Re: Apple IIGS, got one free today, need some help, please

[gtolar@blkbox.com (Glynne Tolar)]

Julie A. Deeley (jdeeley@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca) wrote:
: I just inherited an Apple IIGS with 2, 3.5 inch drives, one 5.25 drive,
: one small keyboard, and an RGB AppleColour monitor. The janitor at the
: school where I work gave it to me. It belonged to a teacher who worked
: there a few years ago. The teacher said that after a power outage the
: computer quit working, and asked the janitor to throw it out.

: When I plugged everything in it made a noise, the screen said "Check
: Startup Device", and a little mac symbol goes back and forth across the
: screen.

That's a little Apple symbol!  Let me guess, you've only used a Mac 
before.  You don't even know what a GS is.  First, it has no relation to 
the Mac!

:  The Apple web page had some info on this computer, but I just bought my
: first computer 6 months ago and Apples web page is a bit techie for me
: just yet.

: What I would like to know is:

: 1. What do I need to do to get it running, or is it fried?

Basically it is asking for a disk to boot.  Have a bootable disk in drive 
1 (the one closest in the chain to the computer).

: 2. Can I use any of it's components on my current mac, (p-mac 6100/60)
: and is there any good reason to (ie. the keyboard as a spare?)

(gag!  You did say it.  I'll give you credit, you did come to the right 
group.  We get many Mac people who stumble in here asking Mac questions.  
I guess USENET needs icons for these people.  Pardon my belligerence, I 
hate Apple and what they did to the ][ and Macs as well.

Keyboards (ADB), nearly anything that hooks to the serial ports 
(Stylewriters are nearly useless!), hmmmm?  Can't think of anything else.

: 3. Does it need some sort of permanant boot-up disk inserted to work?
: and if so, how do I get the OS from my current mac to the GS? (Assuming
: I can download it from the 'net somewhere to my current mac)

As I said ealier the GS is NOT a Mac.  It does not run its software or 
OS!  Check with a local user group (if they are at all friendly to the 
II) for the latest System Disk.  Although 6.0.1 is the latest, 5.04 may 
be more helpful as it requires less RAM.  I would suspect the system has 
little.

: 4. Is the OS available from an ftp site, say, support.apple.com?

Yes, but without comm software for the GS you're sunk.  You would have to 
find a way to get the info from the M*c to the GS.

: Keep your replies simple, if you can. I've gotten pretty good with
: simple ftp's and stuff, but I'm no guru.

: Email replies or posts are welcome, any info appreciated, especially if
: somebody is using a IIGS.

Now this is going to sound strange from me, but if all you have been 
using is a Mac you'll find it a waste of time to get the GS running.  It 
takes a lot of time to get it going well (as with any new system, 
really).  It has no relationship with the M*c execpt look and feal.  The 
CPU is different, the graphics are different, etc.  If you just got time 
to kill, have at it.  I love my GS.  I'll never use a Mac, if I can help 
it.  I'll buy something else!  I have no desire to help Apple in any way 
by buying any of their trash.  Am I bitter, yes.  I make sure that I get 
the message out about how Apple screwed the II users.  But I have to keep 
reminding myself that no matter what computer is out there, it will all 
burn up in the end anyway.  Apple II Forever, NOT!  And the same for any 
other system!

OOPS!  Got off the subject.  You'll get plenty of help here.  We have 
many users on this feed that know what they are doing.  Again 
congradulations for getting the right feed for your questions.  You'll 
get many answers because of it.