Great video, I still regret ever having sold my Apple II plus which was my first computer in 1979, now I have a number of vintage Mac’s but would love to get my hands on an Apple II but they are really expensive nowadays. The Apple II plus got me into computing as a hobby and was the basis of my career in computers and control systems. Now I’m retired but are still fiddling around with vintage and new computers. Your video brought back great memories.

Note that the Mac didn't get a SCSI controller until the Macintosh Plus. The original Macintosh, the Macintosh 512k, and the Macintosh 512ke only had floppy drives. And while they used 3.5" drives, the controller hardware was essentially the same as Woz's original Disk ][ controller (although running at double the speed). It was shrunk down into a single integrated circuit, the IWM (Integrated Woz Machine), which was also used in the Apple IIc, Apple IIc+, and Apple IIGS.

@RetronautTech

18 күн бұрын

Thanks for the clarification. This is an area of the Apple II Im a but vague on. I have heard that the II can also have a SCSI drive attached, or would be be SASI? Again is COSTs a lot to get something like this these day, also those drives are now defunct and mainly wont work. So I guess thats why most use BlueSCSI, but would that work with such old SCSI cards? Would be interesting to find out. If someone had an SCSI card, not used, Id be happy to try it.

@tim1724

18 күн бұрын

@@RetronautTech there were several SCSI cards available. Apple made two: the “Apple II SCSI Card” (any Apple II that runs ProDOS, modern clones are available) and the “Apple II High Speed SCSI Card” (IIe and IIGS only). (The latter has DMA support and is what I have in my IIGS.) There were several third party cards. The RAMFast (IIe and IIGS) was the best of them (in some ways better than Apple’s card, although it’s a toss-up). Definitely the fastest SCSI card. CMS made several cards (work on anything that runs ProDOS) but they have several quirks, such as using non-standard partitioning (the other cards all use the Apple Partition Map from the Macintosh) I think there were a few other early SCSI (possibly SASI) cards but I don’t recall their names. They were before my time. As a kid I originally had a Conner 40 MB drive. It died after about two years so I upgraded to a 270 MB Quantum drive. The 270 MB drive still works, but it has a number of unreadable blocks so I imaged it years ago and no longer use it. Instead I use a SCSI2SD. I’d probably go with BlueSCSI now, but it wasn’t yet available when I needed a hard drive replacement. Generally any device that works with the Macintosh Plus SCSI port also works with any of the Apple II cards. There were several IDE cards back in the day. They’re useful today because you can connect a CompactFlash card to them with a simple adapter. (CF cards have an IDE-compatible interface.) Modern versions of these (such as the MicroDrive/Turbo card) tend to have a CompactFlash slot in place of the IDE connector. Nowadays we also have other modern mass storage options such as CFFA3000 and Booti cards. On the IIc and IIGS it can be convenient to use SmartPort-based mass storage such as FloppyEmu or wDrive. (Really the only options for the IIc.) These plug into the floppy port and use the same SmartPort protocol as the UniDisk 3.5" floppy (and a very rare third-party hard drive sold for the IIc in the late 80s.) They’re slower than the other options but easy and cheap. A IIe can use these via the Liron card (Apple’s controller card for the UniDisk 3.5 drive) or the modern Yellowstone card. A II+ or IIe can also use these with the combination of a 5.25" floppy controller and a softSP card to supply the SmartPort firmware.

26:36, the missing memory chip is on the language card. The language card adds 16K, to max RAM to 64K. This ram was designed to be used with loading integer basic as "ROM" in the II+. A cable attaches the card to the missing chip's socket. This connected the CAS lines. The Apple IIgs could have been the best Apple II, but they hobbled it so it would not compete against the New MacIntosh

@RetronautTech

17 күн бұрын

Yes, the Language card is an odd one eh? A more a fix for getting languages in "ROM" than anything else, though the extra 16k is very useful of course, even if NOT used for loading another language into. I agree about the IIgs, I need to do a dedicated video on it. Im talking about in the next video in this series, though not super in depth. It does seem to have suffered from 3rd child syndrome. But we'll discuss all this in its own dedicated video, it certainly deserves it!

This was really informative. Thank you for all the effort you have put in 👍🏻 Your channel deserves to grow.

@RetronautTech

17 күн бұрын

Thanks a lot, and hopefully it shall. I have had these machines for 3+ years, and I always wanted to make a video on them. Finally got to do it. This is just an overview, I need to return to each machine in time, and show the cards and other bits and bobs I have for them. Of all the machines, my IIgs is the sadest, I dont have the original keyboard, or monitor. Both are REALLY hard to come across in the UK.

@ebridgewater

17 күн бұрын

@@RetronautTech You are not wrong. Covering early Apple hardware in the UK is difficult and expensive.

I loved my Apple IIe back in the day... I didn't realize retail price was that high, I thought they comically had charged $666 for the machine as a joke. But my patents were both teachers and they were able to snag a IIe with monitor, duodisk, and an Epson Spectrum LX-80 for what my father had said was about 50% of retail as a bundle ("An Apple for the teacher" deal.) It's the only way we could have afforded the computer back then.

@RetronautTech

15 күн бұрын

Yes, I understand they had MAJOR promotions ongoing to get the Apple into schools and colleges. And it worked! But yeah, they were REALLY quite premium without that. Put it into context, in the UK, THE big breakthrough in micros was the ZX Spectrum, sold at £125. I was a "rich kid" when I got a Commodore 64 at £200 (I traded my way up to it...). So the idea that anyone who came from my home town could afford to pay £1300 was laughable. But there we are. It WAS to be fair, a pretty well made machine, the power supply was pretty pro, and the slots and all of those socketed chips in the original II and II+ was expensive. But, over the years with integration, I think Apple and should have dropped the priced. Especially as the 16-bit machines came on the market.

The language card didn't have Pascal in ROM. Apple Pascal was only ever distributed on floppy disk (as the Disk ][ very quickly became standard pretty much required for any serious use with a year or two of its release). Apple's Pascal was integrated into its own operating system (including its own filesystem, incompatible with Apple DOS) and when booted it loaded into the 16k of RAM on the language card. The ROM on the card was the F8 autostart ROM, which when installed in the original Apple ][ gave it the ability to automatically boot from the disk drive when you turned on the machine. (With the original ROM you instead had to manually enter the command to redirect I/O to the controller card, thus causing it to boot.) Later they started putting the autostart ROM on the motherboard (along with the Applesoft ROM on the ][+). At that point the ROM on the language card became completely redundant. Microsoft sold a cheaper clone of the language card with no ROM (the "Microsoft RAMCard") for Apple ][+ (or for Apple ][ machines that had had the autostart ROM installed on the motherboard). In addition to allowing one to run Pascal, the Language Card (or clones, such as the Microsoft RAMCard) also allowed you to load Integer BASIC into RAM (on an Applesoft machine) or to load the ROM version of Applesoft BASIC into RAM on an Integer BASIC machine (important because the earlier version of Applesoft was lacking features). Some CP/M cards (such as Microsoft SoftCard) could also make use of the extra RAM on the language card. It was also a required to allow the Apple ][+ run the ProDOS operating system, which required 64KB of RAM.

@RetronautTech

18 күн бұрын

I did understand the above at some point, but I believe it was AFTER I had recorded that audio. Bugger, but you have set the record straight. I never owned a Language card, as I had only IIe onward Apple II's, and I 'm not really into running BASIC or PASCAL etc. I never liked basic much, moved on to Assembly (6510) on my Commodore 64, back in the day, as I wanted to code games, and BASIC was deficient for that really, in that it ran to slow to do smooth sprite movement, could not do smooth scrolling etc.

@26:40 the missing RAM chip is because the language card would have been connected there (to pick up some signals not available on the slots). The RAM chip would be moved to an empty socket on the card.

@RetronautTech

18 күн бұрын

Very interesting, glad I mentioned it now.

Nobody tell him about the platinum IIe with the number pad, keep the secret intact...

@RetronautTech

15 күн бұрын

Chapter 3 is now out. Featuring, guess what?

I had a "black apple2+" acquired in June 1980 as it was called because the case was black and not off white. The inside was a totally normal Apple 2+ so it worked with all expansion cards. I was told they only made about 10000 such units. I started with 48k, 1 floppy drive, display on a 9" security monitor. I added a language card, lower case ROM, parallel card to use with an epson mx80 clone, 1200 baud modem modem card, 80 volume card, 2nd disk drive, and z80 cpm card and a 12" composite amber display. Sadly (as I know in 2024) the RIFA capacitors exploded in 1985 destroying the motherboard and most of the expansion cards.

@RetronautTech

13 күн бұрын

Well, I hesitated to tick this comment. Man, that story has a bad end to it. That setup must have cost you a fortune? I've not actually serviced my Apple IIe PSU. Maybe I should give it a look at soon!

@larryk731

13 күн бұрын

@RetronautTech It was but (thankfully because my parents covered the expense totally) I was oblivious to the cost - Afterwards I got an 8MHZ IBM PC clone and added a math coprocessor, vga card and "large" 15" display when available, a 20mb hardcard (2 full size 5.25" fdd so no room elsewhere) and eventually a 1.44mb 3.5" fdd to replace a 5.25 " drive. Lasted up to the early 90s when I replaced it because it worked but wad too slow.

2e my 1st computer purchase. The 3rd system programmed on.

Great video! Btw, you can get an HDMI video card for the Apple II and IIe. Thanks for sharing

@RetronautTech

19 күн бұрын

Yes, I have one. Bought originally for my Apple IIe, its currently installed in my IIgs. Looks like Ill need to get another card soon so both can have HDMI, and then somehow also get the IIc working as well. However, I have a Retrotink 5x now, so I guess that can get it working on a HDMI screen, maybe...

I am not going to wait till my Apple IIe or Apple II+ reach the one million Dollars mark on eBay.

@RetronautTech

17 күн бұрын

So, your going to sell them now, or clutch them to your bosom, like old friends?

@vanhetgoor

17 күн бұрын

@@RetronautTech Selling them would feel so cheap. But you never know how the civilisation will develop. The ancient Egyptians were able to poor stones into a building blocks on the spot. The Romans had drinking glasses with two different colours seen from different angles. They also had glass that could be bent. Maybe in a few hundred years the Apple II technology is vital for mankind. Only THEN I will sell.

@RetronautTech

17 күн бұрын

@@vanhetgoor Sounds like a plan, its a VERY daring retirement strategy :) But honestly, there is no shame in selling a retro pute. At some point I wont be able to get good use out of mine, at which point I shall release them to a fresh new custodian.

Bit of feedback. It is hard to read the trivia at the bottom and also concentrate on what you are saying.

@RetronautTech

17 күн бұрын

Its a quandary, I understand, but there is the pause button if you have not quite got it? I often add these in edit, as a way of clarifying that is not clear enough when I watch it back. Or to add more info, especially where its a bit more about dates, or tech. I I could leave these out, but I think for those that can take the time to read them, they are of benefit. So maybe Ill leave them in.

@ebridgewater

17 күн бұрын

@@RetronautTech I use a computer to watch your videos, so I am happy using spacebar to pause. But then I often have to reverse the video back five seconds so I can catch back up on what you are saying in the video. It's a tough one - I'm not sure on the best solution. The notations remind me of Pop Up Video from CH4 in the late 90s 😁