Re: IIgs newbie question(s)

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

John Ruschmeyer writes ...
> 
> I've recently started fooling with a IIgs (my first one, though I've been
> fooling with Macs and Apple IIe's for a number of years). It's the
> usual $5 Salvation Army model:
> 
>         ROM 01
>         256K on memory card
>         keyboard
>         mouse (missing a teflon pad)
>         5.25" floppy
>         no docs
>         Some yellowing of the case
>
> For another $5, I got the matching monitor (minus cable).
>
> I've scrounged up the correct 3.5" drive and updated the memory card to 1MB.
> I know I need a hard disk controller and/or a copy of AppleShare 3.0 to
> really make this useful.
>

     You do not necessarily need a separate controller. A Focus Hard Card
includes an IDE hard disk and controller which fits on a Slot card.



> Some questions though:
> 
> 1) Do I really need the HD or AppleShare?

     You do not need especially need AppleShare. A hard disk is very nearly
essential; but, you can get along without one.


> Any way to floppy boot GS/OS
>    enough to use a folder shared from regular Mac file sharing?

     Sounds messy, also slow. You can do better by flash booting System from
diskette to RAM disk. This requires a 4MB Expansion memory card.

     A IIgs with just the 1MB Expansion memory card can run a lot of old IIgs
(and 8-bit) software. For tasks like transferring files via NULL modem and
converting disk images it works fine and is much better than a //e or IIc+.
But, 1.25MB is not enough RAM to run System 6.0.1.



> 2) I want to install my old PCPI Applicard. I know that in a IIe, I would
>    just drop it into an empty slot. As I understand it, on the IIgs, I
>    need to go into the control panel and change the setting for the
>    particular slot to "your card". What I don't know is the following:
> 
>         - What slot should I use for something like this?
>         - Do I "lose" anything when I set the slot to "YOUR CARD"?
>           (i.e., if I put the card in slot 4, which is currently
>           set to "mouse", do I lose the use of the mouse or the
>           emulation of the //e mouse card?)
 ....

     Forgot what an Applicard is so looked it up. Back in April someone asked a
similar question about CPM cards. Evidently, an Applicard won't fit in a IIgs.

     If yours will fit, then, yes, if you put it in Slot 4 and set the Slot to
"Your Card" you give up the mouse as long as the card is in use. Also, it seems
that you would need to set IIgs Speed to "Normal" (slow) speed.




Rubywand