Re: German IIe Question and ROM/JEDEC Link

[Linards Ticmanis <ticmanis@gmx.de>]

Henry schrieb:

> I have a German users who asked a couple questions I was unsure about.  Any 
> clarification would be helpful.
> 
> Looking at my Euro IIe (220v version) I see it has a larger then normal 
> Video ROM and a switch on the bottom front of the case by the keyboard. 
> Does the Video ROM have two versions of the Video code in it?  Does the 
> switch allow the user to choose which version will be displayed?

Yes, and yes. The difference consists of eight characters:

@ -> ￜ
[ -> ￜ
\ -> ￜ
] -> ￜ
{ -> ￜ
| -> ￜ
} -> ￜ
~ -> ￜ

i.e. the German //e uses ISO 646 encoding in the German variant.

All the rest, including MoseText in advanced //e's, are unchanged
between the two halves of the chip.

I have to add a caveat: The German characters in that ROM are badly
designed and optically don't fit in well with the rest, especially the
sharp s letter "ￜ" is really botched and sticks out like a sore thumb. I
assume they were done by somebody either not from Germany, or a
technician who didn't have an eye for typography at all. I can mail you
a fixed ROM file I did a while ago, if you're interested.

> The user also asked about an Enhancement kit for his German IIe.  I was 
> unsure about the Video ROM that would be in the computer.  If it is just two 
> copies I could easily combine the two he needs then and test them in my Euro 
> IIe.  I also assume he'll need the CD and EF ROM's too.

The CD and EF ROMs are not different between the German and US versions,
neither in the unenhanced nor in the enhanced //e.

> Now what about the Keyboard ROM?  I see the Keyboard ROM is also a different 
> part number then the USA IIe's.  Will the Keyboard ROM need to be updated as 
> well?

No. It is identical between the unenhanced and enhanced German //e.

> What if they want to convert a USA IIe to a German one?  Does just 
> the Video ROM need to be changed or will the Keyboard ROM also need to be 
> updated?

Yes, in that case it will, since the German keyboard is laid out
noticeably differently. The German keyboard ROM is also split in two
halves that are selected with the same switch as for the video ROM.
Probably you'll also need to construct an adapter since at least one of
the chips is larger (pin-count wise) in the German //e IIRC.

> Anyone what wishes to make a contribution or host such files is asked to 
> email me the files.  Please include the EPROM size and any Apple part 
> numbers that are printed on the ROM.  Anyone with old rare Apple II/+ ROM's 
> can also contact me as I'd like to start adding them to the Store as well.

The Apple II+ didn't have any different international versions beyond
the EuroApple modification AFAIK. The ROMs were the same everywhere it
was sold.

The Integer BASIC (E000-F7FF) and Programmer's aid #1 (D000-D7FF) ROMs
can be got from the INTBASIC file on the 1980 DOS 3.3 Master disk (the
D800-DFFF area of this file is junk). The Apple II+ version of Applesoft
(D000-F7FF), and also the Autostart Monitor (F800-FFFF), can be got from
the FPBASIC file on that same disk. None of these were ever changed
during the lifetime of the II/II+ AFAIK.

That leaves only the "Old Monitor ROM", which I can mail you if you like.

Best wishes,
-- 
Linards Ticmanis