Re: Whats wrong with ROM 0 anyway?

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) writes...

>martin.w6@ukonline.co.uk (Martin Wilson) wrote:
>
>>The Apple 2 GS I have has ROM 0, no ROM is mentioned at
>>powerup. I also suspect it has the early faulty video chip
>>as I ran Elite on it and there was colour fringes on the
>>black and white action screen. The monitor I'm using is a
>>0.28mm multiscan and isn't the cause.
>>
>>What disadvantages are there to having ROM 0?
>>
>>The computer seems fully usable but what problems should I
>>expect?
>
>You won't be able to run 99% of the IIGS software
>written

    Eh? The ROM 00 cannot run 99% of Apple IIgs software titles?
That figure is a quite an exaggeration as a great deal of older
games and productivity applications will certainly run _as long_
as you have enough memory installed. I can even think of a few
90's demos that run on a ROM 00, such as the DreamVision player.

    Mostly your going to have problems running IIgs programs
written from 1988 to the present. I would say a good 25% of
native IIgs programs will run (that figure is a very rough
guess, but it certainly closer than your 1%). Upgrading the
ROM is still *very* important however, even vital, I hope I
don't give the opposite impression with this nit-pick. :)

>and would be reduced to using it mostly as a fancy Apple IIe.

    There I agree, especially since you can't run GS/OS. Many
of the IIgs's based in schools are ROM 00's (often with 256K)
and guess what they're primarily used as.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca