Re: Old Apple2. where to start?

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

In article pubpc1@library.ucla.edu writes...

>All this progress comes at a cost.  Modern GS software requires
>4MB to 8MB of memory.

    What software (modern or old) requires 8 MB of RAM on the IIgs?

>Hop over to Alltech Electronics (http://www.allelec.com/) and
>Sequential Systems (http://www.sequential.com/) to find the
>needed upgrade peripherals.  I recommend you get a Sirius memory
>board from Alltech Electronics and fill it with your spare 1MB
>SIMM modules to boost your GS computer's memory to 8 megabytes.

    I would faster recommend adding just a 4 MB board, that is often
more than enough for most IIgs software to run in (even with several
extensions and frills loaded in System Software, though in the rare
case it is not, just shift-boot). Also, with only 4 MB present in
the expansion slot, both the ROM 01 and 3 remain DMA compatible.

    If in future highly advanced software is written that requires
that amount of memory,  it is nice to have the option to expand.
However, in the meantime, adding that much is wasting money IMHO.

>You might also want to pick up a 500 megabyte Focus hard disk
>drive from Alltech.  Alltech sells the Focus drive preformatted
>with GS/OS with System 6.0.1, so you get the OS preinstalled.

    200 to 300 MB on an Apple IIgs is a more comfortable size, I had
a 700 MB SCSI drive connected for 2 years, yet only managed to fill
roughly 200 megabytes. It failed (sent back under warranty) and I'm
currently looking to replace it with a drive of smaller size, no need
for overkill. Larger drives are nice, but unfortunately you have to
deal with HFS and that is very unstable and flaky (re: the HFS.FST)

    My advise to anyone looking to upgrade a IIgs, get a hardrive
no smaller than 120 MB (using a DMA controller) and if you need or
want something larger, 300 MB will generally be the limit to what
you'll need. Programs on the IIgs are not bloated as they are on
the PC or Mac, so you don't need the space, unless you want to
store huge amounts of generic data files (e.g. GIF, JPEG, MOD,
WAV, MID, etc).

>If you have an spare SCSI CD-ROM drive lying around, there are
>CD-ROMs for the GS!  Look at them at http://www.crl.com/~joko
>(Joe Kohn's SSII organization) and http://www.sequential.com/
>(Sequential Systems).

    A CD-ROM is a nice bit to add, but new users should keep in
mind there are only a small handful of Apple II specific discs
available. Most are merely archived data for storage purposes,
like library archives, not software that takes advantage of all
the storage each disc holds (like games). To date there is a
total of *1* Apple II program that ran off and required a CD-ROM.

>As you well know with your PCs, more memory and hard drive space
>is better.  The same thing applies on the GS.  Have fun!

    Sure, but it's relative of course. There is no need to spend
money on things just to go, "Hey, look my GS system has 8 MB of
RAM and a 2 GB hardrive" when chances are you'll never need all
those resources (okay, I'm guilty of that somewhat ;). It's better
to buy conservatively, then use what you save towards other upgrades.
For example, I rather buy a smaller hardrive if it means I could
purchase an accelerator card with the savings.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca