Re: IIgs questions...

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Labelas Enoreth writes ...
> 
> Hiya. Been awhile since I've posted, eh? (Mainly cause I had to change
> news servers and was too lazy to wade through 1000 unread posts...:P)
> 
> Anyway, here's the things...
> I have a joystick that is IIe/IIc compatible (It has two plugs, and a
> switch on the bottom) it works correctly in IIe mode for IIe games, but in
> IIgs games it will only go right and up...if you really wiggle it you can
> get them to twitch a little to the left or down, or at least stand
> still...but...any idea why it's doing this?
>

     It sounds like your IIgs is not slowing down for joystick access. If you
are running with an accelerator, try setting the switch which tells the GS to
slow down for joystick accesses. Otherwise, try setting Speed to "Normal" in
the Control Panel.

 
> Is there a program out there that will run on a IIgs (preferably from
> GS/OS off of a 3.5 disk) that will allow me to make and restore .nib
> images on my 5.25 drive? I've looked, but I haven't really been able to
> find any.
>

     You might try Saltine's Super Transporter. I'm fairly sure that's the
program used to create .nib files.

 
> My 2nd IIgs drops into the monitor halfway through booting anything if the
> memory card is installed. It's the 'Apple IIgs Memory Expansion' from
> Apple. I know this is vague, but I'm just curious if it might be the card,
> or the chips, or a misconfigured jumper (can't remember how it was jumped
> originally)
> I tried all new RAM chips from a IIe memory expansion (they seem to be the
> same type, 41256-15, however, perhaps they are not...) and it still
> failed.
>

     It could be the jumpers. Here's a guide you can use to see if your card is
set up correctly ...


     For 256kB, the top left 8 sockets (i.e. the left half of the top row)
should be filled. No jumpers should be placed on the pins near the lower right
end of the board.


XXXXXXXX--------
----------------
                         O O (no Jumpers)
                         0 0


     For 512kB, the entire top row of sockets should be filled. The bottom 
pair of pins should be jumpered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
----------------
                         O O
                         0-0 Jumper bottom pair


     For 1MB, all sockets should be filled. The top and bottom pairs of 
pins should be jumpered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
                        O-O Jumper top and bottom pairs
                        O-O 
   


 
> Anyone have a good source for the pieces so that I can install a battery
> holder on the board and use a removable lithium battery in it (like the
> mac)? The Radio Shack guy looked at me like I was a devil, then went and
> got his manager, who told me I should just buy a new battery and solder it
> right on there.
>

     The manager has a point. The standard IIgs BatRAM battery is a 3.6V
lithium type rated at 1.2 AH. It lasts at least 5 years and is not that much
bother to solder into place. (Or you could try Duncan Entwisle's suggestion:
use the springy connectors from a Radio Shack electronics experimenter kit to
connect a new battery's leads to cut-off leads on the motherboard.)  A good
place to look for lithium batteries at low prices is All Electronics
(800-826-5432; http://www.allcorp.com ).

 
> Were there any IIgs viruses?

     Yes; five or so which were fairly well known. The ProDOS-16 package
contains a virus sniffer program and a file with good discussion by Glen Bredon
on GS viruses.


> I couldn't remember any, but the other day I
> discovered after running several programs in a row, that something had
> been kind enough to install diversicache in memory for me...I didn't
> really mind because it seemed to speed up booting some games, although it
> would make some sierra games fail with a Tool error 0021 (I think) when it
> went to check for the second disk...but then the thought occurred to me,
> hey, I wonder if these wonderful games I just downloaded from the internet
> with their oh-so-elite 'we hacked this game so visit our BBS' screens and
> the kindness to install CDAs for me, I couldn't help but suffer a moment's
> apprehension at the thought of a virus happily scooting about my disks.

      Very likely, one of the disks you booted installed Diversi-cache. It
definitely speeds up things when your're working with 3.5" drives under ProDOS
8. However, as I recall, Diversi-Cache does not work well with GS System.



Rubywand