Re: A Few Apple II questions...

[labelas@hotmail.com (Labelas Enoreth)]

In article <19990805030802.26083.00007875@ng-fp1.aol.com>,
supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) wrote:

> I think there was supposed to be some kind of internal ribbon
> cable that stretches from the motherboard connector to one
> of the cutouts at the back panel ending in a DB style connector.
Yeah, I've since discovered this. Sadly I do not have the cable so I'm
stranded for now since it's one of those things you can't exactly 'whip
together'...well, someone could I'm sure, but I don't have the time or the
patience, or materials...just for the grand benefit for my older IIe.
 
> >> Normal behavior.  The UniDisk 3.5 has a CPU inside, so it is in
> >> charge of data transfer.  You won't be able to get the drive to work
> >> without the driver and even then, it'll be much slower.
> >
> >Eh? I'm not sure I understand your wording?
> >Shouldn't the drive at the very least get polled when the bus is initialized?
> >It just sits there silently.
> 
> It should, but only if you order the drives in a particular way
> so that the internal CPU does not get confused.  UniDisk 3.5's
> must sit after Apple 3.5 drives and before Apple 5.25 drives in
> the chain.  Otherwise, they won't get polled.
Ah. The first time you posted that, "...get the drive to work without the
driver..." was read as "...get the drive to work without the drive...",
which confused me. And then confused me further when you fixed the typo in
the requote :P. Well, that is exactly how I have the drives chained, and,
well...no polling.

  
> >Unfortunately, I have the earlier-model UniDisk which is unable to be
> >modified in that way. (Did all UniDisks have that embossed "LIRON" logo on
> >the insides of the case?) Oh, and I know this sounds anal, but shouldn't
> >that be 'lobotomy'?
> 
> Yes, it should be lobotomy.  I didn't name that file on ground.  I'm
> not sure who did, but the spelling IS off.  ;-)
> 
> I didn't know there were two different UniDisk 3.5 models.  What
> exactly is different?  I thought switching the cables just bypassed
> the UniDisk's "brain."
Well, as far as I can tell, (and the 'lobotomy file' makes reference to
not being able to bypass earlier models so I assumed this was why), the
two cables can not be swapped. In the later models, assumedly, you can
pull out the one and then put the 2nd in it's place. On mine, the 2 cables
are slightly different.
 
> >Ah. Well, I'll think about if I need one or not, do you recall how much
> >they ran, price-wise?
> 
> Something like $30.  May have gone down.  Personally, I'd rather
> trade the IIc for a Laser 128EX/2.  The Laser is majorly cool.
> Assuming you get the standard 3.5 drive model, the Laser has
> a 3.5 internal drive, 3.6Mhz processor, an Apple Bus slot (either
> to connect an external expansion chasis or to connect a card
> directly), a MIDI controller, a parallel and serial port, a clock,
> battery powered control panel, and both digital and analog RGB
> capability.  It is just a little bigger than the IIc.  It also has a
> 1MB expansion card built in.  You just add chips.  It also does
> not need UniDisk drives for external expansion...it takes IIGS
> drives.
Yeah, I haven't run into one of those recently though. My current II that
I use with frequency is the IIgs. The 128EX/2 seems to be fairly uncommon,
at least in all the places I usually go to, and it's not tantalizing
enough for me to go questing for (like I am for a Lisa). It does sound
interesting though, especially some of the features they put in that Apple
ignored. I'll add it to my list of 'Things to get if I see them somewhere
for a reasonable price or if someone is throwing away'. Oh, and, um, I
can't imagine that anyone would want to trade this crappy IIc for a Laser
128EX/2, anyway. Is the MIDI controller a ST-style controller or just
basically a big standard MIDI DIN-8 plug?

> >Was the IIe RGB monitor uncommon?
> 
> On a IIe yes.  The monitor was the Apple RGB 100 or something
> to that effect.  Apple made an RGB card for the IIe to use the
> monitor.  The monitor also worked in an Apple III.  This monitor
> is talked about in the beige IIe Owner's Manual.
> 
> >I've never seemed
> >to run into one in my many Apple II adventures...
> 
> Apple RGB 100 or something.
Well, I don't think I've seen or heard of that model. But now I know, and
knowing...er...well, I'll put it on 'the list' as well.

BTW, did the beige and orange version of the joystick exist? (as opposed
to the gray/platinum version)...how about a gray/platinum version of the
paddles?