Re: New GS Owner ?'s

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

In article downin@clark.net (Dave Downin) writes...
>
>I just picked up a GS (Woz Limited Edition - ROM 01) system with the RGB 
>monitor, keyboard, mouse, and 2 3&1/2" disk drives.  It also came with a little
>software but no documentation on anything.  As such I have a few questions.
> 
>1) I also have a Performa 6116CD running 7.5.3.  I have found a few FTP sites
>with software but they all seem to be in .dsk format (disk images).  Is there
>anyway to download these to my Mac and save them to a floppy that I can then
>use on the GS?

    Most likely these are disk-images of 140K 8-bit Apple II software (put
it that format for emulators on other platforms). These can be used on the 
IIgs, yet I think you would probably be more interested in trying to find 
native 16-bit Apple IIgs software.

>2) I also found that Apple's site has version 6.0.1 of the GS system (I have
>a disk with 5.0.4).  It's 7 disks...I guess intended for a hard drive.  I
>grabbed disk 2 (the system disk) figuring I could at least boot with that.
>I was able to use Disk Copy on the Mac to save it out to a disk.  When I
>insert it in the GS, I get "UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS".  Looked at the disk on my
>Mac and did see a ProDOS file...what gives?

    The bare minimum to run System 6.0.1 is just over a 1MB RAM and a single
3.5 floppy drive, though your correct a hardrive is required to use all it's
features (for that matter, so is extra memory). The disks 'System Disk' and
'Installer' are the only two disks which boot directly,  the others will
will display the "UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS" message you received since they
contain no startup files. Some Macintosh have trouble creating GCR double
density disks (800K), try a fresh disk and see what happens.

>3) Will the GS support a 14.4 modem (I have a LineLink 144 I'd like to use on 
>the system)?

    The IIgs has the same Zilog SCC 8530 serial chip as the Macintosh,
a stock machine can handle a rate of 57.6K. So yes, a 14.4K modem will
certainly work, all you need is a hardware handshaking cable and terminal 
software (I'd suggest ProTERM 3.1).

>4) Will the GS support an Apple StyleWriter printer?

    Only the original StyleWriter I, there are drivers for it in System 
6.0.1. It is possible to use 3rd party inkjet and laser printers as well
with driver packages such as Vitesse's "Harmonie".

>5) I noticed that when I opened it up there is some sort of memory card in it
>already...seems like I have about 1M of total memory.  What can be put in the
>other available slots?  Where can I get them?

    If it is an Apple-brand card, when fully populated it brings the system
up to 1.25MB RAM. If you purchase a 3rd party board for the Memory Expansion
slot, up to 8MB can be installed (4MB is very common these days) using either
inexpensive DIP DRAMs or SIMMs. 

    The other seven slots are used for general purpose expansion. Popular
boards that go in these slots would include SCSI controllers, accelerators,
video digitizers, stereo cards, SVGA video cards, etc. Too numerous to list
all possible options.

>6) Also noticed an empty white IC socket labeled "GAME".  What is/was this
>intended for?

    It is basically the same function as the DB9 Joystick port in back.
It remains on the motherboard for backwards compatibility with original
Apple II systems. Older joysticks/paddles used a 16-pin DIP connector.
I'd personally consider this "white IC socket" a white-elephant, although
people who've found new usese for it will probably disagree. :-)

>7) What would be the cheapest way to hook a hard-drive up to the system?  Can
>you use regular SCSI hard drives?  If not, where could I buy one that would
>work?

    By far the most popular method is adding a slot-based SCSI controller
and connected an external SCSI hardrive to it. Apple Computer made two
such cards (one is DMA, the other not, thus slower) while a 3rd party 
card called the "RamFAST SCSI" is still available and offers DMA and a
whole suit of other features. Yes, regular SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 drives will
work. It is also possible to purchase an IDE controller, or even a hardrive
on a slot-card (2.5" IDE drive mounted on the back of a card).

>8) I noticed the joystick port is the same as on the Atari style joysticks
>(just the opposite gender)...is there any way to make an adapter to allow
>you to use Atari joysticks?  If so, where can I find out how?

    I recall many older 8-bit games asking if your input device was an
Atari joystick, so I assume it's possible. You'll either need a special
adapter cable or little adapter-box to convert the signal. Atari 2600
joysticks seemed to be digital though (only 8 directional inputs) unlike
analog Apple joysticks that could have any value between 0 and 255 on
both the X and Y axis.

>9) Is there a newer version ROM that would work on the system?  Where can
>I find one?

    The only reason to upgrade is if you have the original ROM firmware
(referred to as ROM 00) which involved a single chip swap. To upgrade a
ROM 01 to the ROM 3 however, requires a complete motherboard swap.

>10) Are there any good web sites for Apple II GS info for someone who has
>never used one before?

    I'm in the process of writing up a detailed Apple IIgs FAQ, though
it won't be ready for several weeks. It will be aimed specifically at
first time IIgs owner's, as well as provide useful information and tips
to current owners. I feel current resources lacking in terms of IIgs
information.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca