Re: Making ADT easier to set up...

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Mister Boffo writes ...
> 
> The whole business with uploading the Apple II part of the
> code is rather complicated. Nobody uses terminal programs
> anymore on the PC. Oh sure, there is HyperTerminal included
> with Windows 95/98, but most people don't have it installed
> and don't know it is there.
> 
> For those of us who do know it is there, it is a real pain
> to use. All these weird settings, bizarre options, etc. It
> would be nice to not even have to use a terminal program
> at all.
> 
> What if the minimal functionality needed to upload the
> Apple II program could be built into the ADT PC program?
> 
> This way you can upload the source by merely pressing a
> certain key in ADT122.EXE. It would be able to auto-select
> 300 baud 8N1, etc etc for the user, and would make the
> initial setup process MUCH easier.
> 
 ....

     Agree that Hyperterm is a bit obtuse and not as user-friendly as it
should be. This explains why there is info on setting up Hyperterm in the
newsgroup FAQs ( http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2T1TCOM.html#020 ).

     If a user does not like Hyperterm, there are other PC telecom programs
which can be downloaded for free from places like Download.com at
http://download.cnet.com/ .

     Besides, as mentioned in the Csa2T1TCOM FAQs page (Q&A 003), you do not
have to use a PC telecom program to transfer the Apple II part of ADT. You
can get into DOS and use a DOS command to send the file.


     The main reason the PC part of ADT (adt.exe) does not try to handle
sending the Apple II part is, probably, that the actual gains in ease of
doing the 1-time transfer would be minor. You would still have to set up your
Apple II serial interface correctly; and, you would still need to have a
correct cable connection. And, you would still have variations in PC hardware
and system software which would limit use of any particular adt.exe.

     In any case, ADT is not a total solution for PC-->Apple II software
transfers. It's fine for transferring whatever software is on standard 5.25"
disk images (.dsk or .do files) to an Apple II (diskettes).  But, it will not
transfer 3.5" images, ShrinkIt whole-disk and file archive files, or
graphics, Text, etc. files. For those transfers, users need ZLink, ProTerm,
ModemMGR, Spectrum, ... running on their Apple II connected to Hyperterm or
some other telecom utility running on their PC or Mac.



Rubywand