Re: Is it possible to use HD/3.5/5.25/AppleTalk all in the same IIgs system at once? HELP!@!@!

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

Tim Foley <timf@interlog.com> wrote:

>   I'm just getting my IIgs setup now, I finally got the Rom01 from a local
> dealer and have a new question/problem:
> 
> I have the following:
> 
> AppleIIgs Rom01 w/GSOS 6.01
> Slot 1 to 6 = Empty
> Slot 7 = Apple II SCSI card (connected to my HD)
> 2 x 3.5 Unidisks (Slot 5 equiv?)
> 1 x 5.25 Unidisks (Slot 6 equiv?)
> 
>   I wish to be able to enable the APPLETALK in the GS to talk to my Macs
> and my Laserwriter, but it appears the only way to activate appletalk is
> to make SLOT 7 ATALK and then I have to move my SCSI card...
>  
>   I have a modem connected, so I need slot 2 for that (right?), I want 80
> cols, so I need slow 3 set as text (right?) and I want all the floppy
> drives to work so I have to leave slot 5 and 6 as they are (right?), it
> appears the only place I can stick the SCSI card is in Slot 1...since I
> don't have a printer connected, I want to use an Appletalk printer.

All correct, and that is exactly how most AppleTalk ROM 1 machines are
set up.

In the ROM 3, you leave the SCSI card in slot 7 (or have the option of
using slot 4 if you already have a card in slot 7 and don't mind losing
the mouse in 8-bit software).

>   Is the is the way to do it?  Why the devil did Apple not make Slot 1
> configurable to Appletalk as you usually use the printer port to connect
> appletalk anyways...

They fixed this in ROM 3.  The slot selection page in the control panel
lets you chose "Your Card", "Printer", "Modem" or "AppleTalk" for slots
1 and 2.  You can also set slot 7 to "AppleTalk", but you still have to
set slot 1 or 2 to "AppleTalk" as well.  (The ability to set slot 7 to
AppleTalk is only for compatibility with brain-dead software that
assumes the Appletalk interface is in slot 7 on a IIgs.)

One possible reason for not doing it in the ROM 0 and ROM 1 is that at
the time the AppleTalk support required some specific identification
bytes in the ROM, and these would not fit in the space available in the
slot 1 and 2 firmware (and would confuse software that looks for
Appletalk by searching for these ID bytes, because they would be there
even if the port was being used for a printer or modem).  By the time
ROM 3 came out, a different method was recommend as the standard way to
locate Appletalk, so it didn't matter what the slot firmware contained.

>   If I have to move the SCSI card to slot 1, does that mean I have to
> ensure the floppy drives are empty when rebooting as they will get
> preference as a boot device?

You can select slot 1 as the startup device, or you can leave the
startup device set to "scan", and you have the option of booting from a
floppy if one is inserted.  My IIgs is configured this way (the SCSI
card is in slot 4) and I find it very handy.

>   Also, If I later pick up other cards (video overlay/stereo/eprom/etc),
> do I then have to disable some internal function of the GS
> (modem/text/smartport) to get it to work?

It depends on the card.  Accelerators and a small number of other cards
can be placed in a slot without losing the built-in function.  Your next
best option is to put a card in slot 6 or 5, depending on whether you
use 5.25" or 3.5" drives most often (I hardly ever used 5.25" disks, so
I have my SuperDrive card in slot 6).

You definitely don't want to lose slot 3 (text display), because that
will break a large amount of software.  Slot 4 (mouse) and slot 7
(AppleTalk) are also essential, though you could possibly forgo
AppleTalk support for a rarely used device.  The same goes for slot 2
(Modem port) - something like a scanner, for example, would rarely be
needed at the same time as the modem, and you could change the slot
settings and reboot as required.

As mentioned above, the ROM 3 has one more option: you can set slot 4 to
"your card" and still use the mouse in GS/OS software, though you lose
it for ProDOS-8 software that relies on the mouse firmware.

>   Is it possible to leave the SCSI card in Slot 7 and define it for
> Appletalk as well? (I doubt it, just thought I ask ;)

Definitely not.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand