needed to get the most out of it). You also get <br>tons of freewares and sharewares. The hard drive is called the Focus hard <br>drive card. Look for it on the Alltech site. <p>The other thing is memory. Alltech (see above for web site) also sells <br>the Sirius RAM card. They are revising their web site, so this product <br>may not yet be on there, but just call them and ask. It is a 0-8MB memory <br>card that can be expanded in 1MB increments using 1MB 30 pin SIMMs. I'm <br>sure you have an old 386 lying around that you can gut. <p>The IIGS' minimum recommended standard is 4MB. <p>Here are the specs for the IIGS: <p>1. Make and Model: <br> Apple IIGS <p>2. Released: <br> 1986 (256K model) and 1989 (1.125MB model) <p>3. Follows: <br> Apple IIc <p>4. Followed by: <br> Apple IIc Plus <p>5. CPU: <br> Western Design Center (not to be confused with Western <br> Digital, the hard drive maker) 65C816 running at 2.8Mhz. <br> Processor has 24-bit addressing (16MB memory space). <br> Speed can be dropped down to 1Mhz for compatibility <br> with emulation of IIe applications. Speed can be <br> increased to 15Mhz with an add-on CPU card. <p>6. ROM: <br> 128K in the 1986 "ROM 1" model <br> 256K in the 1989 "ROM 3" model (Apple skipped ROM 2 <br> so as not to confuse "Apple II" with "ROM 2") <br> ROM is expandable to 8MB (some cards use ROM <br> space as non-volatile battery backed virtual disk <br> storage for instant on applications [RamKeeper]). <br> The ROM contains much of the GS Toolbox routines. <br> These routines are patched by disk loaded code in <br> later system software revisions. <p>7. RAM: <br> The 1986 model has 256K built-in to the motherboard. <br> The 1989 "ROM 3" revision has 1.125MB built into <br> memory. The Apple IIGS is expandable to 8MB of RAM <br> with the right memory card. Many applications, such <br> as Apple Computer's HyperCard program for the GS (GS <br> version of the famous Macintosh program) need at <br> least 2MB. Extra RAM goes into a special memory <br> expansion slot on the motherboard. Both Alltech <br> Electronic (http://www.allelec.com ) and Sequential Systems <br> (http://www.sequential.com ) are selling 8MB memory cards <br> as of October 1998. <p>8. Case: <br> Attractive platinum ABS impact resistant plastic. The <br> keyboard and mouse are separate from the unit, as are <br> all disk drives. <p>9. Keyboard: <br> Full layout keyboard with numeric keypad. The keys <br> have good tactile feel and click slightly with each <br> keypress. They have rollover for fast typist. The <br> Apple IIGS uses Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) standard <br> keyboards and mice. This means it can use many such <br> input devices designed with the Macintosh in mind. <br> Any Mac made after 1986 has an ADB port, but the IIGS <br> was the first computer with one. <p>10. Display: <br> The Video Graphics Chip (VGC) is a custom video chip <br> that provides all of the GS' graphics modes. All modes <br> use a 12-bit palette for 4096 colors. <br> --320x200 with 16 colors <br> --320x200 with 256 colors: in this mode, the VGC <br> is taking advantage of the fact that it has memory <br> for 16 separate palettes. Each scan line can be <br> assigned any one of these 16 palettes for a total <br> of 256 possible colors. This mode requires no CPU <br> assistance and is often used in games. <br> --320x200 with 3200 colors: in this mode, the CPU <br> is used to swap palettes into and out of video <br> memory such that a separate 16 color palette can <br> be used on each of the 200 scan lines for 3200 <br> possible colors. This mode is often used for <br> viewing graphics. <br> --640x200 with 4 pure colors: this mode is bland <br> and is not often used. <br> --640x200 with 16 dithered colors: in this mode, the <br> pixels in the graphic screen are grouped into <br> even and odd columns. The even columns can have a <br> palette of 4 pure colors out of a of 4096 possible. <br> The odd columns can have a second palette of 4 <br> pure colors. The GS dithers the adjacent colors <br> for 4x4=16 dithered colors. This mode is widely <br> used in productivity programs and also in Apple's <br> Finder for the GS. <br> --Fill mode: for faster rendering of graphics, the <br> fill mode is a hardware mode in which an outline <br> of a graphic can be drawn and the outline filled <br> by a solid color without needing to draw in all the <br> pixels. <br> --Combinations and variations: the Apple IIGS has <br> scan line interrupts. Part of the screen can <br> be in 640x200 mode and part of it can be in 320x200 <br> resolution. Such split modes are sometimes used <br> in paint programs, where the menu bar is in 640x200 <br> while the graphic is in 320x200. <p> SVGA modes with 24-bit color can be added with an additional <br> video card (see the Second Sight SVGA card at Sequential <br> Systems http://www.sequential.com/ ). The card is capable <br> 1024x768 resolutions with an SVGA monitor. <p> The Apple IIGS also has all the graphics modes found on <br> the Apple IIc. <br> --Text mode: 40x24 and 80x24. Characters are formed <br> by a 7x8 pixel matrix. Text mode is monochrome but <br> can be set to a specific color. The background <br> and boarder can each be set to different colors. <br> Text mode is rarely used in GS programs since the <br> OS, GS/OS, has a graphic desktop. <br> --Low Resolution: 40x48 pixels in 16 colors. <br> --Double Low Resolution: 80x48 pixels in 16 colors. <br> --High Resolution: 280x192 pixels in 6 colors <br> --Double High Resolution: 560x192 pixels in 16 colors. <br> --Combinations/Variations: 4 lines of text mode can <br> be mixed with a truncated Low Resolution or High <br> Resolution mode graphic. The text in mixed mode can <br> be either 40 column or 80 column. <p>11. Audio: <br> The Apple IIGS uses the 32 channel Ensoniq 5503 DOC <br> wavetable sound chip used in Ensoniq's Mirage and ESQ-1 <br> synthesizers. Although classics today, the Mirage and <br> the ESQ-1 were professional synthesizers into the late <br> 1980s. The 32 channels are commonly paired by the OS <br> tools of the GS into 16 stereo voices, with one voice <br> being reserved by the system for timing and the system <br> beep. The GS is commonly called a 15 voice unit. <br> Programs that don't use the OS and hit the hardware <br> directly (games and demos) can use the 32 channels as <br> 32 separate voices. <p> See this link for more information: <p> http://www.ensoniq.com/multimedia/semi_html/index.htm <p>12. Media: <br> The "SmartPort" external drive port supports both Apple <br> IIe/IIc UniDisks (3.5" and 5.25" models) and Apple IIGS <br> daisy-chain 3.5" drives and Apple 5.25" disks. It is <br> also designed to support the Chinook CT-series 20MB to <br> 100MB SmartPort hard drives, but Apple IIGS users <br> usually add an SCSI card to the system for faster hard <br> drive access. <p> The difference between a UniDisk and a IIGS 3.5" drive <br> is that the IIGS drive is controlled directly by the <br> computer while the UniDisk has a separate processor. <br> The UniDisk is thus much slower (up to 4x slower) than <br> a IIGS 3.5" drive. <p> The SmartPort can support two 800K 3.5" drives, two <br> 140K 5.25" drives, and one 100MB CT100 hard drive <br> simultaneously daisy-chained to each other. <p> The Apple IIGS often shipped with the Apple High Speed <br> (DMA) SCSI controller in an expansion slot for <br> controlling SCSI devices. Even 100MB Zip Drives and <br> 1GB Jazz Drives work on this SCSI port. <p> A SuperDrive can controller can be added for using <br> 1.44MB high density floppy drives. <p> The Apple IIGS' operating system, GS/OS, is modular. <br> Like the Macintosh OS, INIT, extension, Desk Accessory <br> and Control Panel files can be added. These appear <br> under the Apple menu in GS/OS programs such as Finder. <br> GS/OS also supports the installable file system concept. <br> Apple made several file system translators (FST) <br> available: ProDOS, DOS 3.3, Pascal (UCSD), MS-DOS, <br> ISO9660 (CD-ROM), and HFS (Mac). Using the HFS file <br> system, the GS can access a single storage partition <br> of up to 2GB. It also supports multiple partitions, <br> some ProDOS (32MB per partition) and some HFS. <br> <p>13. Input/Output: <br> Two RS-423 ports (uses Zilog chip, same as Mac, for <br> Appletalk and 56.7k serial port max) <br> Composite display output (NTSC or PAL depending on the <br> country) <br> ADB port (for keyboard and mice) <br> RGB monitor output (Drives an analog RGB monitor. <br> Besides Apple's, Amiga and Atari ST <br> monitors work with the right cable) <br> External Drive "SmartPort" (IIGS daisy chain 3.5" or <br> UniDisks 3.5" drives, Apple 5.25" <br> drives, and CT-series 20MB to 100MB <br> hard drives) <br> Joystick port <br> Headphone connector <br> Seven Apple Bus expansion slots (inherited from IIe) <br> One Ensoniq sound connector (for input to the ADC for <br> recording samples and access to the raw synthesizer <br> output signals). <br> One special memory expansion slot (supports up to 8MB <br> of RAM expansion and 8MB of ROM expansion). <br> <p>14. Trivia <p> The Apple IIGS was designed in response to the Amiga 1000 and Atari <br>520ST computers. It was and is a quantum leap for the Apple II line. Sales <br>were strong initially and the IIGS even outsold the black and white <br>Macintosh units that were its contemporary. Sadly, Apple wanted Macintosh <br>to be its future. The total number of advertisements and commercials can <br>probably be counted on one hand. If the computer had been introduced a <br>year or two earlier, things might have been different. As things stood, <br>the Apple IIGS disappeared from the market in 1992. <p> In one final gasp, the Apple II supporters at Apple designed the <br>Apple IIGS Plus, code named "Mark Twain." It had an 8Mhz 65C816, a built <br>in SuperDrive, 2MB on the motherboard, and a hard drive. Prototypes were <br>leaked and one user group has one and wrote a series of articles about it. <br>Apple management vetoed this unit. <p> The Ensoniq chip in the Apple IIGS was a brilliant move by Apple, but <br>it drew a lawsuit by Apple Records, the Beatles' company. Apple never <br>again put a synth chip in any computer. Even today, Macintosh does not <br>have hardware synthesizers. Macintosh needs to go around this with <br>software based synthesis. <p> In a twist of irony, you can currently do preemptive multitasking <br>(like Amiga) on the Apple IIGS with the addition of a free product called <br>GNO/ME, providing a UNIX like multitasking kernal under the GUI, much like <br>AmigaDOS...while Macintosh lacks such a capability until Rhapsody is <br>released (well, there was a UNIX variant for Macintosh, but it was <br>discontinued by Apple). The Apple IIGS also has the ability to do <br>cooperative multitasking (Macintosh style) with a product called The <br>Manager...works to turn the GS Finder into a Macintosh type Finder <br>(allows more than one program open and overlapping on the GUI and <br>cooperative time slicing). <br> <p>15. Emphasis: <br> Small business, Home, Education, Gaming, Programming <p>16. Net Resources: <br> http://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/ (1.7GB A2 knowledge and <br> software repository) <br> http://www.sequential.con/ (Video cards and storage) <br> http://www.allelec.com/ (Various hardware and software) <br> <p><b><a href="#top"><font color="#999999">to</font><font color="#FFFFFF"><font size=-2>.</font></font><font color="#666666">top</font></a></b> <br> <br> </body> </html>