Re: Slot-dependant cards?

[dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Althoff)]

Edhel Iaur, Esq. (drsmooth@relex.com) wrote:
: Will the AppleMouse II function just as well in any slot?  I mean,
: will programs such as PublishIt!, MousePaint, MouseTalk, Music
: Construction Set, et al. properly find it?  And will "slikny" RAM
: cards, like RAMFactor, be recognised by most/all programs, no matter
: what slot they're in?

: I have an 80-column card, so I know slot 3 is out, I have a
: Mockingboard clone, so I know slot 4 is out, and I have a Disk ][, so
: I know slot 6 is out.  The mouse *seems* to work fine in slot 7
: (doesn't everything? :) ), but I was thinking about getting a RAM card
: or hard drive, and I don't know if they need to be there.

If the programmer did things the "right" way, then the mouse should work
just fine in any slot...that is, if the programmer either searches for the
mouse, or asks the user where it is.  This is true for most cards; there
are a few exceptions, notably things like light pens that require a signal
that is only available on Slot #7; and of course the 80-column boards.  I
think the Slinky cards are the same way.

Hard disks are usually stuffed in Slot #7, printers are stuck in #1, and
5.25" floppies go in #6 for the following reasons, among others...

PRINTERS:  Pascal assumes that you put your printer in Slot #1, as do many
applications.  It is an example of bad programming, in my opinion.

5.25" DRIVES:  Apple Pascal MUST BOOT FROM SLOT 6.  (I use all caps not
for emphasis, but because that is what Apple Pascal tells you if you try
to boot from another slot).  Most older non-Pascal programs don't really care
what slot the disk drive is in; most people only have one controller card,
so the software doesn't even specify slot...just uses whatever one comes
up when you boot the program.

HARD DRIVES:  The Apple ][ boot sequence begins by scanning all of the
slots for a bootable device.  The scan begins at Slot #7 and goes
backwards; the ][+ and //e stop at the first bootable slot and tries to
boot until you tell it to stop (by pressing RESET).  The IIgs tries for a
while, and if it fails, moves on to the next slot.  Since most people have
their 5.25" disk drives in Slot #6, and since people who have hard drives
usually want to boot from those hard drives, the obvious place for the
drive is Slot #7.  On a IIgs, the slot selection is less critical, since
you can select a slot in the control panel.  In fact, if you have an
Appletalk printer on a ROM 01 GS and a hard drive, the hard drive is
likely to be in Slot #1 since Slot #7 is taken up by the Appletalk firmware.

Ummm...I think that's all right.  If it isn't , I'm certain one of the
resident experts will make the appropriate corrections.  8-)

--Dave Althoff, ][.
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