Re: Apple ][ Plus and Floppy Drive

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article richmond@plano.net writes...

>I got an Apple ][ Plus and a green-screen monitor from a surplus
>computer dealer. The Apple works fortunately--I would have a
>hard time fixing it.

    Actually, the Apple II and II Plus are the most simple of any
Apple II model to repair. All chips are socketed, and the majority
of them are common 74LSxxx TTL chips you should be able to pick up
in any electronics shop. The only exception are the firmware ROMs
(although you could get burned copies) and the keyboard encoder
chip. You could always swap parts off another motherboard too.

>I recently bought a 5 1/4" disk drive for the Apple ][. It is
>marked "DISK 2". It is the only disk that I have. Will I still
>be able to interface it without "DISK 1"?

    There is no difference. The original owner just placed a label
sticker on as a reminder (to him/herself, not the computer) as to
which is setup as the boot drive and which is the secondary drive.
You can use the drive as either, you just have to connect it right.

>Also, what type of controller board do I need to look for?

    The Disk II Controller Card that Apple sold or a 3rd party
compatible interface.  Either way, they're probably the most
common and least expensive card available for the Apple II,
go look on comp.sys.apple2.marketplace and you'll find one.

    Make sure you get the original card, the one with the dual
IDC-20 pins on the PCB itself, labeled "Drive 1" and "Drive 2".
The newer revision has a cable ending in a DB19 connector, which
will still work, but you'd need an adapter to use it.

>Is the WOZ machine packaged on a card for the Apple ][ Plus?

    No, just some 74LSxxx chips and a pair of PROMs, although
this is what the Intergrated Wozinak Machine (IWM) was based
around I believe.

>(Seems I remember that the Apple ][ e had the WOZ machine on the
>main board.)

    While the Apple IIe did have some custom chipsets (i.e. MMU,
IOU) there was no IWM present. You had to add a controller card
to add a floppy drive, just like the Apple II and II+.

    Your probably thinking of the Apple IIc, IIc Plus and IIgs.
Those had an IWM built-in on the motherboard (DIP package on the
IIc models and a mini PLCC surface mounted on the IIgs board).
Actually, early Macintoshes also used an IWM before the SWIM
came out (128, 512, 512e, Plus, SE, II).

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca