Apple IIE

[mikemike690]

Hi, I'm brand new to old Apple computers and I was wondering about an Apple II I have just brought. When I startup without a disk it just says Apple II no cursor or anything according to the original manual. Do I need a DOS 3.3 disk to install or? Also I've got a text card in the AUX slot but when I launch specific programs it says it requires 128KB ram but also according to the manual I've apparently got 128KB does this mean that the ram chips have failed? Thanks!

 

[David Schmidt]

If you've got a disk drive attached (sounds like you do) then the IIe will wait (forever) for you to insert a disk before it does anything but print "Apple II" on the screen. To break out of that, hold down the Control key and hit Reset. That'll get you to the BASIC AppleSoft prompt. You won't be able to do any disk-based functions until/unless you boot a plain DOS or ProDOS disk, but you'll get your cursor.

As to the AUX slot - look closely at the card you have plugged in there. There were some 80-column cards that did not include the extra 64k of RAM, which could explain a complaint coming from a program expecting to see 128k.

 

[mikemike690]

If you've got a disk drive attached (sounds like you do) then the IIe will wait (forever) for you to insert a disk before it does anything but print "Apple II" on the screen. To break out of that, hold down the Control key and hit Reset. That'll get you to the BASIC AppleSoft prompt. You won't be able to do any disk-based functions until/unless you boot a plain DOS or ProDOS disk, but you'll get your cursor.

As to the AUX slot - look closely at the card you have plugged in there. There were some 80-column cards that did not include the extra 64k of RAM, which could explain a complaint coming from a program expecting to see 128k.

Okay thanks for that, so if I want to be able to have the OS running with a game inserted will I have to have two drives? Or can I just remove the OS disk and it will still be kept in memory? Thanks.

 

[David Schmidt]

so if I want to be able to have the OS running with a game inserted will I have to have two drives?

Apples are single-tasking machines. If you want to play a game, insert the game disk. If you want to program in BASIC or derp around in the monitor, then boot an OS (or just use it without a disk at all).

Games and other apps tend to essentially take over the entire system. You aren't going to have a situation where you finish with a game and then exit cleanly to a command prompt. That just wasn't the way things worked. When you're done with one task... reboot with a different disk for a different task.

 

[mikemike690]

Apples are single-tasking machines. If you want to play a game, insert the game disk. If you want to program in BASIC or derp around in the monitor, then boot an OS (or just use it without a disk at all).

Games and other apps tend to essentially take over the entire system. You aren't going to have a situation where you finish with a game and then exit cleanly to a command prompt. That just wasn't the way things worked. When you're done with one task... reboot with a different disk for a different task.

Okay thanks for that, so is there any point to owning DOS 3.3 master then? Thanks.

 

[MacTech68]

Okay thanks for that, so is there any point to owning DOS 3.3 master then? Thanks.

If you want to create your own BASIC language programs and save them, then yes, and a DOS 3.3 Master allows you to create other DOS 3.3 diskettes.

Regarding the games, many of the best games have their own DOS on the game diskette and were heavily copy protected, but some copy programs could copy them. So if you're intending to get copies of some of the more complex games, they will either be originals or cracked copies. Either way, protecting the disks by making backups may be impossible with basic tools and require multiple drive setups with programs like CopyII+ or NibblesAway, IIRC.

It really depends on how you're going to source your games and which games you get. It's difficult to give a definitive answer. I'm just positing information and I'm not privy to the current market for old AppleII games these days.

 

[mikemike690]

If you want to create your own BASIC language programs and save them, then yes, and a DOS 3.3 Master allows you to create other DOS 3.3 diskettes.

Regarding the games, many of the best games have their own DOS on the game diskette and were heavily copy protected, but some copy programs could copy them. So if you're intending to get copies of some of the more complex games, they will either be originals or cracked copies. Either way, protecting the disks by making backups may be impossible with basic tools and require multiple drive setups with programs like CopyII+ or NibblesAway, IIRC.

It really depends on how you're going to source your games and which games you get. It's difficult to give a definitive answer. I'm just positing information and I'm not privy to the current market for old AppleII games these days.

Okay thanks for that, I've never messed or taken attention of floppy disks and older computers until now. I see that there are heaps of game code available with the extension .do, is there anyway to open it with an app on a Windows or Mac and physically just write out the code again? Or can I somehow transfer it over to the Apple. Thanks

 

[MacTech68]

I worked on AppleII machines long before people were archiving floppy disks to newer machines, so I'm not well versed on the use of them.

However, a starting point might be this page:

http://fileformats.archiveteam.org/wiki/DSK_(Apple_II)

 

[mikemike690]

I worked on AppleII machines long before people were archiving floppy disks to newer machines, so I'm not well versed on the use of them.

However, a starting point might be this page:

http://fileformats.archiveteam.org/wiki/DSK_(Apple_II)

I still don't understand it but thanks though!

 

[David Schmidt]

I see that there are heaps of game code available with the extension .do, is there anyway to open it with an app on a Windows or Mac and physically just write out the code again? Or can I somehow transfer it over to the Apple.

You will most likely find virtual disks with the extension .DSK, which is a defacto standard for Apple II 143k disk images. .DO is a little less popular, but specifies that they are in "DOS Order" (as opposed to .PO, or ProDOS Order). It matters not one bit to modern tools, but that's where those letters come from. .DSK is not specific as to which order they're in, but again, typical tools no longer care and can deal with whatever you throw at them.

You can run any of those game disk images with any of a multitude of Apple II emulators. AppleWin (https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin) is a popular one for Windows computers, and Virtual II (http://www.virtualii.com/) is a popular one for Mac. If you want to reconstitute one of those disks on a real Apple II, you'll need to use a tool like ADTPro (http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/).

 

[mikemike690]

You will most likely find virtual disks with the extension .DSK, which is a defacto standard for Apple II 143k disk images. .DO is a little less popular, but specifies that they are in "DOS Order" (as opposed to .PO, or ProDOS Order). It matters not one bit to modern tools, but that's where those letters come from. .DSK is not specific as to which order they're in, but again, typical tools no longer care and can deal with whatever you throw at them.

You can run any of those game disk images with any of a multitude of Apple II emulators. AppleWin (https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin) is a popular one for Windows computers, and Virtual II (http://www.virtualii.com/) is a popular one for Mac. If you want to reconstitute one of those disks on a real Apple II, you'll need to use a tool like ADTPro (http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/).

Yup thanks for that, I was able to transfer stuff over but sometimes I get an image failed transfer error, and it won't work for whatever on my main computer, by the way are you the creator of ADTPro?

 

[David Schmidt]

I was able to transfer stuff over but sometimes I get an image failed transfer error, and it won't work for whatever on my main computer

There are lots and lots of reasons why that might be, so I'd need a lot more detail about what happened in order to guess what might be wrong there. But if things usually work but sometimes don't, most likely the image you're working with doesn't match the disk size you're trying to create, or you might have bad media, or if you're using audio to transfer that's always dicey, or... the possibilities are endless.

by the way are you the creator of ADTPro?

Yep, that's my little project. Which turns 10 years old this June, as it turns out.

 

[mikemike690]

There are lots and lots of reasons why that might be, so I'd need a lot more detail about what happened in order to guess what might be wrong there. But if things usually work but sometimes don't, most likely the image you're working with doesn't match the disk size you're trying to create, or you might have bad media, or if you're using audio to transfer that's always dicey, or... the possibilities are endless.


Yep, that's my little project. Which turns 10 years old this June, as it turns out.

Haha looks like it took heaps of effort! Yeah I'm using Audio, what detail would you be needing?

 

[David Schmidt]

Yeah I'm using Audio, what detail would you be needing?

That's all the detail I need, then. Audio is picky. Be sure you are disconnected from anything else that might make notification noises (email, Facebook, whatever). If you have one particular image that never works but others do, then you might have something worth looking into.

 

[mikemike690]

That's all the detail I need, then. Audio is picky. Be sure you are disconnected from anything else that might make notification noises (email, Facebook, whatever). If you have one particular image that never works but others do, then you might have something worth looking into.

Okay thanks for that
[doublepost=1454994768][/doublepost]

That's all the detail I need, then. Audio is picky. Be sure you are disconnected from anything else that might make notification noises (email, Facebook, whatever). If you have one particular image that never works but others do, then you might have something worth looking into.

Is there a similar way to transfer files to the Macintosh?

 

[David Schmidt]

Is there a similar way to transfer files to the Macintosh?

Not that I know of.