Re: Three GS questions

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

Joe Seeley wrote:
> Hi there.
> 
> I recently got a hold of a GS system I had quite a while ago and even after
> reading the quite exhaustive FAQ as a refresher course (good going to all who
> helped create it!) have three questions that remain.  If you have a spare
> moment, a quick reply would be appreciated if you have the answer.  Thanks in
> advance.
> 
> 1) My Apple RGB is fuzzier and blurrier than I recall.  The Finder is really
> bad and even 40 column text mode is fuzzy.  I have seen other GS systems
> recently and they didn't seem this bad.  Yes, I know the dot pitch and refresh
> rate for the monitor is atrocious by today's standards but still think it is
> out of whack.  I recall doing 80 column Zork games and the text being quite
> readable.  Not a chance on this puppy.  The three knobs on the back don't help
> with this obviously.  If I open up the monitor, will I find a focus knob like
> there is internally on many SVGA monitors (all the ones I have opened up)?  If
> not, what to do?

I believe there is a focus control inside.  Last year, when my RGB
monitor was failing, Rubywand provided an excellent Repair MiniFAQ.
I was able to fix my problem with the information contained it that
MiniFAQ.  I highly recommend it.  :)

> 2) I have a regular 3.5 as well as an AE HD 3.5.  I took a HD 3.5 and
> formatted it as a 1600k floppy.  I tried to read it on a PowerPC at work but
> not luck.  That didn't surprise me considering they only go up to 1.44 so I
> formatted it (as well as several other floppies) from the PowerPC as a 1.44
> ProDOS disk.  They even had the "II" icon when I put them in the PowerPC.
> However, I took them back to the IIGS and no go.  Am I doing something wrong
> or is the AE HD not able to handle these 1.44 ProDOS floppies?  Please help as
> I am trying to get quite a few AppleWorks GS 1.1 word processing Docs off my
> hard drive onto a Mac and from there to a PC so I can have backups and use
> them.

There were two AE HD floppy drives made.  The earlier one used a
special driver to format 1.6MB GCR high density disks.  The later
AE HD drive was a SuperDrive clone and used the SuperDrive
controller to format 1.44MB MFM high density disks.

Contrary to what has been said, the two models of AE HD floppy
drives are _not_ interchangeable.  AE had an upgrade program if
you wanted to change the 1.6MB model to the 1.44MB (SuperDrive)
model.  You had to send in your drive for the upgrade.  I know
that the 1.6MB driver does _not_ work on the newer "SuperDrive"
1.44MB AE HD floppy drive.  I have one of these later models
that works like a champ connected to a SuperDrive card, but can't
format 1.6MB disks when connected to the floppy port using the
AE HD driver (and yes, I did remove the Apple 3.5" driver first).

Naturally, the Mac uses the SuperDrive format.  The formats are
not interchangeable, which is why you can't swap disks betwen
the GS and the Mac.

> 3) Finally, I have a 9Mhz ZipGS accelerator.  I would like to make it go as
> fast as possible.  I read the MiniFAQ on this but it is "mini" indeed.  I read
> one section about finding a part for the upgrade but it did not lay all the
> necessary steps by a long shot.  A) Is this info available anywhere? and B) Is
> it worth it?  Is a 12.5 or high Mhz ZipGS that much faster than a 9Mhz to
> warranty messing with it?

Point your web browser to:

ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple16/Hypermedia/Hypercard/

and download ZipUpgrade.SHK (ZipUpgrade.BSQ if you need 7-bit
transfers.)  This is my Illustrated Guide to Upgrading the ZipGS,
a HyperCard IIGS stack guide that illustrates the upgrade process
using animated graphics.  It takes you through the procedure step
by step.

> 
> Thank you for your time.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Joe Seeley
> Ojai, CA  USA

No problem.  :)

If you have any more questions, feel free to post them to your
friedly Apple II newsgroup!

-Scott G.