Apple II Frequently Asked Questions: Main Hall-2 Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground file: csa21FaqsMH.txt rev006 The Csa2 (comp.sys.apple2) usenet newsgroup Frequently Asked Questions files are compiled by the Ground Apple II site, 1997, 1998. ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs The Csa2 FAQs may be freely distributed. Notes: FAQs files are pure Text files which have no Font, Color, etc. formatting. For best viewing on-line, set browser Word Wrap to ON or copy to your favorit Text viewer and set Word Wrap. Ex: On PC use WordPad with Options set to "Wrap to Window". To correctly view tables and diagrams on a super-res display, use a mono-spaced Font such as CoPilot or PCMononspaced. ____________________________ FAQs Files and Contents (Revision 006) The main FAQs files consist of Questions with Answers centering on some specific Apple II topic. For these, the questions are listed here as well as at the start of the FAQs file. (Whenever questions are listed together, they are shortened as necessary so that each fits on a single line.) There are, also, FAQs Resource files. These are pics, diagrams, mini-manuals, programs, etc. which are referenced in one or more FAQs answers. Resource files have names like R004STEREO.GIF and R007BATRAMM.SHK. They are listed and briefly described later on. Updates, new Q&A material, and new Resources have been incorporated since the June 1998 revision. As in the original, Version 001 release, credit is given for answers used in the FAQs. Please feel free to send information pieces, diagrams, etc.. for both established and new FAQs. Ideas, suggestions, and FAQs content contributions can be emailed or they can be uploaded to Ground's FAQs/uploads folder. As always, best wishes to all Apple II users, Jeff Hurlburt, 18 July, 1998 rubywand@swbell.net csa2ACCEL: ZipGS, TransWarp, etc. accelerators 001- What are the correct settings for a ZipGS? 002- Why should Appletalk Delay be disabled with a ZipGS? 003- How do I set up a Transwarp on my IIe? 004- Is there a way of disabling Transwarp for games? 005- What are specs & jumper settings for a vintage SpeeDemon? 006- How does the SpeeDemon rate as an accelerator? 007- My SpeeDemon accelerator board seems to run hot. A fix? 008- How should the DIP switches be set on a v3.03 SpeeDemon? 009- How can I get a 'Cache Hit' indicator for my ZipGS? 010- How can I program the ZipGS registers? 011- How can I set up a ProDOS sys file to turn my ZipGS OFF/ON? 012- Is there some ZipGS mod that will improve performance? 013- I have a 7MHz ZipGS. How fast can the board be pushed? 014- What Oscillator freq corresponds to what upgrade speed? 015- How do I experiment with different oscillator frequencies? 016- How do I modify my ZipGS to accept the new "skinny" RAM chips? 017- Is it really necessary to increase board voltage 018- What kind of performance increase can I expect? 019- How can I modify my ZipGS for more cache and more speed? 020- Do I need new GALs to speed up my TransWarpGS? 021- How does a TWGS cache upgrade compare with a speed upgrade? 022- How can I upgrade my TWGS to 32k cache? 023- How can I upgrade TWGS speed? 024- What kind of RAMs do I need for a TWGS or ZipGS speedup? 025- How can I tell the firmware version of my TWGS? 026- How do I change from 5v to 5.25v 027- Why are my ZipGS settings via the Zip CDA forgotten? 028- What do the check-marks mean in the ZipGS CDA? 029- Why don't my ZipGS settings match DIP switch settings!? 030- I have a ZipGS. Sometimes my GS 'hangs' on power-up. Why? 031- The speedup has led to system crashes. What's the problem? 032- A new accelerator board has led to crashes. What's the problem? csa2APPLICS: Applications information 001- What Operating System environments does the GS support? 002- What GS programs are there for viewing/converting graphics? 003- What's up with IIgs emulation on the Mac? 004- What is a good file copier program for the IIgs? 005- Where can I find PEEKs & POKEs and monitor routine info? 006- Where/how can I get new Levels for Wolfenstein-3D/gs? 007- Can I do Reverse Speech on my IIgs? 008- Is it possible to run PaintWorks from hard disk? 009- How can I read a single ProDOS block into memory under BASIC? 010- Is there an Apple II program for ham radio CW code practice? 011- Can my GS do file sharing with a Mac's hard drive? 012- How can I use a Mac as a network server with my GS? 013- How can I set up an Appletalk network for 30 IIgs's 014- How can I capture a GS super-res screen to disk? csa2CDROM: CD-ROM drives and interfaces 001- What do I need to get/do to use Music and Data CD's on my GS? 002- What do I need discQuest for? 003- How can I back up my files on write-able CD-ROM? 004- Is a special driver needed for a Toshiba External 2X CD-ROM? 005- How can I get sound from my Apple HSS card + CD300 CD-ROM? 006- Where can I find more info on CD-ROM drives, products, etc.? csa2DOSMM: DOS and ProDOS 001- What is a "DOS"? 002- What DOS's are available on Apple II computers? 003- Are there any faster better versions of DOS 3.3? 004- What commands are available in DOS 3.3? 005- How do I use DOS commands from the keyboard? a program? 006- How do I use variables in a DOS command? 007- How do I create new DOS 3.3 diskettes? 008- How much storage space is on a 5.25" diskette? 009- Can I format a DOS 3.3 diskette for just data storage? 010- What is the "Volume Table of Contents" or "VTOC"? 011- Can I assign names to my DOS 3.3 diskettes? 012- What does it mean to "Boot" a disk? 013- What file types does DOS 3.3 have 014- What do the entries in a DOS 3.3 Catalog display mean? 015- Re. DOS 3.3 file names: How long? What characters are legal? 016- How can I use DOS 3.3 to read/write sectors from machine code? 017- How many 'official' versions of DOS 3.3 are there? 018- What information is included in the VTOC? 019- What information is included in a DOS 3.3 Catalog sector? 020- How does DOS 3.3 remember which sectors are used? 021- What are the formats of DOS 3.3's main file types? 022- How can I know a DOS 3.3 prgm is safe to run from hard disk? 023- What are some good DOS 3.3 references? 024- What is ProDOS? 025- What are ProDOS's major features? 026- Which Apple II's can run which versions of ProDOS? 027- How can I create bootable ProDOS diskettes? 028- How do I make a ProDOS disk that will start BASIC? 029- What is the maximum size of a ProDOS volume? 030- How do I LOAD, SAVE, etc. files under ProDOS? 031- What is a "pathname"? 032- What is the default volume and folder when ProDOS boots? 033- How can I set default volume and folder under ProDOS? 034- How can I discover the name of the current default volume? 035- How do I create a folder? 036- How can I access ProDOS routines from machine language? 037- How can I convert DOS 3.3 wares to run under ProDOS? 038- How can I modify ProDOS to do BLOADs to Text Page 1? 039- How can I boot ProDOS on my Franklin computer? 040- What are some good ProDOS references? csa2ERRLIST: Apple II series ERROR codes 001- What does error #___ mean? 002- What does IIgs Diagnostic Self-Test Error Code ___ mean? 003- What does RamFAST Fatal Memory Fault Error ___ mean? 004- What is the explanation for getting a ___ error? 005- Where can I find more information on Apple II series errors? csa2FDISK: Floppy drives and diskettes 001- How do I add a write-protect On-Off switch? 002- How do I add external speed adjustment to my Disk ][ drive? 003- How can I adjust my 5.25" drive for optimum performance? 004- How do I clean my disk drive R/W head(s)? 005- Can I read Apple II diskettes on my PC? 006- Some old 5.25" disks with splotches don't boot. What gives? 007- Can I use high-density 3.5" and 5.25" diskettes on my A2? 008- How can I tell DD from HD diskettes if they are not labeled? 009- My 3.5 Disk Drives don't work! What should I try? 010- I added SCSI; now, my 3.5" drives often fail to work. Why? 011- How many tracks can I use on a 5.25" diskette? 012- In connecting a Disk II I misaligned the connectors. A fix? 013- A sound like a shotgun going off came from my drive. A fix? 014- Uni-disk and Laser drives: neither works with my IIc. Why? 015- How do I replace a 3.5" drive mechanism with one from a Mac? 016- I have one 5.25" drive. Sys6 shows two icons!? Is there a fix? 017- How can I tell a 13-sect interface card from a 16-sect model? 018- Can a Disk ][ Drive be used on a IIc or GS smartport? 019- What is the pin-out for a duodisk drive connecting cable? 020- What DuoDisk mods are necessary? 021- Will a Duodisk function correctly on my ROM-03 GS? 022- How do I fix a false Write Protect? 023- Both of my Disk ]['s come on when booting! Is there a fix? 024- How can I defragment a diskette and what is the speed gain? 025- How do I install a bi-color LED R/W indicator in my Disk ][? 026- What's the scoop on the 3.5" High Density drive? csa2HDNSCSI: Hard drives, SCSI, and interfaces 001- How difficult is it to add a hard drive to my IIgs? 002- What kinds of hard drive systems are available? 003- What do SCSI ID numbers mean? 004- What is "SCSI-2" and how is it different from SCSI-1? 005- Will a SCSI-2 hard drive work with an Apple II system? 006- Will my Rev. C SCSI Card work with a SCSI-2 drive? 007- What is SCSI "termination power"? 008- Can I avoid the "RamFAST/SCSI is searching SCSI bus" delay? 009- What is the pin-out for the standard 50-pin SCSI cable? 010- What's the SCSIHD.DRIVER patch to ignore DRIVER43 partitions? 011- What is the "bad bug" in the ROM 3.01e RamFAST? 012- How do I attach a 90mb Bernoulli drive? 013- What are the settings for a CMS hard drive controller card? 014- Does it matter when I power-ON my SCSI hard disk? 015- Can I leave SCSI devices I'm not using turned OFF? 016- Is there a generic SCSI tutorial available for downloading? 017- What is the correct time-out setting for a Focus hard drive? 018- How do I modify my Apple HSS card to supply Termination Power? 019- Can I get a Focus drive bigger than a couple hundred MB? 020- My hard disk is on a CMS SCSI. How do I install System 6.0.1? csa2HDWHACK: Miscellaneous Hardware projects and hacking 001- What's a good hardware project book for the Apple IIe? 002- How can I use a thermistor to read temperature on my A2? 003- Will a prototyping Slot Board fit all Apple II's with Slots? 004- What is the pin-out for the Apple II series Slots? 005- I've been getting Fatal System Error 0911. Is there a fix? 006- Why does my GS Control Panel keep resetting to the defaults? 007- How do I replace my GS "BatRAM" battery? 008- Is there a program to record/restore Control Panel settings? 009- How I can safely clean out dust from my Apple II? 010- How can I safely remove oxidation from IC pins? 011- After smoke came from my GS the KB doesn't work. What's wrong? 012- What is the mini circuit board near the front of my GS for? 013- How do I add memory to my 1MB Apple IIgs Memory Expansion Card? 014- How can I move my IIgs to a PC tower case? 015- How can I convert a IIgs into a portable IIgs? 016- Where can I get Robot kits to use with my Apple II? 017: Where can I get the chips to expand memory on my AE GS-RAM III? 018- What is a TrackStar? Does it need special software? 019- Could someone please post a resistor color code chart? csa2HISTORY: Apple History, Chronicles, Woz, Apple II documents, ... 001- Where can I find an in-depth history of the Apple II? 002- What happened in the final years of the Computer Wars? 003- How did Woz invent the Apple computer? 004- What did the first Apple ads look like? csa2KBPADJS: Input peripherals such as Keyboards, joysticks, mouses 001- How do I do the Shift Key Mod? 002- What's a "VIDEX" board? 003- I need a GS ADB keyboard cable! Where can I get one? 004- How can I make a PC-to-Apple Joystick converter? 005- How can I do an Apple-to-PC Joystick conversion? 006- What are the dip-switch settings for the "BITMOUSE" card? 007- How can I switch my IIe keyboard layout to Dvorak? 008- What keyboards work as replacements for a GS keyboard? 009- What is a Koala Pad and how do I test it? 010- Can I convert a C-64 Koala Pad to work on my Apple II? 011- How do I make the internal cable for a IIe numeric keypad? 012- Is there a cable or card which lets you connect two joysticks? 013- How do I write programs for the Apple Graphics Tablet? 014- Why does my ][+ KB act like the CTRL key is always pressed? 015- How do I write programs which use the mouse? 016- Why does my IIe keyboard keep repeating characters? 017- How do I read the joystick on a GS in native mode? 018- Is a Y-adapter available for my GS keyboard? 019- How do you use the Kensington TurboMouse with a IIgs? 020- How do I clean my mouse? 021- What is the best kind of mouse pad? 022- How do I clean my keyboard? 023- Is there a fix for a bad trigger on my Flight Stick? csa2MONITOR: Display monitors 001- How can I fix an unstable display? 002- I'm using a TV + IIc RF module. How can I improve the display? 003- What monitor repair Safety precautions are recommended? 004- How do I discharge the High Voltage anode? 005- How do I open my RGB monitor's case and get set for repairs? 006- What tools and solder should I use for repairs? 007- What's the fix for a flickering, Jumping, display? 008- How can I fix an all-red, all-blue, etc. monitor display? 009- Is there any more RGB Adjustments info? 010- How do I adjust Centering on my GS RGB color monitor? 011- How do I adjust Focus & Intensity on a blurry GS RGB Monitor? 012- What is a replacement for the RGB "flyback" power transistor? 013- How do I fix sporatic Shrinking and Flicking in-out of Focus? 014- How do I fix a serious case of shimmy on my GS monitor? 015- Will the Amiga 1084 monitor work on my GS? 016- What is the pinout for Commodore's 1084s monitor? 017- What is a "composite video monitor"? 018- Why doesn't hires look as good on my GS RGB monitor? 019- How can I to do the "Color Killer Mod" on a //e? 020- My A2 display doesn't work with a "TV/Game Switch". How come? 021- Can I use a color TV with my IIc+? 022- What is the IIc+ video pin configuration? 023- Where can I buy a replacement RGB monitor for my GS? 024- What kind of RGB monitors will work with a IIc? 025- Can I replace my GS RGB monitor with one from a PC? 026- What are the specs and pin-out for the GS RGB monitor? 027- Do I need monochrome monitor to get a clear 80-col display? 028- Is there a high-quality replacement for RGB monitors? 029- Can I use a GS RGB monitor with my IIc? 030- Why does a composite monitor I added show a fuzzy dim display? 031- Is my SecondSight board the cause of increased system crashes? 032- Why do Inwords and PublishIt bomb on my SecondSight board? 033- How many dots are actually sent to the GS monitor per line? csa2POWER: Apple II power, power supplies, and cooling 001- What's the pin-out and load specs for the IIgs Power Supply? 002- Are the power supplies for the ][+ and IIe interchangeable? 003- What are the output capabilities of GS and IIe power supplies? 004- Can I use a 'generic' surplus power supply in my Apple II? 005- How do fatter leads reduce noise on the +5V & +12V lines? 006- Is there any more that can be done to eliminate glitches? 007- Is there a power supply upgrade kit for the Apple IIgs? 008- What kind of internal fan can I install in an Apple IIgs? 009- Why do so few GS power supplies have a fan installed? 010- Some of our classroom IIe's don't work at all. Is there a fix? 011- What are some good Apple II power supply fix tries? 012- Why does my Apple IIe fail to turn on?! 013- What does a rapid chirping noise on a GS power supply mean? 014- How do I fix a nearly dead GS power supply? 015- What is a "Buggie Power Supply"? 016- Do I need the metal shielding in my GS case? 017- My System Saver IIgs has gotten very noisy. How can I fix it? 018- My System Saver IIgs panel feels springy? Is there a problem? csa2PRINTER: Printers and printer interfaces 001- What is the pin-out for a GS to ImageWriter I cable? 002- What are the DIP switch settings for IW-II and IW-LQ printers? 003- How do I do the ImageWriter-LQ alignment test? 004- Can I use a 'straight-through' cable to connect my IW-II? 005- My ImageWriter II doesn't print! What's wrong? 006- How can I keep paper from jamming in my Imagewriter II? 007- The bottoms of letters don't get printed. How can I fix this? 008- What is the 'trick' for restoring a printer ribbon? 009- How do I connect a "Centronics interface" printer to my Apple? 010- Where can I get a Grappler+ cable? What is the pin-out? 011- What are the DIP switches on my Grappler+ for? 012- What printers will the Harmonie drivers work with on my GS? 013- What's the best GS interface for connecting a parallel printer? 014- How can I use my Epson Color Stylus 800 with my IIgs? csa2SOUND: Sound, sound boards, and sound software 001- How does the GS produce so many simultaneous sounds? 002- Is there a way to output quadraphonic sound on a IIgs? 003- Do I get Stereo from my IIgs Sound Output jack? 004- Why should I add a stereo board to my GS? 005- How can I build my own GS stereo board? 006- How can I transfer sound files created on a Mac to my GS? 007- How do I program a Phasor Sound Card? 008- What is required to build a Sound Input board for my IIgs? 009- What's what re. MockingBoard hardware and programming? 010- How do I get my MockingBoard to work on my GS? 011- How do I play Ultima IV/V with MockingBoard sound on my GS? 012- How can I get 'regular Apple sound' to play through MB outputs? 013- What GS programs will let me play MIDI files? 014- Would FExt.NDA let you play thru Synthinit? 015- Can I play .WAV files on my GS? 016- What formats are used for audio files? 017- How do I use my Echo speech synthesizer to produce speech? 018- What types of sound files are used on the GS? 019- Where can I find more info on cards, editing, digitizing, ...? 020- What is "old Apple" sound and how is it produced? 021- What is a good source for .WAV and .BNK files? 022- How can I get more System Sounds for my GS? 023- How can I run Music Studio 2.0 from hard disk? csa2T1TCOM: Telecom- hardware and transfers 001- How do I transfer files between my Apple and a PC or Mac? 002- How do I transfer/convert my A2 word processor files to a PC? 003- How do I transfer Apple II disks between Apple2 and PC? 004- How do I transfer files between computers using NULL modem? 005- How do I NULL-modem Text files without getting garbage? 006- How do I make a "NULL Modem" cable? 007- What is the maximum length for a NULL modem connection? 008- I have a Super Serial Card. What cable should I use? 009- How do I make a GS hardware handshake High-Speed modem cable? 010- What is the fastest modem I can use on an Apple IIe? 011- Does what applies to the IIe also apply to the //c and IIgs? 012- What telecom programs run on Apple II computers? 013- What are the settings for the Apple Super Serial Card? 014- What are the Serial Pro card's dip switch settings? 015- What are the settings for an Apple Serial Interface Card? 016- How do I make an Apple 5-pin serial interface-to-DB9 cable? 017- What cable do I need to connect a modem to my IIc? 018- How can I connect a modem with a DB-9 socket to my IIgs? 019- What is the maximum modemming speed I can get from my IIgs? 020- How can I transfer files from PC to GS using Zip disks? 021- How do I get an Applesoft program into a PC-DOS computer? csa2T2TCOM: Telecom- downloading and uploading 001- What's the easiest way to download files from Apple II sites? 002- What is a good setup for moving files between computers? 003- Are there download files I should process on the PC (or Mac)? 004- How do I upload files? 005- What kinds of files should I upload to which sites? 006- How can I read & send email and newsgroup msgs with my A2? 007- With a fast modem, how can the IIe connect to the internet? 008- I'm running the Lynx web browser. Where do I put the URL? 009- How do I download an .SHK file through Lynx? 010- Can I send and receive FAXes using my Apple II? 011- What is a "Binary II" header? 012- Should I add a Binary II header to files I upload? 013- What is a "binscii" file and how are they used? 014- What are .SHK files and how do I use them? 015- Can I create .ZIP files on my Apple II? 016- What are DSK "disk image" files and how do I use them? 017- Where can I get ShrinkIt, binscii, DSK2FILE, ASIMOV, etc.? 018- I have downloaded files in "gz" format? How do I use them? 019- ShrinkIt downloaded as a TXT file. How can I use it? 020- Which programs can change ProDOS filetype? 021- How can I move A2 programs to Quick BASIC on my PC? 022- What do the popular file name extensions mean? 023- How do I tell what kind of file this is? csa2ZIPTF: Zip Drive, Tape, Flopticals, SCSI, and interfaces 001- What is a "Zip drive"? 002- What is a "Zip disk"? 003- What do I need in order to use a Zip drive? 004- What kind of SCSI interface card do I need? 005- How do I install a Zip drive? 006- How do I get started using the Zip drive? 007- How does Zip Drive speed compare with a hard disk's speed? 008- Can I mount Zip disks formatted on Macintosh on my IIgs? 009- Will forgetting to set the termination switch cause damage? 010- How does Zip Drive perform with an Apple HS SCSI card? 011- Is a CMS SCSI card adequate for connecting a Zip drive? 012- Which SCSI interface works best with a Zip Drive? 013- Will I be able to format and partition a Zip disk? 014- Should I let the Finder handle formatting of new Zip disks? 015- Can I format a Zip disk for HFS? 016- The disk in my Zip Drive is not recognized. How come? 017- I added SCSI; now, my 3.5" drives often fail to work. Why? 018- Why do I get this "Ramfast/SCSI is searching SCSI bus" msg? 019- What's a good utility for doing tape backups on the GS? 020- What's needed to add a SCSI Tape backup unit? 021- What about tape backup on a IIe? 022- Does Apple's Hi-Speed SCSI card allow swapping Zip disks? 023- What can I do after the Zip on my Apple SCSI "sleeps"? 024- What is the "Click of Death" reported by some Zip drive users? Csa2 FAQs Resources File Description Referenced From ___________________________________________________________________ R001A2AD.HTM html text of 1977 A2 ad csa2HISTORY JAW R002A2ADPIC.JPG JPEG picture of 1977 ad csa2HISTORY JAW R003A2ADPIC.GIF GIF picture of 1977 ad csa2HISTORY JAW R004STEREO.GIF GS Stereo Card Diagram csa2SOUND JH R005SPLITC.GIF ZipGSx Split Cache Mod pic csa2ACCEL JH R006SPDKNOB.GIF Disk ][ Speed Knob pic csa2FDISK JH R007BATRAMM.SHK BatRAM Save/Restore program csa2HDWHACK JH R008SCSITUT.TXT Generic SCSI Tutorial csa2HDNSCSI DLM R009HSSTMOD.GIF Apple HS SCSI Term Pwr Mod csa2HDNSCSI DB&HH R010APPLE1.GIF GIF picture of the Apple I csa2HISTORY CTT R011SNDFMTS.TXT Audio File Formats Guide csa2SOUND DH R012ECHO.TXT Echo Speech Mini-Manual csa2SOUND unk R013PHASOR.TXT Phasor Snd Card Mini-Manual csa2SOUND CTT R014CDROMIN.TXT CDROM drives, products info csa2CDROM SCD R015SNDNMUS.TXT Apple II Sound & Music info csa2SOUND IS R016V1HIST.TXT Apple II History, Volume I csa2HISTORY SW R017V2HIST.TXT Apple II History, Volume II csa2HISTORY SW R018V3HIST.TXT Apple II History, Volume III csa2HISTORY SW R019V4HIST.TXT Apple II History, Volume IV csa2HISTORY SW R020V5HIST.TXT Apple II History, Volume V csa2HISTORY SW R021V6HIST.TXT Apple II History, Volume VI csa2HISTORY SW R022TRKSTAR.TXT TrackStar Q & A csa2HDWHACK BW BW: Bill Whitson CTT: Charles T. Turley DB: Dan Brown DLM: Daniel L. Miller DH: Dave Huizing HH: Harold Hislop IS: Ian Schmidt JAW: Jason A. Wells JH: Jeff Hurlburt SCD: Stephen C. Davidson SW: Steven Weyhrich unk: unknown