Re: How start BASIC without diskette?

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

M.O.B. i L. <mikaelb@df.lth.se> wrote:

> Michael J. Mahon skrev:
> > On 6/30/2010 4:59 PM, M.O.B. i L. wrote:
> >> I found it and could get the ADTPro client to run on my Apple II
> >> Europlus (w/o diskette-controller), but now my problem it how to stop
> >> the Apple II from reading the diskette and return to ROM BASIC so I can
> >> enter the commands and still have the diskette-stations connected.
> > 
> > That's what you must have RESET to accomplish.
> > 
> > Every Apple II of any variety has a RESET key, so apparently yours
> > is just not labeled properly.
> > 
> > You are correct, it is at the upper right corner of the keyboard.  This
> > keyswitch is the RESET keyswitch, regardless of what keycap it has.
> > Try it with and without Ctl held down and see if you can force a reset.
> > (When an Apple II resets, it beeps the speaker, clears the screen, and
> > puts up the "APPLE ][" banner.)
> > 
> > It is possible that the reset keyswitch or some wiring associated with
> > it is bad, but that is improbable.
> 
> This Apple II Europlus has obviously been modified for Swedish 
> characters and maybe this prevents the RESET-key from working.
> 
> I have tried CTRL+EVERYKEY and SHIFT+CTRL+EVERYKEY w/o any reset. When I
> do SHIFT+CTRL+RESET it beeps, makes a new line, and the character above
> the curser is blinking and looks exactly like the cursor.

The RESET key is always in the same place, so other keys are only
relevant as modifiers, and the only possible modifiers on a ][+ are
SHIFT and CONTROL.

Perhaps that computer has been modified to require SHIFT-CTRL-RESET
rather than just CTRL-RESET, or it may be standard for a non-English
Europlus.

Here is what should happen with an Apple ][+ (or English Europlus) which
has a Disk ][ controller in the highest slot and an empty drive:

1. Turn on the computer.

The computer beeps, clears the screen, prints "APPLE ][" at the top
(non-English models may show different characters for the square
brackets), recalibrates the floppy drive then tries to read the boot
sector. The disk continues to spin indefinitely if there is no disk in
the drive. There is no prompt or cursor yet.

The computer will not respond to any keypresses at this point, except
for CTRL-RESET.

2. Press the appropriate RESET key combination. This is normally
CTRL-RESET, but at least the US Apple ][/][+ is able to be switched to
recognise RESET by itself. (I don't recall whether this switch was on
the International English Apple ][ Europlus that I used in school, back
in 1981 and 1982.)

The computer beeps, shows a command prompt on the bottom line (should be
a right square bracket, but non-English models may have a different
character), followed by a blinking cursor. You are now in Applesoft
BASIC and can type in commands.

This will push the APPLE ][ off the top of the screen, as the screen
will have scrolled by one line.

3. If you press CTRL-RESET again at this point, the computer will do the
same thing again - beep, scroll the screen one line, print a prompt and
blinking cursor. The previous prompt and possibly the previous cursor
will remain on the screen.

> The CTRL-key works e.g. with G (BELL).

If you can type CTRL-G then you have definitely done a reset.

> Note: My RESET-key is not marked RESET but - (minus) and -> (right).

Probably a symbol Apple used for RESET on non-English keyboards. They
were using a leftward pointing equilateral triangle by the time of the
IIgs.

> I don't know if this is important: In the Game Port there is a socket
> and from it goes an isolated wire with a hook (that has the same 
> function as a crocodile clip). This hook is not connected to anything.

That is probably the "shift key mod", but it has been disconnected at
the keyboard end.

The hook can be connected to the pin on the back of the keyboard which
is connected to the SHIFT key. Its purpose is to allow software to
detect the state of the SHIFT key by reading from pushbutton input 2.

It isn't used by the firmware or any of Apple's software, generally only
by third party software, but it was popular enough that the Apple //e
included it on the motherboard as an option which could be enabled with
a solder blob, and later //e models had it enabled by default.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz