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Apple IIgs Up and Running!
Hi folks,
I finally got my IIgs up and running today. I received the monitor this
morning. Although I'm still waiting for the keyboard and printer, I went
to Computer City and bought a Mac clone keyboard (SIIG True Touch, which
the c.s.a.2 FAQ correctly said would work with the IIgs) and a modem
cable so I could get going. Yeah, I'm impatient as heck. :)
Anyway, while I was there I looked through their clearance section and
found a floor model HP DeskWriter 600 marked down to $69.00! I thought,
"Woah, I can't pass that up!" But, being the cautious person I am, I
first called my wife and asked her to check the FAQ to find whether this
printer worked with the IIgs. She checked, and it said, "The HP
DeskWriter family is mostly only for Macintoshes." On hearing that, I
groaned. So close! But, Carole (my wife) said, "It says 'mostly'..."
So, I said "What the heck. If it doesn't work, I'll sell it online. I
can almost certainly get that much for it there."
So, I gathered all my stuff up, paid for it, and went home.
I hooked it all up, and booted my IIgs for the first time. Woah! Very
very cool. :) I installed the scads of software I'd purchased, and set
up the modem and printer. Would the printer work?
I slipped the Harmonie disk in the drive, and up popped a window with the
various files on that disk. One was Read.me. I double-clicked it, and
got a text file that said, among other things, that the DeskWriter series
(all models) was supported! Woo Hoo!
So I installed the necessary drivers (in my case, the High Speed Serial
Port driver and the HP DeskJet 600C driver), then loaded GraphicWriter
III. I wrote a little test text, and hit Print. It worked!
Then I drew a Paint box, and splashed a bunch of color onto it. I
printed, and...got a properly colored printout! Wow! It all works
perfectly!
Okay, okay, it's slow - it's a serial printer. It takes approximately
forever for a full page to print out. But it works!! And it's in
color! And it was incredibly cheap! I'm a happy guy. :)
Next up was dialing out. I loaded Spectrum, pulled down the Phone|Dial
Number menu, and set up a new entry for my ISP. I checked the Port
settings, and set it up for 19200, Handshaking, and the High Speed Init
string. I pressed Dial and...
It said the modem wasn't responding. Ugh! But I'd seen the lights
flashing on the modem!
Then I remembered I hadn't hooked up the phone cord. Oops. :)
I hooked up the phone cord, pressed Dial again...and it said the modem
wasn't responding! ARRGHH!
I calmed myself, and read the book (BTW - IIgs software is remarkably
well-written - at least the stuff I've used is - this instance I'm
relating now is the FIRST time I opened a manual; I was able to run
GraphicWriter II well enough to get those test printouts without cracking
a book. Impressive!). I tried a few things, but nothing helped. Sigh.
Then I picked up my modem's manual, and looked up the "Using with a
Macintosh" chapter. It had a different Init string than that given as a
default in Spectrum. Hmmm.
I typed in that Init string, pressed Dial, and....it connected! Woo Hoo!
So here I am, quite happily using my IIgs for the first time.
Oh, by the way - although the Power Supply said Revision Level: 3, the
computer boots up saying it is Rom 01. Guess that was Revision 3 of the
Power supply. :)
Anyway, I'm very very happy with the IIgs. I've installed tons of
software, and still have over 80 MB free on my HD. Yet it's graphical,
and has all the functionality I want - and more! Wow.
-Joe
PS: Sorry for sending a couple of posts to this list that should have
been private replies (the one about the URL and one other). I'm just so
excited I'm not thinking straight! :)
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh | Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net | Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s | Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
.....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....