Re: Commands

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

In article skibumoh@aol.com (SkibumOh) writes...

>     I just got a new (at least new to me) IIGS.  Think that it is a great
>system.  One question though...   It is a ROM 01 (that would be 2ed 
>generation right???)

    Well, second generation of firmware at least (Apple made a free
chip-swap upgrade available a year after the machine was introduced).
Besides fixing several bugs, it is required to run software written
in the past decade or so.

>with the color RGB(?) moniter.

    If it says "AppleColor RGB - A2M6014" on the back, then it is.
This is the standard monitor sold with the IIgs, a 12" analog RGB
display (NTSC frequency however, so it is not compatible as a VGA
or Mac RGB monitor).

>It has no hard drive, a 5 1/4, and 3 1/2 floppy drives.  Also has
>a 2400bps modem!

    If you have a spare, I would recommend replacing the modem with
a 14.4K external. You can get away with using a 2400 bps modem, but
even for reading e-mail with a plain text shell account it can get
pretty unbarable at times.

>     I have a few questions...
>
>1)Can I put the GS/OS on this comp.

    If you have at least 512K (a memory board in the expansion slot)
you can run some earlier versions of GS/OS, such as System 4.0, 5.0,
5.0.1 and 5.0.2. You need at least 1.25 MB to run System 5.0.4 right
up to the final release, System 6.0.1 (2-4 MB is an even better idea
if you plan to do anything serious with the machine).

    If you have no memory board installed, you only have 256K and
the machine will only work with System 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0. You can
boot System 3.1 and 3.2, but it'll bypass the Finder and drop you
in the IIgs Mini-Launcher (there will not be enough memory to load
anything from here though, except perhaps some 8-bit applications).

>2)What upgrades can I get for 100usd

    You can certainly stretch your dollar purchasing upgrades used
from places such as comp.sys.apple2.marketplace. Your main concern
would be upgrading the machine's memory, adding a hardrive and then
perhaps accelerating it. Each item alone, used, would fit you budget,
but altogether they'd probably exceed it.

    A used fully populated 4 MB card can be found for about $25, and
a Focus internal hardrive (new) $60. The only catch is the hardrive
at that price is 20 MB, which is far too small for the GS, but then
better than using an 800K 3.5 floppy drive. Accelerator cards are
only available used these days.

>3)What software is worth the trouble to get (I HATE PIRATES)

    Check out Shareware Solutions II, Alltech Electronics or Seven
Hills Software for purchasing new software. Unfortunately, you'll
only find about 1-2% of existing Apple IIGS titles through those
sources, so you'll have to search csa2.marketplace for the rest.
Begin at http://www.crl.com/~joko to start your search.

>4)Since I don't have the startup disk(?) I've been in the Basic(?) mode.  I
>wanted to    know where I can find a basic listing of commands.

    http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2 has a FAQ for Applesoft BASIC.
Note that the BASIC built-in ROM is not native to the IIGS, it is
pretty much identical to what shipped inside the Apple IIe.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca