Re: Help w/][+ & Prodos

[casa@unm.edu (Jim Pittman)]

Re:

> Subject: Help w/][+ & Prodos Date: 8 Sep 95 08:30:56 MST
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
> From: ldickey@west.cscwc.pima.edu
> 
> I have been trying to load PRODOS 1.0.1 and 1.1.1 onto an Apple][+ with
> 64k and a single drive ...

> ... I assumed my 16k expansion card was in the wrong place, so I moved
> it to Slot 1 and then Slot 2, but I keep getting errors there as well. 

No! the 16-K card MUST be in slot 0.

> I can get DOS 3.3 to load with no problems ...

DOS 3.3 normally does not know about more than 48-K on the motherboard.

> If it is my RAM, I suspect it might be the 16k expansion board. I
> don't know much about it, but it's made by a company called CTA(?).

The Apple II Plus I use at work had a 16-K card by CTA. It had similar
problems when trying to use Apple Pascal or anything else that needed
64-K. The Apple dealer said they had seen a lot of machines in for
repair with bad CTA memory cards. I bought an Apple 16-K card and it
has worked fine ever since.

> of a warm boot? I know I can type in 'PR#6' from BASIC and that will
> work, but is there a way to boot up as with the //e? I hate turning
> it on and off for fear of wearing out my switch and power supply.   

You are right there; it is a major pain to have software that crashes
such that you have to turn off the machine to recover. :-(

> I'd also like to be able to have lowercase. What is a good chip/
> expansion board to buy (surplus, ofcourse)?

There are several options if you can find the (used) hardware:

1) Get a Videx Enhancer II keyboard enhancer and a Videx Videoterm
   or Videx Ultraterm 80-column card. The Enhancer II provides lower
   case and all ASCII characters, the shift key works as it should,
   you can define macros on the fly or load a set of macros from disk,
   there is a type-ahead buffer, and two repeat speeds. The Videoterm
   or Ultraterm provide excellent 80-column upper/lower case video,
   far better than Apple //e or //c or IIGS text video. If you get a
   Videoterm then it's nice to also have the Soft Video Switch option.
   (The Ultraterm has that built in.)

2) Get a Videoterm or Ultraterm for 80-columns. In 40 columns you are
   stuck with Apple ][ all-upper-case but do a PR#3 and you have 80-
   columns and upper/lower case. Awkward to shift between upper and
   lower case, though. You can also do the "one-wire shift key mod".

3) Get the original Videx Keyboard Enhancer and a Videoterm. Not nearly
   as capable as the Enhancer II but it works.

4) There are several 80-column cards by manufacturers other than Videx.
   Some are Videx-compatible, some are not.

5) Get a lower case chip (are they still available anywhere?) and do
   the "one-wire shift key mod" for 40-column upper/lower case.

6) Has nothing to do with memory or lower case, of course, but an AE
   Transwarp accelerator card does wonders for an Apple II Plus or //e.

Option 1) is by far the best thing you can do to an Apple II Plus. Videx
has been out of the Apple II business for many years but they made high
quality hardware. There should be several places to get a 16-K memory
card: Shreve Systems, Alltech Electronics, Sun Remarketing, Sequential
Systems, ????

(Note: you will not find anyone with an Enhancer II or an Ultraterm
willing to sell either of them at any price unless they are totally
abandoning their Apple II.)

> Loren Dickey
> ldickey@west.cscwc.pima.edu
> ldickey@aztec.asu.edu
> dickey@gas.uug.arizona.edu

My ][ cents. (Still typing away on my 1980 Apple II Plus.)

- Jim Pittman - University of New Mexico - casa@unm.edu