Re: How to enhance a IIe?

[dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <009756C6.9E709240@vms.csd.mu.edu> 2pw1brownt@vms.csd.mu.edu writes:
> Our school district has over a dozen old Apple IIe computers that are
> all un-enhanced.
> 
> Question:  What needs to be done to enhance them?

You need the Apple IIe enhancement kit, supplied by Apple.  Quality
Computers sells them for US$59 or thereabouts.

The kit consists of four chips:

- A 65C02 microprocessor (to replace the original IIe's 6502; the
65C02 is CMOS and uses less power, but most importantly has several
new instructions).

- New versions of the CD and EF ROMs, which contain the IIe's firmware
(Applesoft BASIC, the monitor, the 80-column routines, etc.)  There
are improvements in Applesoft (adding lower-case support), the
80-column routines are faster, there is a much improved interrupt
handler, and the monitor has a mini-assembler and a few other
improvements.

- A new Video ROM, which provides "MouseText" characters (including
Apple logos, a mouse pointer, and various characters for drawing
windows and menus on the text screen).


Since the ROMs are copyrighted by Apple, there is no legal way to get
them other than by buying the enhancement kit.  Alltech Electronics
sells the ROMs and CPU as separate components.

Programs which require an enhanced IIe generally need it because they
use 65C02 instructions and/or mousetext characters.  Most programs
identify an enhanced IIe by checking the ROM for special
identification bytes.
-- 
David Empson                                                               
dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz                                                
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand