Re: Apple ][e - Getting started

[Doug Browning <wpg750@mb.imag.net>]

dante wrote:

> A friend of mine rescued an Apple ][e from the dumpster the other day (Yes,
> the dumpster - blasphemy!) Anyhow, he dried it out and got it cleaned up,
> and it seems to work. When we turn it on, all we see is "Apple ][" at the
> top of the screen, and "Check disk drive" at the bottom. We've got no disks
> or anything, so I'm hoping this is what we're supposed to see. Yes/No?
>

Do you have any disk drives connected to the computer? I ask because what you
describe is not normal for the Apple //e to give a "Check disk drive" message
at power up with no disk in the drive. Normally, it will display the "Apple ]["
or "Apple //e" message (depending on whether or not the machine is enhanced or
not), and the drive will run indeffinatly (or untill you simultaneously press
the control and reset keys). From your message, I assume either you've got no
drive connected, or a bad controller card. Open the case and find the
controller card (usually, it sits in slot #6). Turn off the power and remove
that card. When you turn the power back on, you should get the "Apple ][" or
"Apple //e" title with a "]" symbol at the bottom of the screen followed by a
flashing cursor.

> Do I need a boot disk here? What kind of disks does it use? I can see it's
> a 5 1/2 inch floppy, but what size/format are we talking about? What OS
> does it use? (Not that it would help, but I'm curious). Is it possible at
> all for me to use my PC to access the software and write it to a disk?
>

Ok, so you've got a floppy drive. In that case, plug the drive's cable into the
topmost connector on the controller with the red trace towards the #1 pin of
the connector. With the power off (never make any connections to the computer
with power on) plug the card back into slot #6. When you turn the power back
on, you should see the appropriate title and the disk drive will run (the
little red light on the front will be lit). While you can run the Apple without
disks (press the control and reset keys together to stop the drive and make the
cursor appear), it's use will be severely limited, so startup disks are
recommended (check with a local users group about where to obtain them). The
Apple uses double density diskettes and runs either Applesoft DOS 3.3 or ProDOS
8 (if you choose ProDOS 8, make sure you get a version that is appropriate for
your machine, depending on whether or not it is enhanced or not). Apple disks
are not compatible with your PC unless you run an emulation program on the PC.

> If and when we get it running, how does one go about programming it? I
> recall from my younger days with my VIC-20 that I could just sit down and
> start bashing out BASIC right at the prompt. Is the Apple][ similar, or
> would I need to find more disks for this as well?
>

Like the VIC-20, as soon as the Apple displays the "]" prompt and cursor, you
can start with the BASIC programs (you don't even need any disks). With the DOS
3.3 System Master disk, you get a choice of two versions of BASIC, the regular
floating point Applesoft BASIC ("]" prompt) and Apple Integer BASIC (">"
prompt). ProDOS, however, only supports Applesoft BASIC (the file
"basic.system" is required on the boot disk).

> I have absolutely no experience with these machines at all, and haven't
> been able to find any FAQ's/WWW sites with this kind of information.
> Anything that could help get me started would be greatly appreciated.
>
> dante



--
Doug Browning
dougbrow@mb.imag.net
www.mb.imag.net/~wpg750