Re: Need Franklin 1200 help bad!

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

In article <Apr.17.11.58.35.1994.8079@er7.rutgers.edu>,
Kid <neiderma@er7.rutgers.edu> wrote:
> 
> I just got a Franklin 1200 some time ago, and I thought it was supposed to
> be actually compatible with the II+.
>  
> Well, when it boots the machine first has an Apple-sounding beep and then
> says "softboot looking to load FPBASIC".  If a DOS 3.3 Apple system master
> disk is in the drive, some file reading occurs, then it boots like a PR#6
> and than I can do a "CATALOG".
>  
> If no system master is in the drive, then the system says "no FPBASIC file
> found, will try to boot the disk anyway" and then does a PR#6.  But almost
> all of the II software I have crashes when it would normally boot OK  on my
> GS and II+ and Laser and Franklin 2200.  Oh, the beep sound on a crash
> sounds like the Franklin 2200 beep.  RESET usually doesn't work, so I have
> to turn the system off and put in another disk and try again.

Boy, this brings back memories.  I briefly used a Franklin Ace (no
idea which model) in the early 1980s.  I'm pretty sure that the model
in question behaved just like this.  The reason: it has very little
ROM in the computer - just this "softboot" utility.

This is how I think it works:

SoftBoot tries to load FPBASIC into some special RAM, which appears in
locations $D000-$F7FF.  This loads the image of Applesoft BASIC.  I'm
not sure if it needs a monitor image as well; if so, it will only work
with the older versions of FPBASIC (50 sectors instead of 42).  It may
already have a monitor ROM.

This RAM is then write-protected, and the Franklin reboots, behaving
as a II+ from now on.  I expect that this RAM is independent of the
"language card".

If it cannot find FPBASIC, it will not have anything sensible in the
$D000-$F7FF space (it may have hooks at $E000 and $E003 to allow DOS
3.3 to boot) so if you try to boot a disk with an Applesoft BASIC
startup program, it will crash.  You should be able to boot a disk
with a binary startup program, or games which don't use standard DOS 3.3.

I may have some details wrong; if so, someone else please correct me!
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand