Tonyvdb Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 (edited) Hey everyone, I just picked up an old Apple IIGS and looking to get back into using the old games. I grew up in Jr High - High school using the Apple IIe an owned one for a while as a kid. The GS is new to me so I'm going to need some help with what it can do. I have only just picked it up and cleaned it up. I do not have a mouse for it, will an Amiga mouse work? A little more about me, I own two Amigas: a 4000d that I've put in a tower along with a Video Toaster Flyer video system that still works. I also have an Amiga 2000 that I use mostly for classic games that my kids like to play. Edited February 28, 2016 by Tonyvdb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Get a Macintosh mouse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyvdb Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Ok thanks, Im assuming I can use any CRT TV monitor with this? I just have the original monochrome monitor. There are no cards or anything under the hood of this machine Im assuming I can get a hard drive or SSD drive in it? Extra ram or other useful things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 The IIGS HAD A LOT of potential! Its sad that games like Elite, Frontier: Elite 2, Alien Syndrome, Turrican 1 and 2, and Maniac Mansion never had ports for the IIGS. At least thexder and Another world got in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSG Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Cool Deal. I doubt you're gonna get any type of HDD in it. Start saving up for a SD card reader device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david__schmidt Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Im assuming I can use any CRT TV monitor with this? I just have the original monochrome monitor. Yes, any TV with video-in, aka composite (not component) will work. You know, the yellow RCA plug. There are no cards or anything under the hood of this machine Im assuming I can get a hard drive or SSD drive in it? Extra ram or other useful things? Turn it on and look at the copyright message and stuff at the bottom of the screen. Does it say ROM 01 or ROM 03? Or does it make no mention of ROM whatsoever (and so ROM 00)? That will have a bearing on whether or not you should be looking for more RAM or not. ROM 03 = about 1MB, enough to run most normal stuff. ROM 01 = about 256KB, not enough to usefully run GSOS without expansion. ROM 00 = look for a ROM 01 chip. About the mouse - you will need an Apple ADB mouse, specifically. The kind that Apple used before USB was a thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyvdb Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 (edited) Thanks guys, it has rom 0.1 So some memory is going to be a good idea I guess. How does a small LCD tv look or should I stick with the 13" Sony trinitron that I have kicking around. Edited February 29, 2016 by Tonyvdb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonnik Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 (edited) 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" ... Edited February 29, 2016 by sonnik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyvdb Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 The CFFA3000 looks interesting, A bit pricey.... If I get a 3.5" drive can I use those disk images and transfer them from my PC over to my Amiga (that reads the 880k disks) and then use thos on the Apple or is the formatting on the disks different on the Apple vs the Amiga? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Another case where the IIgs does what the Mac does (I don't know if Amigas' floppy controllers are flexible enough to read 800K Mac/IIgs disks?). There's ways, though - like ADTpro - to get stuff over. Also, qkumba and I have ported a number of 8-bit programs to run on ProDOS which would allow one to slap a bunch of them on a 3.5" disk or a hard drive or flash card rather than keep a stack of 5.25" floppies around. Most 16-bit stuff is a bit more hard drive friendly to begin with, so that's less of an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I love the Apple IIgs, but I have to be real about it. You should think of it as an enhanced 8-bit, or you'll end up hating it for being a gimped 16-bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyvdb Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Im really just interested in the older 8bit games like Hard hat mac, Cannonball blitz, BC quest for tires, Beyond Castle wolf....and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I love the Apple IIgs, but I have to be real about it. You should think of it as an enhanced 8-bit, or you'll end up hating it for being a gimped 16-bit. Thats true mostly for the individual channels for sound, but the Graphics are definately 16-bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I don't know if Amigas' floppy controllers are flexible enough to read 800K Mac/IIgs disks? Nope. Although, fun sidebar: The guy who wrote AMax, (Mac emulator on the Amiga) found a way to get the Amiga to read a portion of it kind of. So you created these transfer disks than held something like 200k or so. And both the Mac and Amiga (running AMax) could read those. For this tho, I'd agree with using ADTPro.. desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyvdb Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Thanks guys, ADTpro it is I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Just realized there is another option. If you happen to have a Kryoflux (I know, not likely, but they are really nice. I have one myself, but use it mostly for Amiga stuff.), it supports the Apple formats... So you should be able to create / download disk images and write them to a real floppy using the Kryoflux. Probably not worth the cost just for that functionality, but... desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbullet Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I wanted one since they came out back in '86. Finally bought one and 2 3.5" and 5.25" floppies for it. Bought a mac monitor for it but the video signal on the IIGS is different. So I got an orginal GS monitor. My system would not read or recognize the 3.5" floppies. But my Mac classic did. I had to replace a chip on the main board board since my socket for it was cracked. Got it working perfectly. Make sure you replace any leaking electronic caps and for sure, cut that battery off the board and replace it with one that you can replace. I've seen too many IIGS's ruined with battery leakage. Look at getting a CFAA3000. they are great. I also upgraded my RAM to 4 megs. Now just to get a Applied Engineering Phazor sound card for it. ADTPRO is prefect for transferring images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 The IIgs is half-assed through and through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 Nope. Although, fun sidebar: The guy who wrote AMax, (Mac emulator on the Amiga) found a way to get the Amiga to read a portion of it kind of. So you created these transfer disks than held something like 200k or so. And both the Mac and Amiga (running AMax) could read those. For this tho, I'd agree with using ADTPro.. desiv I believe Mac 800k disks are variable speed like the 400k disks. CrossMAC can read and write Mac HD disks (1.44MB), CD-ROM, hard drives, and Zip disks. I have read CD-ROMs, HD floppies, and Zip disks on my system. Now, where to find CrossMAC is a different question altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I believe Mac 800k disks are variable speed like the 400k disks. they is, its mostly the same drive just a question of single sided vs double sided Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark68 Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 (edited) I've had a II GS since it first came out. Neat computer, but interestingly most of the games I enjoy(ed) playing were the older Apple II games like Wings of Fury, GI Joe, Lode Runner, most of the Infocom games... I had Silpheed and Thexder which were fun but I could never even beat the 2nd stage of the Last Ninja. Really tough! Edited June 2, 2016 by Skylark68 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 (edited) The //e section of the IIgs is very good. A near exact replica of the original //e. And incidentally, nearly all the games I played were on that. The IIgs side was reserved for some business and sound stuff. Edited June 2, 2016 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iKarith Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 One thing you can investigate in the near term if you haven't got any sort of mass storage device for the IIgs is AppleTalk via A2SERVER. This requires something running Linux, in particular Debian or Raspbian wheezy or jessie at this point. (I intend to change that a little further down the line but that's where it stands right now.) A2SERVER is essentially a netatalk 2 based package with some glue to make it friendly with the Apple //e and IIgs. If you have some RAM in the machine (I recommend more a little more than 2MB as I got out of memory $0201 errors trying to use it with exactly 2MB unless I kept the OS fairly barebones), you can have a pretty decent GS/OS 6.0.1 or 6.0.3 setup. The companion to A2SERVER is A2CLOUD. IvanX and I are working on getting that ready for a major update at KansasFest next month. It's not yet ready for Debian jessie is the major problem we aim to solve. If you try to use the canned Raspbian-based image, disconnect the Raspberry Pi from the network during installation so it doesn't install jessie on you. It also doesn't work right on the Raspberry Pi 3 yet as a result. Next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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