Re: Commodore drives can be controlled on Apple II serial!

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney) wrote:

>I have a Spartan here at home but haven't used it for much.  My
>brother gave it to me for Christmas many years ago.
>
>I never had any manuals for it so I had no idea that you could
>read/write Apple II disks with a 1541.  I just plugged a Disk ][
>controller and drive into slot 6 and used it.  :-)

I first read about it in a 1986 issue of Compute's Gazette.  It was
near the time of the GS release.  The 1541 mod involved opening
the 1541 drive and flipping a chip.  This turned the "smart" C=
drive "dumb" like A2 drives, to paraphrase the Gazette article.

>The Spartan is a standalone II+ compatible computer if you plug a II+
>keyboard into it.  Using the C64 as the II+ keyboard allowed you to
>send C= key comibinations as macros.  C= C send CATALOG for
>example.

I have always wondered if the Spartan motherboard could be
upgraded to Apple IIe capatibility or at least a shift-key mod and
AppleWorks capability....