sonnik

For those looking for a decent transition from Applesoft to Assembly, I recommend the Assembler/Macrosoft from Nibble. For about $25, Mike Harvey will send you the manuals in PDF form along with the appropriate disk image files. I like this one as Macrosoft itself is pretty close to Applesoft (most macros named after their Applesoft counterparts, and follow the format of FUNCTION(parameter1, parameter2).) You can use the Applesoft-like functions for input/output, and then you can really do some fine detail using pure assembly.

I'm another happy user of GGLABS RAMGS. I think he put out a new version earlier this year (which has a much more compact profile), which is what you may be waiting on.

For clarification's sake, in the case of the Apple IIGS - this looks like a legitimate rate for USPS. I'm sure the weight of the monitor is the killer here. In the case of a Neo-Geo, yeah, $700 is outrageous. I doubt UPS and FedEx are much better, even on their most basic of shipping options. EDIT: I stand corrected, I just saw a stand-alone monitor shipping via Fedex for $24 cross-country. Maybe it's a size of the box thing. I know that when I've tried to ship stuff, I'm always a little taken aback by outrageous shipping fees.

I only have rhetorical information. I had content on 5 1/4" floppies in a closet for just shy of 30 years. I then brought an Apple IIGS out of retirement, and essentially all worked fine. I had a few that didn't work - and these were only things like "Side 2" of a disk - and I can't even be sure that these didn't have problems before I put them into the box. While all things decay over time, my experience has been that content on a 5 1/4" floppy outlived data I had on CD-ROMs from the late 90's. (Sadly, I found this while trying to play some old Arcade ROMS). I think if you don't put the media through extremes (temperature, humidity, near odd magnetic sources) - the disks will function well for a long time. Even though these are old (but sealed) disks, it's a matter of how long the bits live in the desired arrangement. So there's nothing to say these won't live for a good few decades if you treat them well.

That's what he meant.

I always was a fan of Epyx's Impossible Mission II on the Apple IIGS (16-bit). I believe there was an 8-bit version for the Apple II as well. IM2 offered dynamically rendered towers (levels) - check out the Wikipedia article for more info and Google Images for screenshots. Note, you'll want a working joystick for many of these games. You can find a "RetroConnector Joystick" on Tindie, which I use to make present-day generic USB joypads/joysticks compatible with Apple IIs. I own one of these, it's saving me wear and tear on the older authenic Apple II joystick that seems to work better with older Apple II Games. As Bill references, there are a couple of compact Flash adapters available for the Apple IIGS which act as virtual floppy drives or hard drives. I own a "CFFA3000" (which is not currently in stock or in production, but you can contact Rick - the producer of this item to express interest in another manufacturing run). I also own a "Floppy EMU" - this is also a nice option, but I prefer the CFFA3000 for a few reasons. http://gglabs.us/- produces some memory and video products for the Apple IIGS. I picked up both the 4Meg RAM option (pretty substantial for an Apple IIGS), and the RGB / Component video adapter. I also built my own GBS-82x0 (GBS-8200/GBS-8220) video adapter to make the Apple IIGS work with present day LCD flat screens. This is my preferred video option currently. Check out http://apple2online.com/index.php?p=1_70_inCider-Magazine- to read through some old InCider magazines if you'd like to get an idea of games of the day. Most Apple IIGS coverage didn't pick up until late 1986 or 1987. If you'd like to invest a little more, I encourage spending $100 in the entire run of Nibble magazine on DVD ROM.

That is actually the DB15 breakout that I used, and it works very well.

Yes. You can also use P11 on the GBS-82x0 board, but you'll need the DB-15 side connector still. The GBS-82x0 side of the P11 connection (including wires) should be provided with the GBS-82x0 assembly. DB15 -> P11 input (GBS-82x0) 2 -> Red (Red Input) 3 -> Gray (Composite Sync) 5 -> Green (Green Input) 13 -> Black (Blue Ground which acts as a common ground to Red/Green/Blue) 9 -> Blue (Blue Input) Yellow is not needed on the P11 input

Note, I'm not an advocate of the "solder a jumper" on the motherboard method here. If you can wire up your own DB15 connector breakout, that's a better solution. DB15 -> VGA 2 -> 1 (Red Analog) 5 -> 2 (Green Analog) 9 -> 3 (Blue Analog) 1 -> 6 (Blue Ground) 7 -> 7 (Green Ground) 13 -> 8 (Blue Ground) 3 -> 13 (Composite Sync)

Yes. This is the solution I use. Do a Google search for "Apple IIGS GBS-8220".

After David's suggestions - look into ADTPro (I recommend buying the suggested cables) to get some images off of the internet. You'll need blank media of course. There are also other options out there that use (Compact) Flash memory to emulate the floppy disk images and/or hard drive images. Floppy Emu and CFFA3000 are two options for images via Flash memory; CFFA has a limited availability - supplies are running out! (As of 3/4). Uthernet is also a modern-day device to provide ethernet to the IIGS. If you can't get the original RGB (or compatible monitor) - there are solutions for conversion to modern day LCD.

If you use the composite in - it will not be as sharp as the original RGB output for the Apple IIGS. An easy workaround may be obtaining a GBS-8200 or GBS-8220 (there multiple "company names" that assemble these kits fabricated in China). Google for the terms "apple iigs gbs-8220" and you'll find a number of articles. This takes the RGB output from the Apple IIGS and converts it to a VGA signal, which provides a much enhanced video output. For me, I took a DB-15 breakout board, and pinned this breakout board directly to the GBS-8220, which is pretty easy. Some people solder a jumper directly on the motherboard, but this is not needed with an adapter that you may be able to wire up yourself. Let me know if you're interested in this approach, and I can attach a photo of the assembly I am using. Also, another tip: You may want to look into a CFFA3000 - which allows you to emulate disk images (those downloadable from the Internet, including hard drive images). These are produced in a limited run - and I think Rick is running out of inventory. Do a Google search for "CFFA3000" ...

Hopefully - if I'm right - it's a simple repair if you can get into the power supply. Perhaps it's just a loose terminal connection.

Note, I'm not familiar with the Apple IIe power supply, but it sounds to me like the female side of the power cord is having an issue. Here's an image of what this may look like ... http://img.everychina.com/pic/29290810-300x300-0/ac_power_connector_rectangular_i_o_connectors_acf_pq4pa_03_ac_solder_male_03p.jpg If you have replaced the cord, and the issue happens as you approach the computer - the slight vibration on the desk/floor may be enough to trigger a reboot because of a loose connection on the power-supply side. It may not be a matter of the cord being "snug" - but more of a matter of it applying force to the female side of the connection at the right angle. If the cord is drooping low, try using some tape temporarily to push it left, right, up or down. If you get more reliability with these methods, you know it may be time to open the power-supply to see what's going on in there.