comp.sys.apple2 Google Group

Re: Using VGA/LCD monitor with a IIgs?

2009-12-01T04:23:44Z

Great news! I can confirm the Ambery box works with the GS! Ordered
on the day before Thanksgiving and it just arrived today! I tested on
an old Viewsonic 15" CRT, a Viewsonic P90f 19" CRT, and a Acer 24"
LCD. Ran demos like Modulae and Nucleus, and also the control panel
in 40/80 columns. Overall I'm very pleased with the quality of the

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-12-01T02:06:10Z

That's my strategy too. I run a pair of those in RAID1 and that stores
everything we need with room to spare.
Ideally I'd back up that set to another machine somewhere, but all
'critical' data is replicated on 2 laptops and my server in the US,
and the bulk of the data can be recreated in a weekend by reloading

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-12-01T01:33:38Z

I agree completely.
My primary archival medium is at least two copies on recently-
manufactured hard disk drives, each of which is verified at least
once a year.
I find that any other medium is so much less convenient to use and to
verify that I do not verify them. Hard disks are now very cheap,
very dense, and very fast compared to the alternatives--and it's

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-30T22:36:43Z

If you use the stone (as in a cave wall) as recording media and a piece
of flint as a recording tool the data retention rate has been shown to
be at least 20,000 years. Tooth marks on bone while not left there for
information storage remain for hundreds of millions of years.
Unfortunately high density recording methods have adverse effect on

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-30T13:42:02Z

I still have a "book of tricks" which lists a patch for Wizardy I. I'd
rather not retype it as it was 43 bytes on the boot side and 37 bytes on the
scenario side!
(BTW, Antoine, I haven't forgotten!)

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-30T09:38:45Z

Try *that* with your CDs and DVDs!

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-30T09:01:10Z

Apple cassette data rates are 1kbits/sec for 1s and 2kbits/sec for 0s.
If we assume that 1s and 0s are equally probable (though "typical"
uncompressed data tends to have more 0s than 1s), then the average
data rate is 1500bits/sec.
So one side of a C60 (the most common and most durable cassette) holds

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-30T07:53:10Z

The disk image file, is it write protected?

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-30T06:32:39Z

On Nov 30, 12:26 am, "Albert D. Kallal"
That was how the TI-99's cassette worked, it controlled the motor in a
similar way. That allowed it to do cassette file operations as well.
However, it was still painful due to the pause between each set of
data, the "sync" part at the beginning of each record, and any padding

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-30T05:26:18Z

At the time, blank floppy disks where in the $7-9$ range for ONE floppy. I
had a floppy drive, but disks were expensive.
So, I grabbed a little relay from Radio Shack, and plugged that relay into
the cassette recorders' on/off jack (the smaller jack, right beside the
microphone in jack that most table top cassette recorders had).

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T21:51:36Z

Well, if it's something I can run, I'm willing to make images of them,
but I'm not really interested at the moment in cutting anything loose.
I may have several of that disk, though.
One thing interesting about the Skyfox and Archon cracks back in the
day.
Of course, everyone was competing back then.

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T21:51:26Z

I tried to play Realms of Darkness, using Virtual II, and after
creating a new character put the Adventure disk in and hit return. The
program told me there were already characters on that disk and
wouldn't let me run the game. I tried to intialize the game and it
still told me there were characters on the adventure disk and wouldn't

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T21:40:02Z

Vladimir,
If you are interested in on-disk protected disks, I would recommend
you to find / buy / be offered the following disks:
- Hold-Up from Infogrames (spiralling, 18-sec, nibble count, mandatory
nibble values)
- EDD (mandatory nibble values hidden in the disk)
- EPYX software (latest titles with desynchro, easy to copy but uses a

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T21:35:37Z

Toto et al:
I don't have any plans on trying to deprotect (krack) them. At least
not soon.
I got back working on low-level disk imaging and would like to keep an
eye on eBay for titles which still haven't got preserved to DSK/NIB,
because they are with higher priority.
Also, the software complexity of the protection doesn't matter at all.

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T20:17:22Z

NIB supports copy protected disks but not all NIB images are
necessarily copy protected.
..and SST could be used to put disk images back to disks.
Perhaps, though.. since there is not crack screen on the Realms disks
from there. But it does run in Virtual II.

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T20:16:28Z

The ones on asimov are NIB images, I downloaded them and tested them
with the verify option of Locksmith fast disk backup and it failed to
read 90% of the tracks of the three NIB images.
I believe the disks are still protected.
antoine

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T19:45:04Z

I am pretty sure they are nib images....I thought that meant they are
still protected...am I wrong on that?
Jamie.

Re: What's in your Apple?

2009-11-29T19:36:20Z

Platinum //E
Aux: Ramworks III with 1 meg onboard
RGB daughterboard
2 meg Plus memory daughterboard
Replacement power supply by Reactive Micro
Power tilt RGB monitor, model A9M0308
System Saver by Kensington
Slot 1: Phasor sound card
Slot 2: Empty
Slot 3: Transwarp II Accelerator by AE

Question for Audio Animator owners...

2009-11-29T19:20:30Z

Hi,
One thing i have noticed with my audio animator is that with certain
games if you cancel the playing of music that it will just sit there
and play the last tone until something else triggers music to be
played. I have seen this mainly in Sierra games such as KQ2, SQ2 and
Silpheed etc. I had just lived with it until i started to put my own

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T18:46:34Z

Skyfox? .. that was nothing different than the other EA titles at the
time in reality.
Archon was much the same thing.
Sundog was an interesting one over the years. You'd always think you
had cracked it .. but you could never find out for sure until you
actually played. Only to find out that when you went to resupply your

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T18:42:59Z

Hi Vladimir,
Skyfox is an Electronic Arts program protected with their spiralling
scheme, not a tough one, a usual one.
JPL would have told you that:
- Sundog, the frozen legacy (Accolade)
- Hold-Up (Infogrames)
- 18 sector titles
...are a nightmare. Not only because of their format but because they

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T17:59:29Z

Have you the image on Asimov, (images->games->strategy->SSI) ?

Re: top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T17:25:58Z

I have 2 complete in box sets of realms of darkness by ssi. i do not
know where an uncracked image is for them. i would love to get
unprotected images of realms of darkness.
Jamie.

top protected Apple II title?

2009-11-29T16:06:03Z

I have some vague memory of somebody telling me that "Skyfox" is one
of those top protected titles. Is that so? Could you describe top dogs
in protection? 5.25" only, of course.
And to continue my quest, some more questions you can try answering:
- how many titles are left un-cracked
- of those un-cracked titles, are original diskettes still

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-29T15:07:29Z

In article
<f8b45024-498e-403d-9f74-ec754 4e97...@v15g2000prn.googlegrou ps.com>,
More data points: "However, [Apple's cassette interface] ran at 1200
baud (most microcomputer cassette interfaces in 1976 and 1977 ran at
only 300 baud) and was more consistently successful at getting a good
load into memory when compared to other computers of the day."

Re: I'll be at KansasFest 2010 - but you won't know me by sight :)

2009-11-29T11:08:42Z

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:46:00 -0800 (PST), Saint Isadore Patron Saint
Fuck off you vile piece of diseased dog shit.

Re: Cassette Capacity

2009-11-29T07:11:42Z

"The typical encoding method for computer data was simple FSK which
resulted in typical data rates of 500 to 2000 bit/s, although some
games used special faster loading routines, up to around 4000-bit/s. A
rate of 2000-bit/s equates to a capacity of around 660 kilobytes per
side of a 90-minute tape."

Cassette Capacity

2009-11-29T04:57:03Z

I was just moving gigabytes of data around on terabyte sized drives,
and was remembering the good old days, when you could more or less
grasp how much stuff was on a disk. That led me to wonder how much
stuff was on the first storage device I ever used on an Apple II. Does
anyone recall about how much information could be stored on a cassette

Re: How is the IIgs beep generated?

2009-11-28T20:37:56Z

On 27 nov, 17:40, "Jayson Smith"
There are several boing boing calls in the IIgs:
BELL at $FF3A
BELL1 at $FBDD
BELL1.2 at $FBE2
BELL2 at $FBE4
And the one used is BELL. It is called during boot, switching to the
monitor, etc.
antoine

Re: two questions

2009-11-28T17:54:00Z

Unfortunately, that won't work--unless you loop each cassette out
through a cassette recorder in "monitor" mode--since the cassette
out is at "microphone" level and the cassette in is at "speaker"
level.
LOAD therefore hangs because it never sees ("hears"?) a tone at all.
You'll need a cassette recorder and a cassette to record a program

Re: two questions

2009-11-27T21:35:01Z

Looks like your right.
I have set up two apple machines,
connecting the cassette out port of one machine,
to the cassette in port of the second machine.
And also vice versa.
no ERRs at all, yet, LOAD seems to hang.
<does load take any parameters, or may my cable be defect, or the
cassette port defect, or does the load procedure take a long time after

Re: RAMFast ROM's

2009-11-27T17:46:25Z

Thank You!
Clarification! Bless you Mr. Spector. :)
I'll have to get 2, 3.01f ROMS from ReactiveMicro if I don't decide to
sell these off.
Thanks again.

Re: How is the IIgs beep generated?

2009-11-27T16:40:23Z

I'm interested in this too. Where is the code for generating the GS beep
located? You're saying the "Bonk" heard at bootup is generated just by using
$C030?
Jayson

Re: RAMFast ROM's

2009-11-27T06:46:05Z

Haven't visited here in well over a year, but happened to see
this thread and thought I'd clear up some misconceptions above.
The original RamFAST, produced by CV-Technologies, used a
Hitachi processor. When Sequential Systems bought the design
and did their own manufacturing, they replaced it with a Zilog

Thanksgiving Updates to the 'What is the Apple IIGS?'

2009-11-27T00:34:04Z

Check them out everybody:
[link]

Apple II style joystick/paddles to USB

2009-11-26T12:46:06Z

Does such a device exist? I would love to use my original Apple II
joystick with Virtual II or other emulators.
Regards,
Adam
============================== =================
"Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day.
But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude
of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer

Re: Off Topic - BBC Micro Books

2009-11-26T00:30:07Z

Ah yes, I remember the name Arthur now, said disparagingly. ;-)
And the Risc PC seemed like a great machine, though I never owned one.
A friend and I had a contact at Acorn NZ, and when the first Risc PC
arrived they called us in to test some software.
Our Apple II emulator (written in ARM assembler) failed to run because

Re: Transwarp GS 7Mhz/8K upgrade

2009-11-25T18:05:35Z

Thanks Michael and Drew. I bought a PLCC extractor off eBay, hopefully
it'll fit, otherwise I'll try the screw driver/paper clip trick.
Yeah, I saw the new CFFA Richard is working on, DOS 3.3 support is the
coolest part! I'm definitely getting one of those when it's out, but
I can't wait and the MicroDrive fits the bill right now (ordered it

Re: Off Topic - BBC Micro Books

2009-11-25T18:00:35Z

Of course, I missed the problems with Arthur completely, too - I
didn't get real hardware until April of this year, with a used RiscPC
with 4.02 and Select 4 (RISC OS 6) Preview. ;)

Re: Transwarp GS 7Mhz/8K upgrade

2009-11-25T10:19:58Z

I have upgraded a couple ZIP GSX and a Transwarp and used a v.small
flathead screwdriver and a paper clip to help. I did buy a PLCC
extractor but it didn't seem to fit. If your careful/gentle you should
be fine.
Worth waiting for the new CFFA card from Richard
[link]

Re: Transwarp GS 7Mhz/8K upgrade

2009-11-25T06:09:09Z

There are PLCC chip pullers designed expressly for removing such
chips from their sockets safely. They typically grab the chip by
diagonally opposite corners and pull straight up.
-michael
NadaNet and AppleCrate II: parallel computing for Apple II computers!
Home page: [link]

Transwarp GS 7Mhz/8K upgrade

2009-11-25T04:41:04Z

I just picked up the ROM1 Pitz was selling on c.s.a.m (yay!) which is
actually the 3rd ROM 1 that I've picked up in the past few months.
Including my original ROM1, I now have 4! :)
The TWGS looks stock, 28MHz crystal, original 8K cache, and I've been
to the Reactive Micro site to scope out upgrades. The first one I'd

Re: Off Topic - BBC Micro Books

2009-11-25T00:17:13Z

Ah yes, you're right, I had forgotten there were a few disks supplied.
I had an A5000, so came in at RISC OS 3 and missed the problems you
mention. Sure it would have been better if the OS was pre-emptively
multitasked etc, but these things didn't bother me much at the time.
The Amiga had the edge in some areas, but the Archimedes managed to

Re: Apple IIGS Stereo Sound Card - Interest?

2009-11-24T21:32:57Z

Request for testing of review card has been accepted.

Re: Off Topic - BBC Micro Books

2009-11-24T21:12:04Z

it was sold in France too and made the cover of the IT magazine SVM.
it was a very powerful engineers' computer with few software.
antoine

Re: Apple IIGS Stereo Sound Card - Interest?

2009-11-24T20:27:39Z

Hi Michael,
Again thanks for your help :). I just bought a pair of powered
speakers from local supermarket and sounds much better, so much so
that i don't think there is a problem. In fact there is less white
noise than on my audio animator...which i was surprised to see..or
hear rather.
I think the headphones as you said were causing increased noise.

Re: Apple IIGS Stereo Sound Card - Interest?

2009-11-24T19:01:06Z

Drew wrote:
Any noise on the +5 supplying the Ensoniq DOC chip will show up in
the analog output. Presumeably, the ROM 3 audio cleanup addressed
this issue. After the noise is injected, you won't be able to clean
up the part that falls within the audio band, so you can't do better
than the DOC output.

Re: Apple IIGS Stereo Sound Card - Interest?

2009-11-24T17:55:48Z

Hi, me again :)
Right i attached a floppy drive and using the drive whilst listening
to sound didn't make any difference to the white noise. I switched
round the output from the MC1402B (demux) and the white noise shifted
from right to left. This i would say eliminates the OpAmp TL084 imo.
I am at the moment just attaching a standard pair of headphones to

Re: Off Topic - BBC Micro Books

2009-11-24T17:49:26Z

In Germany they never did well. There were some specialized
shops and clubs but the Archimedes was no contender to the
Atari ST and, later, the Amiga 500/2000 series.
The Apple IIgs didn't do well either as it was very expensive and
most people didn't have an Apple II+/e/c upgrade path anyway.
Then the PCs came and all other systems, except the Mac, died

Re: Off Topic - BBC Micro Books

2009-11-24T15:05:46Z

IIRC, 65Host was never in ROM, but it was on disk all along. (Of
course, they also made 65Tube, which simulated a tube-attached 6502.
There's a slight difference in functionality there - 65Host emulates a
BBC Micro, whereas 65Tube emulates a 6502 second processor attached to
the Archimedes. This means that apps running in 65Tube can use the