Re: Klunky IIGS - no docs - where do I start?

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

In article <4cl4su$5k3@acme.freenet.columbus.oh.us>,
Dave Althoff <dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us> wrote:
> Found the solution to your monitor problem, at least for composite monitors!
> 
> The IIgs, according to p. 109 of my Owner's Manual, has TWO control
> panels.  There is the standard Desk Accessory control panel, through
> Apple-Control-Escape.  There is another menu which you get with:
> 
> OPTION-CONTROL-RESET

I wouldn't call this "two control panels", just "two ways of getting
to the control panel".  Item 1 in the menu brought up via
Control-Option-Reset takes you to exactly the same Control Panel that
you access via the Desk Accessory menu with Control-Apple-Escape. 

The only significant features of the Control-Option-Reset menu are:

1. It provides the only easy of restoring all default Control Panel
   settings. 

2. It provides the ONLY supported way of setting the video frequency.

3. It can only be accessed in the process of rebooting the computer, so
   changes made on the Control Panel via this method will always take
   effect before you can run any programs (except possibly RAM disk
   changes).

If you access the Control Panel (item 1) via this menu, the computer
is rebooted when you quit from the Control Panel.


The IIgs does have "two control panels" - the other one appears under
the Apple menu in desktop programs under System 5.0 and later (if
installed).  The graphical control panel doesn't provide any way of
setting the video frequency.


An aside: the IIgs has always supported two video frequencies (50 Hz
and 60 Hz), and the VBL frequency and heartbeat interrupts are
affected by this.  All of Apple's documentation says that
VBL/Heartbeat run at 60 Hz, which isn't always true.  Programs using
VBL/Heartbeat that don't realise this (probably most of them) will
mistime things by 16% on a IIgs set to 50 Hz.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand