Re: "New" Apple lle

[Linards Ticmanis <ticmanis@gmx.de>]

On 03/14/2011 04:25 PM, Bettablue wrote:

> 1.  I know it doesn't have a GUI as far as operating systems go right now, 
> but since it seems to have 640K of memory, I doubt it will support a newer 
> OS, Am I wrong here?  Can I upgrade the memory and install a newer operating 
> system with graphical user interface?

640K is pretty unlikely. The CPU's address space is just 64K in this
8-bit computer. The IIe has 64K on board and most have a second 64K on
the so called extended 80-column card, which is really just a RAM
expansion. So you'd have 128K (accessed by bank switching, look that up
in Wikipedia if it's new to you). Anything beyond that would be on a
special card and would only be usable as a RAM disk for most purposes.

As for GUIs there is GEOS but GEOS was never widespread on the Apples.
Also it needs a mouse which was not that commonly used with the IIe, so
it will probably come without one.

You don't install an OS on the Apple unless it has a hard disk (again,
most do not). You just boot it from a floppy, and if you want another,
you boot it from another floppy. The main ones were DOS 3.3 (which is
actually several versions, but they're all called DOS 3.3, and they all
had nothing to do with MS-DOS 3.3), and ProDOS, which has about a dozen
versions from 1.0 to 2.0.3.

Check what your IIe says at startup. If it says "Apple //e" it's an
enhanced IIe, which is good; if it says "APPLE ][" it's an unenhanced
one, which won't run ProDOS versions later than 1.9, has more bugs, and
will have problems with some newer software. On the other hand it can
run certain badly programmed, very old games that don't work right on
the enhanced model, but those are few and far between.

> 2.  I have also seen some of these using a mouse, so I am guessing that I 
> can get an expansion card for a serial mouse.

An expansion card for an Apple / very early Mac mouse. It won't work
with any PC serial mouse. You must have one that is compatible with the
Mac Plus or earlier, i.e. a pre-ADB mouse in Mac terms.

> 3.  The system comes with a monochrome display, but I have seen some Apple 2 
> computers with a color monitor.  Is there an upgrade for that too?  Can I 
> swap the video card to get a higher resolution?  Can I get a period specific 
> color display?

There is no video card, video is onboard, including color capability.
You can use any CVBS video monitor or even simply a color TV if it has a
baseband RCA input, but the "Apple Monitor //e" is the best choice as it
can display both high-resolution monochrome and full color with the
Apple, while most other monitors and TVs can only do either one or the
other.

> 4.  I read a little about ADTpro.  Can I use the audio jacks on my PC to 
> connect to the tape jack on the Apple lle for file transfer and storage?

Yes if your PC has a "Microphone in", not just a "Line in". But it is
slow, the variant with the serial card works much faster, and the IIe
might already have one inside its belly, as they were pretty common.


>  In 
> other words, when I download disk images, can I use ADTpro to both load 
> programs onto the Apple and then save any work or documents and such back 
> onto the PC? 

Yes.


> Can I use the standard line in and line out jacks on my sound 
> board?

See above, use Microphone in, not Line in.

> Of course I'm also concerned that my sound board will feedback on 
> itself if I have to use a splitter to use both input and output through to 
> the Apple's tape jack.

The Apple has TWO tape jacks, one for output, one for input. You just
use two cables, or one that has two plugs per end.

> 5.  Where can I find what hardware upgrades are available for the Apple lle 
> and what will they do for me?

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II_peripheral_cards

> 6.  Can I install a network card and have access to my PC running Windows 7 
> for storage of programs and such?

There weren't any back in the day that are compatible with any modern
network, so you'd have to get a modern Apple-enthusiast card like the
"Uthernet". Unfortunately those tend to be made in rather small numbers,
because of this they are hard to find and usually expensive, if anybody
wants to part with them at all.

> 7.  Where can I purchase 5 1/4" floppy diskettes for it.  From what I know, 
> this computer will only read and write from a single side of the diskette, 
> although I know it can be modified slightly to allow flipping the diskette 
> to use the other side.

Correct. I got enough 5.25" disks off eBay to last for the next decade
at least, for little money. But make sure you get only DS/DD disks (also
called double density disks and 360KB disks), because the Apple 5.25
drives can't handle HD disks (also called high density or 1.2MB disks).

> 
> 8.  Is there anything else I should know about about getting it set up and 
> running along side My PC???

Remove all cards before you turn it on for the first time. You should go
to a BASIC prompt, where you can test little things, such as whether the
keyboard works. A self-test is activated by holding down the right one
of the two keys with "Apple" logos on them during power on, if it
doesn't say "System OK" after a while there is a problem.

On the Apple specific peripherals go into specific slots. This
convention helps programs find them. The "normal" slots that most Apple
II models have are counted 1 to 7 from left to right, looking at the
keyboard. There is also a longer IIe specific slot further down on the
board, it's the so called auxiliary slot.

The 64K memory expansion card goes into the auxiliary slot (and won't
fit anywhere else), watch out for the marking "keyboard end" which must
(obviously) point to the keyboard. The floppy disk controller card goes
into slot 6 (second from the right). Any hard disk if you have one has
its controller in slot 7. 3.5" floppies, another 5.25" controller for
more than two drives, or RAM disks should be in slot 5. Slot 1 is for
cards that have a printer connected to them and slot 2 is for those that
have a modem or a null-modem cable connected to them. Slot 4 has really
no standard assignment so everything that doesn't fit this list should
probably go there, for example network or sound cards. Avoid slot 3,
many cards don't work in it because it is "special" in several ways, its
function is partially usurped by what ever is in the auxiliary slot.

> Thanks much.

You're welcome, this is a pretty friendly and pretty competent group
compared to the kookery one finds elsewhere on Usenet. So feel free to
ask, but of course googling around a bit first never hurts.

-- 
Linards Ticmanis