Re: More Questions from a New IIgs User

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

jonINTERNETrelayCHAT@napaVALLEYnet.CLARInet (Jon Bettencourt) wrote:

>Can you use a Mac Plus mouse in the game port? I read somewhere that you
>can plug one into a IIgs or IIc, but I read somewhere else that IIc mouses
>won't work with the IIgs. Also, the first place I read about also said
>that on a IIe you plug it into the mouse card. But the IIe, IIc, and IIgs
>game ports should all be the same, shouldn't they?

No, you cannot use a Mac Plus (equivalent to a IIe/IIc) mouse
on the GS game port.  The IIc is special because the joystick
port is also the mouse port.  Both functions share the same
port.  This is not true for the IIe or the IIGS.

The IIGS uses ADB mice.  Go to any computer store that
sells Macs.  I saw a generic Mac mouse for $5 in one.  For
a little more, you can have a two button mouse with the
second button serving as click-lock.  Makes the menus
stay down as they do in Windows.

>What kind of monitors can I plug into the RGB Video port? I have the
>following: Apple Performa Display, Apple Multiple Scan 15 Display, and an
>Acer SVGA. I know the port uses analog RGB. Do any of these monitors use
>analog? Or are they all digital? What about the 15Hz 30Hz 50Hz 60Hz 25Hz
>47Hz frequency thing? Do I need to build a special cable?

All of these are analog RGB.  The IIGS uses analog RGB.
But the IIGS uses 15Khz while the others require a
minimum of 30Khz.  However, plug the Apple Mac
monitors into the port and have some fun.  You will find
that they do work, but the screen is distorted because
the monitor cannot sync down to 15Khz.  You can
barely make out the image of the GS display underneath.

To get a Mac monitor to sync to the IIGS requires major
modifications inside the monitor.  It is best to get a IIGS
(or Amiga or Atari ST) monitor to use on the IIGS.

>How can I hook up a simple network between the IIgs and a Mac Plus so that
>the IIgs can use the hard drive on the Mac Plus? Do I need a ProDOS boot
>disk or something to do that (I don't have one)? Do I need to format
>something on the hard drive as ProDOS? Do I need to completely reinstall
>the MacOS on the Mac Plus and use System 7.5 with PC Exchange?

You don't need ProDOS.  You need a to enable file sharing
on the Mac and get System 6.0.1 for the IIGS, then set
up a server alias from the IIGS' Finder.  You then double
click on the IIGS to reach the Mac's hard drive.

You can't boot the IIGS from the Mac under MacOS 7.5.

The easiest way to get System 6.0.1 on the IIGS is to
order a Focus hard drive card from http://www.allelec.com/
Alltech Electronics.  You also get a library of freeware
and shareware in the process.

>I tried connecting my IIgs and my other Mac (a Quadra 700) together with
>AppleTalk. I got the Quadra to file share, but the IIgs didn't do anything
>(I did have Slot 1, Slot 7, and StartUp set to AppleTalk on the IIgs). Did
>I need to format something on _that_ hard drive as ProDOS? I did it with
>PhoneNet connectors. Maybe I should use a regular printer cable
>instead....

You need a IIGS System 6.0.1 boot disk.  You can't boot
the GS over the network this way.  You must boot the
GS from a local disk, then log onto the Mac server.

>I heard somebody tried to connect a Mac Plus hard drive to the floppy
>port, and didn't get it to work because the floppy port doesn't support
>it. Shortly after, I saw a post that said someone had successfully
>connected a HD20 (???) to the IIgs's floppy port. If I read that second
>post right, then how exactly _do_ I get the IIgs to boot up from the hard
>drive in the floppy port?

You get a Universal Disk Controller Card (UDC), a Laser
brand device.  You must have the earlier model of the
UDC (which is a longer card than the later models).  It
only works for ProDOS 8, so it is more useful for a IIe
than a IIGS.  It won't work with GS/OS at all, so unless
you plan to use your IIGS only in IIe emulation mode, the
HD20 is a bad drive.

Besides, both the UDC and the HD20 are rare items.
You can easily sell the HD20 on eBay for $80 and take
that money to http://www.allelec.com/ Alltech Electronics
and get a Focus Hard Drive card for the IIGS.  Then
plug it into slot 7, set slot 7 to 'your card' and startup to
'scan' and reboot the computer.  The Focus Card is plug
and play.