Problem with //e?, Software & Networking

[Alistair J Ross <mailat@alirossdotco.uk>]

Hello comp.sys.apple2,

  This is my first posting to the group as I have finally been able to
acquire the machine I've been longing to get for a long time now: The
venerable Apple ][.

I am now the proud owner of not only an Apple ][ EuroPLUS, but an Apple
][e.

Firstly, the Europlus machine is the machine which I can get working - it
boots up with a cute beep, screen reading 'Apple ]['. The Disk ][
drives were on the Apple IIe, but I swapped them over to the plus for now.
When I switch the unit on now, the Apple seeks the drive for around 5
seconds and then sits there blankly. I need to hit RESET to get the ]
prompt (which I presume to be the AppleSoft prompt, please let me know if
I'm wrong). 

My knowledge of all of the OS variants for the Apple are sketchy, here is
what I have gleaned from various places on the net:

	First Apple ][: Integer Basic
  	Apple II Plus : AppleSoft Basic
 	Apple IIe: AppleSoft & DOS 3.3 or ProDOS

I believe also that DOS is available for all apples, it just came with the
Apple IIe (in ROM?).

Anyway here come the questions:

Q1)I want to know how I can use the disk drive on the EuroPLUS -- do I
need to obtain a 5.25" floppy with a copy of DOS on it or am I just being
silly? 

Q2) I have an Acorn BBC Micro and an old PC both which use Double Sided
Double Density Disks (PC formats to 360K). Can I use these disks in the
Disk][ drives? What do I need to do to use them?

Q3) I am in the middle of putting together a computer museum (thus the
pull to acquire all of the old hardware I can). The museum is not for my
own personal pleasure - I hope to exhibit the systems I have at the
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. I want to achieve a number of
things with all of the platforms where possible:

	* Use the machines to a level that the original manufacturers never
	thought of, far less thought were possible.
	* Use the machines with their original software - to demonstrate how
	software has evolved and how hardware has evolved (with the addition of
	how open hardware architecture such as the Apple ][ and the IBM PC have
	made big changes to the hardware world).

The first point made me think about the possibility of networking /
internetworking the Apple ][. I am aware of it's limitations, but I've
seen computers such as the IBM PC XT with 512K ram and 1x 5.25 FDD on the
web (as a web server!), would it be possible however limited to connect
an Apple 2 to a Network (Ethernet), or the Internet? Has it ever been done?
I saw yesterday, a gent who has made a card recently for $105 USD which
connects IDE-ATA drives or CF memory cards to the Apple ][, which is
awe-inspiring!

Q4) Back to the Apple 2e, When the unit powers up, the display is a run of
moving ASCII chars (blocks and @ symbols). These do not go away, and no
'POST' beep is evident from the unit. Obviously there are many things that
could be wrong, but does anyone know exactly what this problem could be,
is it something that happens a lot with these machines, or will I be
needing a multimeter to help me out. I've already done the obvious things
- pull out all the expansion cards and see if that does anything - it
doesnt, although, I have noticed that the ASCII chars don't seem to scroll
any more.

Q5) Ive looked on Ebay etc but can't really find any cheap software to get
me started for the Apple ][, anyone know good places to get it? Especially
in the UK?

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Alistair Ross

-- 
-- [ Alistair J. Ross ] ----------------------------------------------------
						0x2b2b2b415448300a 	ViM6
	   ,''`.
	  : :' :   "Just one small part of the GNU revolution."
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