Re: Which 6502 variant to use?

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Alistair J Ross wrote:

>On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 00:17:55 +0000, Sean Fahey wrote:
>
>> The old ][e, and by that, I mean "unenhanced" - doesn't matter if it has an
>> original Rockwell (or Siemens) 6502 or a 65C02.
>
>What exactly is an 'unenhanced' //e? My //e has a 80column card which
>looks longer than the one on my old //e -- it's double the size, does this
>mean it has ram on it as well? I still don't know how to tell how much ram
>an apple has.

This answer is also to your question in another thread about
whether your //e gives you easier access to the mini-assembler
than the ][+ did.

Since the processor in your new //e is a 6502, not a 65C02, it is
an original, or unenhanced, //e.  The enhancement consisted of
a new 65C02 processor, a new video ROM (with MouseText), and
a new Monitor ROM, which contains, among other things, the
mini-assembler, accessible simply by typing "!" at the monitor
prompt ("*").

Since you are using the mini-assembler, you will benefit from
the new monitor ROM.  MouseText is really only useful if you
have programs that use it (for example, in menus), but the new
monitor is better in a number of ways, particularly in its support
for interrupt handling (which is probably not an issue for you now).

BTW, on the subject of assemblers, if you prefer, there is a
DOS version of Merlin, as well.  (But if you move to a system
with more disk space than a 5.25" floppy, ProDOS is by far
the more usable system.)

-michael

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Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/