Re: IIgs questions...

[labelas@hotmail.com (Labelas Enoreth)]

In article <3701F226.BC9CE5B4@swbell.net>, rubywand@swbell.net wrote:

> Labelas Enoreth writes ...
> > 
> > Hiya. Been awhile since I've posted, eh? (Mainly cause I had to change
> > news servers and was too lazy to wade through 1000 unread posts...:P)
> > 
> > Anyway, here's the things...
> > I have a joystick that is IIe/IIc compatible (It has two plugs, and a
> > switch on the bottom) it works correctly in IIe mode for IIe games, but in
> > IIgs games it will only go right and up...if you really wiggle it you can
> > get them to twitch a little to the left or down, or at least stand
> > still...but...any idea why it's doing this?
> >
> 
>      It sounds like your IIgs is not slowing down for joystick access. If you
> are running with an accelerator, try setting the switch which tells the GS to
> slow down for joystick accesses. Otherwise, try setting Speed to "Normal" in
> the Control Panel.
Nope, I'm just using a plain old IIgs, no accelleration. As for the Normal
vs Fast speeds, these are GS native games, why would they not work with
Fast (and would that even really apply? I only thought that was really
mainly for IIe compatibility)
It's strange...in IIe mode, even when it's set to fast, it works
fine...but in the IIgs version of the same game, it chokes. Mind you, most
of the games I'm referring to are Sierra games so it might be some quirk
in their code, but still...
 
>  
> > Is there a program out there that will run on a IIgs (preferably from
> > GS/OS off of a 3.5 disk) that will allow me to make and restore .nib
> > images on my 5.25 drive? I've looked, but I haven't really been able to
> > find any.
> >
> 
>      You might try Saltine's Super Transporter. I'm fairly sure that's the
> program used to create .nib files.
Ok, thanks! Can it be found online, in th eusual places, or is...well, I
guess I'll go look around.
>  
> > My 2nd IIgs drops into the monitor halfway through booting anything if the
> > memory card is installed. It's the 'Apple IIgs Memory Expansion' from
> > Apple. I know this is vague, but I'm just curious if it might be the card,
> > or the chips, or a misconfigured jumper (can't remember how it was jumped
> > originally)
> > I tried all new RAM chips from a IIe memory expansion (they seem to be the
> > same type, 41256-15, however, perhaps they are not...) and it still
> > failed.
> >
> 
>      It could be the jumpers. Here's a guide you can use to see if your
card is
> set up correctly ...
> 
> 
>      For 256kB, the top left 8 sockets (i.e. the left half of the top row)
> should be filled. No jumpers should be placed on the pins near the lower right
> end of the board.
(the chips are all built right onto the board in this spot, is that normal?)

>      For 1MB, all sockets should be filled. The top and bottom pairs of 
> pins should be jumpered.
> 
> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>                         O-O Jumper top and bottom pairs
>                         O-O 
Well, that's the way it's jumpered...hmm. I guess I'll try self-testing
it. I didn't remember the self test being very clear on some things, but I
can't get it to boot far enough to run any of the mem testers I have...  
> 
> 
>  
> > Anyone have a good source for the pieces so that I can install a battery
> > holder on the board and use a removable lithium battery in it (like the
> > mac)? The Radio Shack guy looked at me like I was a devil, then went and
> > got his manager, who told me I should just buy a new battery and solder it
> > right on there.
> >
> 
>      The manager has a point. The standard IIgs BatRAM battery is a 3.6V
> lithium type rated at 1.2 AH. It lasts at least 5 years and is not that much
> bother to solder into place. (Or you could try Duncan Entwisle's suggestion:
> use the springy connectors from a Radio Shack electronics experimenter kit to
> connect a new battery's leads to cut-off leads on the motherboard.)  A good
> place to look for lithium batteries at low prices is All Electronics
> (800-826-5432; http://www.allcorp.com ).
When you say springy connectors, are we talking like the standard sort of
thing you would expect to stick a battery into, or something else? I tried
to visualize but failed...
>  
> > Were there any IIgs viruses?
> 
>      Yes; five or so which were fairly well known. The ProDOS-16 package
> contains a virus sniffer program and a file with good discussion by Glen
Bredon
> on GS viruses.
> 
> 
> > I couldn't remember any, but the other day I
> > discovered after running several programs in a row, that something had
> > been kind enough to install diversicache in memory for me...I didn't
> > really mind because it seemed to speed up booting some games, although it
> > would make some sierra games fail with a Tool error 0021 (I think) when it
> > went to check for the second disk...but then the thought occurred to me,
> > hey, I wonder if these wonderful games I just downloaded from the internet
> > with their oh-so-elite 'we hacked this game so visit our BBS' screens and
> > the kindness to install CDAs for me, I couldn't help but suffer a moment's
> > apprehension at the thought of a virus happily scooting about my disks.
> 
>       Very likely, one of the disks you booted installed Diversi-cache. It
> definitely speeds up things when your're working with 3.5" drives under ProDOS
> 8. However, as I recall, Diversi-Cache does not work well with GS System.
Hmm. Well I'll go look around for virus stuff. It just never occurred to
me in the first place because I only used my own software on original
disks...but then the other day I decided to play a couple games I found on
the 'net, and...
A question...most of the games I ran were, on 3.5...for IIgs.]
There were a couple on 5.25 for IIe, but they were write-protected at
manufacture...(I know, yes that can be defeated, but still...) is it
possible that Sierra would have put DiversiCache on their disks? I guess
not, but maybe...