Re: Microsoft Premium Softcard //e doesn't fit in my Apple //e!

[Bob <BobP@pingme.net>]

On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:17:51 -0500, Steven Hirsch wrote:

> On 02/18/2013 03:10 PM, Michael J. Mahon wrote:
>>>
>>> Also, would one of the older softcards or clones work in a //e?  I
>>> specifically wanted the //e softcard because of the 80 cols and (to a
>>> lesser degree) the extra RAM.
> 
>> You probably don't want to hear this, but it would be a lot easier to
>> replace your Euro //e than to find a Euro Premium Softcard...
> 
> The card you really want is the PCPI Applicard / MicroPro Starcard.  At
> 6Mhz. it's faster than any of the Microsoft cards and it can easily be
> hotrodded to 8Mhz.
> 
> Besides that, the driver support is far more extensive.  Full
> source-code for the system and all drivers (OEM and third-party) is
> available in the wild and the API documentation is also out there.
> 
> If you were serious about CP/M on Apples "back in the day", this was the
> board you wanted.
> 
> It uses a conventional slot and will work in any Apple.  In fact, Alex
> Freed built an Applicard clone that is small enough to fit in an Apple
> III and it works fine with the newly-discovered A3 Applicard OS!
> 
> Seems like there might be a market for another run of the Freed boards -
> Alex?
>   I have one of my Freed clones running at 20Mhz :-).
> 
> Steve

Yeah, Steve.  I recall that Jim Lill posted some instructions on the old 
GEnie site for getting the card to run at 9 mHz.  I followed them, and it 
ran at 9 mHz without a hitch.  (Probably still does.  I should be able to 
check that out in a couple of months after I resuscitate some other 
things.)  In addition to the crystal change, the card had to be 
repopulated with the F version of the several chips.