Re: What is Apple IIgs Lmited Edition?

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

<loudspeakers@islandnet.com> wrote:

> Hi, hope this isn't in the FAQ, but I just purchased a couple of used
> Apple IIgs machines, and one of them says "Limited Edition" on the
> front with the signature "Woz" which I assume is short for Wozniak? 

Correct.  It is Steve Wozniak's signature.

(I know it is his signature, because he signed and donated his Apple IIc
to my user group when he visited us back in December 1984, and I'm
looking after it.)

> Is this particularly unusual or does it denote any different hardware
> inside?

It just means it was one of the first ten thousand IIgs machines
manufactured.  (Or was it 50 thousand?  I forget.  Again.) 

The only hardware differences are that the machine was supplied with the
original firmware (ROM version 0), which had to be upgraded to version 1
to run anything written since 1988.  Some old machines also had a
display fault which could be corrected by replacing the Video Graphics
Controller chip with a newer revision.

To check the firmware version, turn the machine on.  The startup text
screen says "Apple IIgs" at the top.  If you have the original firmware,
there is no other text on the screen.  If you have the revised firmware,
there is a copyright message at the bottom of the screen, and the last
line says "ROM Version 01".

The display flaw in the VGC is harder to pinpoint.  It is easiest to
spot if you run software that uses double hi-res graphics mode in
monochrome mode.  The faulty version of the VGC has flickering and pink
fringing effects in this mode.

Some faulty VGCs (including my one, before it was replaced) had a
similar problem with some combinations of foreground and background
colour in 80-column text mode.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand