Re: AppleIIGS ROM versions & HDs

[nathan@cco.caltech.edu (Nathan Mates)]

In article <marc.teusch-100894101202@diamac1.crpht.lu>,
Marc Teusch <marc.teusch@crpht.lu> wrote:
>1) ROM upgrade.
>		I have ROM verion 01 installed. Is there a newer version?
>   And if yes, how can I get it at what costs ?!?!

   Rom 01 is good enough to run everything. There is a Rom 3 (2 was
skipped because some people couldn't handle the fact that Apple and
computer types start counting at 0), but it's not a chip upgrade, it's
a completely different motherboard. More ROM on board, more ram by
default on the board (256K Rom on 3 vs 128K on 01, 1MB Ram vs 256K),
cleaner sounds, the main drawback is that a whole bunch of things
(mostly demos and some earlier games) won't work with it.

>2) Harddisk connection
>    Is there a (cheap) possibility to connect a SCSI drive to my old IIGS?
>    If yes, how and where ?

   Yes. Get a SCSI card, either an Apple SCSI card (cheaper but slower)
or a RamFAST card (faster, but more expensive). Apple cards run $80-100
new, RamFASTs are $150 and up, new. The problem is, you're overseas, so
getting information is a bit harder. If you can call US 800 numbers,
call up directory info at 800-555-1212 to get Quality Computer's number.
They sell both RamFASTs and Apple cards.


>3) New System software
>    How can I make a system startup disk which fits on a 800k disk 
>    (no SCSI drive yet). And where do I get the latest GS system software ?

   First, collect two programs: GSHK, or GS Shrink-It, an archiving
tool and a binscii extractor. If you have any program like ProTerm
for the Apple II, where it can rip off bsc/bxy headers, ftp over to
grind.isca.uiowa.edu, and get the files 'gshk.bsc' and 'binscii.bxy'
from apple2/useful.stuff.

   Then, when you have those two (or some version of sciibin, either
Mac or unix, from grind again, in the apple2/unix directory), ftp
over to ftp.apple.com, and grab all 6 disks from 
dts/aii/sys.soft/gs.system.6.0.1. Or, if you'd rather buy the disks,
give Resource Central a call at 913-469-6502.

   Without a HD, it's hard to make an 800K boot disk with everything
on it, but one of the disks at ftp.apple.com does do that.

-- 
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