Re: Project Collection

["Bryan Parkoff" <nospam@nospam.com>]

Chris,

>>     Can you please list your projects which you are interested to
>> participle?
>
> Err... ahh.. sure.. though if it's *my* project, I would hope that I am
> participating in it!
> Or do you want people to choose from *your* project list?

    I mean general projects so folks can add their own to the list.

>> 1) Replicated Apple //e and Apple IIgs and general controller card parts
>
> Not sure what you mean.  You mean building/designing replica Apple II
> hardware?
> I would if I had the know-how, but right now I don't.  I'd like to
> learn, though.

    Yes, it does what I mean like Replica I for Apple I.  It does the same 
for Apple //e and Apple IIgs.  If you are willing to give a lot of $$$ to 
the Apple Computer, Inc, they may be willing to give you schematic inside 
chips.  Have a relationship with them into a huge business.

>> 2) Develop to emulate controller card such as RAM Works III, Super Serial
>> Card, Logo / Lego Card, Koala Pad, some general AE cards, third party 
>> cards,
>> hard drive cards, SCSI cards, LAN cards, and more.  Select one card from 
>> a
>> list to emulate inside Apple //e or Apple IIgs.
>
> I haven't done much of this, but if I can figure out how to do it, I
> would probably add emulation for (1) a mouse card, and (2) a clock
> card.  AppleWin already emulates the serial card, disk controller and
> hard drive.  A parallel (maybe Grappler+?) might be nice, so it would
> use the parallel port on the PC and you could hook up a parallel dot
> matrix printer.

    First of all, study each card.  Draw schematic.  Simulate it into 
emulator project to see if it works.

>> 3) Design smaller printed circuit board within built-in motherboard,
>> built-in RAM, built-in slots (like Apple IIgs) into USB for PC.  Software 
>> is
>> used to display PC VGA monitor while communicating to USB board.
>
> Interesting idea.  Above *my* head though.
>
>> 4) Cheaper Apple //e or Apple IIgs laptop than modern Pentium IV / AMD
>> laptop
>
> I've thought about that.  It would be nice to have a IIgs laptop.  When
> I think of such a thing, I think of something like those older (small)
> Windows CE laptops.  Small and light but with pretty much a full-sized
> keyboard.  With low power consumption, I wonder if you could get
> something like 10+ hours on a charge.  No (real) hard drive, use a CF
> or SD card or something.  Need to find the right LCD display for the
> job - small (but not too small), just enough resolution (no more than
> 640x480), and low power usage.
>
> Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine such a thing ever being built.  It
> would be a labor of love, with a lot of labor.  And a lot of love.  And
> more labor.
>
>> 5) Write more 6502 / 65816 software for Apple //e and Apple IIgs.
>
> Now we're talking my level.. Well, I'm doing 6502 stuff now, but I will
> get into 65816 programming when I get a copy of some IIgs programming
> books.

    Which software are you developing for 6502?

>>     Which do you prefer for best?  Apple II Emulator / Simulator for PC 
>> or
>> USB Apple II board if artifact Apple II collections cease to exist few 
>> years
>> from now.
>
> For ease of use, and true portability, I'd have to say an Emulator.
    Would you support Emulator, Simulator, or Mixed?  If I choose Mixed, it 
should be acceptable speed on Pentium IV 3GHz or higher, but it is pretty 
slower on Pentium III and earlier.

>> If you choose Apple II Emulator / Simulator, would you support
>> emulated hardware including all general slot's controller cards.
>
> Sure!  I'd support as much as I could get.  ??  If I could figure out
> how, I'd add more peripheral card support into AppleWin.  The top 3 on
> my list would be a network card, a mouse card and a clock/calendar
> card.
>
>> Many Apple
>> II Emulator lacks most emulated hardware, but support few such as hard 
>> drive
>> and 1-3MB RAM.  They lack video timing for switching $C050/$C051 like Bob
>> Bishop's Money Munchers.
>
> At least on the surface, it doesn't seem like adding that video timing
> would be that difficult.
>
>>     I am interested to hear more projects what you want to add.
>
> For future Apple II development, there's a few fronts for progress:
>
> SOFTWARE - Both new software for the //e and IIgs, and enhancing
> emulator software.

    Can you please describe SOFTWARE?  How would it be developed?  It would 
be one software to emulate Apple I, Apple II, II+, //ue, //e, //c, //c+, and 
IIgs.  Please describe the difference between emulator and simulator.
    I focus Apple //e's timing for video.  It is easier for me to understand 
how video timing works.  With emulated video timing, Bob Bishop's Money 
Munchers will work.  After I finish video timing for NTSC, I will focus aux 
RGB card with 4 color switches (red dip box on card) and special switches 
for HGR and DHGR including monochrome.  It allows folks to select NTSC or 
RGB or other using video setting.

> HARDWARE - Like the CFFA project, I would love to see a few new
> peripheral card options.

    With emulated timing, emulated hardware will work with any peripheral 
card and aux card.

> DOCUMENTATION - The most recent of which has been Nibble magazine,
> which is awesome.  Though not directly Apple II related, I'd love to
> see Byte magazine archives too.  Others too, like Compute's Apple
> Applications magazine, would be nice.  Also some more books, like those
> for the Atari that are hosted at Atari Archives.  When are we going to
> have a www.AppleArchives.org?  Doesn't even look like the name is
> registered.

    I think that each 3.5" / 5.25" images should contain documenation.  When 
image is loaded into memory, documenation will be available under "HELP".

    Want to add more?

Bryan Parkoff