Re: Apple IIc Plus to LocalTalk

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

<bobryan9@my-deja.com> wrote:

> In article <1ecy5fd.1xv366r20iaomN%rlcolli@ibm.net>,
>   rlcolli@ibm.net (Ryan Collins) wrote:
> > I've recently acquired a IIc Plus, and was noticing that the modem and
> > printer ports are the same as on my Mac. Does the IIc Plus have the
> > Workstation card hardware built in to allow it to see an AppleShare
> file
> > server on a localtalk connection?
> >
> 
> I read here on this newsgroup that an Apple IIc that came before the
> IIc+ (did any IIc's come after the + ?) had the firmware built into it
> to support appletalk, but it didn't work.

Ah, this old chestnut.

The "UniDisk" revision of the Apple IIc firmware introduced some support
code which would have allowed the IIc to connect to an AppleTalk
network.

That is, IF Apple had ever released the box that plugged into the
machine which contained the necessary hardware and software support for
actually implementing AppleTalk.  In effect, this box would have been an
Apple II Workstation Card in an external case (i.e. a microprocessor
plus RAM, ROM and serial I/O hardware), modified as required to
communicate with the code running in the IIc.

I forget now whether Apple intended to use the serial port or the floppy
disk port to connect this device to the IIc.

In any case, the device never materialised, and Apple removed the
firmware support in the next IIc revision (memory expansion).

The only evidence of AppleTalk support is that you get an error message
which says "AppleTalk Off Line" if you use the PR#7 command on the
appropriate revision of the IIc.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P O Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand