Message from discussion
Rebuilding an apple IIgs system for the kids....
Path: g2news2.google.com!postnews.google.com!g7g2000prg.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
From: Polymorph <polymorp...@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Rebuilding an apple IIgs system for the kids....
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 18:10:31 -0700 (PDT)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 106
Message-ID: <d86802dc-b34a-4ca5-86a9-55cf438eb7fd@g7g2000prg.googlegroups.com>
References: <81d82e8a-6d2d-464d-ada5-c4ca31c2e6be@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 123.50.139.108
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Trace: posting.google.com 1246669832 3462 127.0.0.1 (4 Jul 2009 01:10:32 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 01:10:32 +0000 (UTC)
Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com
Injection-Info: g7g2000prg.googlegroups.com; posting-host=123.50.139.108;
posting-account=qIru1woAAADyrRDY5lcZvu3e6Ewu4WLS
User-Agent: G2/1.0
X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1)
Gecko/20090630 Fedora/3.5-1.fc11 Firefox/3.5,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe)
On Jul 4, 3:10=A0am, IUnknown <stevement...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My older kids are interested in 'programming' (my profession).
You are in a similar position to what I was a few years ago (I'm a
programmer too). I grew up with a //e but shelved it in 1992 when I
switched to using IBM compatible PC's. In 2006 I got the retro itch,
pulled the //e out of mothballs and have been hooked ever since. I got
my very first IIgs later that same year and have since suped it up
considerably (12.5MHz Zip GSX, 4Mb memory card, CFFA (with a 2Gb
card!), stereo sound card, etc). I made my own sound card, overclocked
the Zip GSX to 12.5MHz, and rigged up my own external CF card plugged
into the CFFA (see here for details
http://dreher.net/?s=3Dprojects/CFforAppleII&c=3Dprojects/CFforAppleII/main=
.php/).
> I figured that the apple IIgs is a GREAT environment, as there were
> thinks like BASIC, LOGO, etc available that were accessible enough for
> kids to do basic things with. Heck, it is what I started with (an
> apple IIe that is).
Not only does the IIgs give you an accelerated Apple for programming 8
bit software, you also have the option of programming in 16 bits for
GS/OS. I'm one of a few active developers for the IIgs. Once you've
got some additional memory (I recommend 4Mb or 8Mb) and a high
capacity drive (compact flash drives are probably the best at the
present time), I recommend teaching your kids Complete Pascal for the
IIgs. It is a good language to learn, that enforces good programming
practices and yet has most of the features of a 'modern day' language.
A virtual friend, Lim Thye Chean, has a created a great web site
dedicated to teaching kids the basics of programming. He taught his
own son, Ding Wen (who is now 9), to program on the IIgs, and has
since moved onto programming games for the iPhone! Ding Wen has been
on several TV appearances, demonstrating his new games.
Thye Chean's site:
http://virtualgs.larwe.com/
You can download Complete Pascal from Paul Zaleski's site:
http://www.snowcat.com/a2programming/index.htm
or from my site (along with the TML Pascal reference manual):
http://apple2.sytes.net/TML_Pascal/index.html
You could also opt for purchasing Opus ][ from Syndicomm (I did!):
http://store.syndicomm.com/index.php?main_page=3Dadvanced_search_result&sea=
rch_in_description=3D1&keyword=3Dopus
> So, I dug up my old apple IIgs in the garage. It is a ROM 03... bone
> stock. I also have a couple of 5.25" and 3.5" drives.
Some places to look for upgrades are:
http://www.reactivemicro.com/
http://16sector.com/
http://www.brielcomputers.com/wik/index.php?title=3D4MegGSRAM
> I have no system disks, no software, no hard disk, etc. =A0Before I put
> the thing away, I used to have a TWGS, 8MB memory card, RAMFast SCSI,
> SecondSight etc...etc... =A0 Sold the lot and regretted it ever since.
Ouch! Thats an impressive list of items. You will be unlikely to get
them all back, and if you do, expect to pay big $$ these days.
As for software, check these sites out:
http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/
http://www.virtualapple.org/
> So, I was reading that the carteblanche offers an integrated flash HDD
> controller *and* a VGA output as well (which would be nice).
>
> Is the CB card 100% compatible with the IIgs and capable of displaying
> all video modes. The information available on the CB site indicated
> that it was only Apple //+,e,c compatible.
From what I can gather, and I'll let Alex or Steve correct me if I'm
wrong, but the Carte Blanche provides VGA output for the 8 bit
graphics modes supported by the //e and //c (i.e. lo-res, hi-res,
double hi-res), but not the IIgs' super hi-res modes. I also gather
that support for the IIgs' super hi-res modes might be possible by
programming the onboard microcontroller, but it won't be shipped with
this support.
> Also, are there CB cards left? It looks like they were all swooped up!
No CB cards have been shipped as yet, just people (including myself)
have put there name down for one. Alex and Steve have mentioned a
second run, so I'm pretty sure you will be accommodated for in this
2nd run if you want to grab one.
> Finally, are there any vendors that still sell old Apple IIgs hardware
> like memory cards, etc?
See my list above.
> Thanks in advance for the answers!
No problems! Happy to help out.
BTW, you can read about some of the projects I've embarked upon over
the last couple of years on my site:
http://apple2.sytes.net/
Cheers,
Mike
|
