Re: HELP Apple2e question

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <353D6BA8.CC43D70B@iserv.net>,
Lisa Wildfong  <newdream@iserv.net> wrote:
>I just got a AppleIIe with a 80col/64k memory card and a I/O card.When I
>turn it on Apple//e appears at the top of the screen and the it just
>sits there. Do I need a floppy to boot off of? I have a DOS3.3 disk. I
>thought AppleIIe's had a built in operating system in ROM.

   In reverse order, no, there is no OS in ROM. A version of Basic
(which would be Applesoft Basic in all Apple IIs starting with the
][+,which incldes the //e), but no capabilities to easily manage disks
exist unless you boot them. Next, the Apple //e will try forever to
boot off a disk-- no error messages are ever reported if it cannot
begin booting. 

   If that DOS 3.3 disk does not boot on your system, then either that
disk is bad, misformatted (Apple II and IBM disks are written to
*quite* differently, and cannot be used on the opposite platform
without rare addon hardware), or there is some kind of a hardware
fault like a dirty 5.25" drive (cleaning kits available at computer
stores or Radio Shack-like places-- those kits don't care about Apple
II/PC formats). Make sure all cables are properly and firmly
connected.

   For answers to these and many more questions, I invite you to read
the offical csa2 FAQ at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html
Some pirates may have stolen words from others to make "faqs", but
those are full of problems, holes, and lies, so avoid them.

Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? -R.A. Heinlein