Re: Applesoft Firmware Card

[D Finnigan <dog_cow@macgui.com>]

mwillegal wrote:
> Hi Steven,
> 
> Ah firmware cards - one of my favorite topics.  :-)
> 
> My original card is no longer in a "as purchased" state, but the 2nd
> version Blue Book, which essentially was a manual for the Applesoft
> Firmware card, doesn't say anything about monitor ROMs, auto start or
> otherwise.  There is a solder blob jumper on the card that will disable or
> enable F8 (monitor) ROM on the card.  A lot of the surviving cards, do not
> have the jumper installed, which prevents the F8 monitor ROM on the card
> from being used.  I would think that this would not be the case, if the
> original cards had autostart F8 monitor ROMs installed.   
> 
> I'm thinking that autostart ROMs arrived on the scene with the Apple II
> plus, about a year after the release of the first version Applesoft
> Firmware card.   I don't ever remember having autostart capability on my
> II, though I had a Applesoft Firmware card, from very early on.  I do
> clearly remember first encountering the autostart "feature" after
> purchasing an Apple IIplus off of ebay just a few years ago.  I'm pretty
> sure that I would have experimented with autostart back in the old days,
> if
> I had an opportunity to do so.

My conclusion is that Autostart ROMs were available _before_ the Apple II
Plus went on sale. I have an Autostart ROM installation and operation
manual, it's the white booklet with the green Apple logo on the cover. I can
check the dates in there to see.


-- 
]DF$
Apple II Book: http://macgui.com/newa2guide/
Usenet: http://macgui.com/usenet/  <-- get posts by email!
Apple II Web & Blog hosting: http://a2hq.com/