Re: APPLE IIgs

[Joe Doucette <doucej@rpi.edu>]

Hello all..

Here's the story..

I got my IIgs when they were BRAND new...I was thinking about getting a
IIe at the time, but figured what the heck..this thing will run IIe
software, and it's new, so I'll spring for it.

When I purchased it, the only commercial program available for it was
Paintworks Plus. (I didn't get it..) Basically, for the first few
months, it was a modern looking IIe. Then gradually more software came
out for it.

The WOZ signature ones (Mine was one of these) were on all of the IIgs
systems shipped in the first quarter..(Or the first thousand, or
something funky like that) The ROM in there was supposedly embarrasingly
buggy, so Apple recalled all the "old" IIgs systems and replaced the
ROMS. (Authorized Apple dealers switched them, I believe)

"New" systems (Ones made after the updated ROM was complete) came with
ROM 01 installed. There was never a ROM 02 upgrade as that ROM had a
couple extra pins on it...

(Just an aside...The apple dealers at the time were extremly stupid. I
left my IIgs on all night on a hot summer day and ended up frying the
battery...the dealer wanted to charge ~$500  to replace the motherboard.
After much arguing, I finally got that reduced to like $30 for them to
desolder the old battery and put a new one on...Was extremly pissed at
that attempt to rip us off..)

So, basically, there shouldn't be ANY ROM 00 systems left around. There
was a free upgrade to ROM 01, which I think was needed to boot GS/OS. (I
might still have the old System 1.0 disk...The finder was still black &
white...looked like a funky lo-res MAC.)

A little aside note....anyone know any good sites to get IIgs disk
images? (Commercial type stuff..) I'd LOVE to get Arkanoid and Bard's
Tale back again...(Recently acquired another IIgs I've been toying
with..finding software for it has been...difficult...)

Later...

	- Joe

Jeff Melcher wrote:
> 
> I purchased a new GS in July '87 and it was a WOZ and O1 ROM!

> > >>   Some collectors may like having the signature on the case, but if
> > >>you want a system usable as more than a fast color //e, the ROM 00 GS
> > >>needed serious help.
> > >
> > >Note that it is not necessarily a ROM 0 GS.  I once found a new GS being
> > >sold at an Eaton's store in Toronto which was a ROM 1.  I doubt the
> store
> > >did a ROM switch themselves, since they're just a dept. store, not a
> > >real computer shop.  But it's possible.
> >
> >     Did this IIgs come out of a sealed box, or was it a demo system put
> > out on display? The very first time I ever saw an Apple IIgs, was when
> > I visited a Compucentre in Montreal. It too had a "Woz" signature case,
> > but with the ROM version 01 firmware installed (at least that is what
> > I remember, as I thought it was interesting that it displayed the ROM
> > revision and a copyright notice -- something I had never before seen
> > any Apple II model do before). I'm quite positive they had a ROM update
> > done to it, afterall, as an active demo machine you would want it
> > running the latest software.
> >
> >     Also, I've seen several plain cover IIgs's with ROM 00 installed.
> > Incidentally, the ROM 01 upgrade became available in August 1987. I'm
> > pretty sure they stopped shipping "Woz" cover GSes by that point in
> > time (anyone know the exact month they started shipping plain cover
> > GSes? I would guess by early spring or summer of 1987).
> >
> > Mitchell Spector
> > spec@vax2.concordia.ca
> >