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Warnings about File Attachments - Please Read!
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deepthaw
Message added by deepthaw

I ordered the serial cables and usb <-> serial adapter I need for ADTPro, but in the meantime I'm using two audio cables to my Raspberry Pi. I had an old USB sound card of the generic variety, but it's working for the microphone jack on the Pi. For whatever reason, the speaker port on the USB card doesn't work for ADTPro, but the port on the Pi itself does, so go figure.

 

I've transferred over Ultima 1 and given it a test spin. Worked fine. In the process of copying over Wizardry 1, followed by a diagnostics disk. Need to invest in a good old fashioned hole punch to make these disks double-sided. 5.25's aren't cheap nowadays and I'm going to quickly need more than 10.

deepthaw
Message added by deepthaw

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Serial cable & USB adapter came in as well as a joystick. Serial cables worked plug-and-play with the Pi, and joystick works fine, just needed slight fine tuning with the centering pots. Looks like this is my setup for a while now - Monitor II for text work, Trinitron for gaming. Very pleased with how this all came together. Gonna be playing some Lode Runner, Prince of Persia, and others along with Wizardry (of course.)

 

Next step: Figure out how Virtual Drive works with ADTPro.

Apple IIe

deepthaw

Entry posted by deepthaw

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Saw an Apple IIe on Facebook Marketplace, and was mildly surprised. Vintage computers don't show up locally all that often, so I kept tabs on it. It started at $300, then rapidly went down to $70 over a few days. Christmas I decided to pick it up.

 

It was advertised as non-tested but made noises like it worked. Figured even a broken Apple IIe for $70 wasn't a bad deal (especially since I wouldn't have to pay shipping) so I snagged it Christmas day.

 

Turns out my haul was:

 

Apple IIe 128K with 80 column card, super serial card. (works fine)

DuoDisk (working fine)

Apple Monitor II (monochrome green, working fine)

Image Writer II (missing a piece on the back, haven't had a chance to test it.)

 

I borrowed some Apple floppies from a friend to test the unit, and so far as I can tell it all works fine. Used the outstanding Apple Disk Server to create a ProDOS floppy with utilities via the cassette port, and even the disk drives are fine (CopyIIPlus says they should read 200ms, both are within 1ms of that.)

 

The real score is that a friend's kids have been staying with us a few nights a week while they handle some issues at home. One of them is a typical preteen boy video gamer, and he showed some interest in "that old computer." Powered it on, showed him BASIC, and had him writing his own programs by the end of the night. Despite being brought up on Minecraft and Call of Duty, that monochrome green screen was still addicting as hell because *he* was writing the programs that ran on it.

 

1423967832_81235782_10219045085672549_6897458087121125376_n(1).thumb.jpg.e226a544c6226e1090705ffe384016cc.jpg

 

I've already ordered a sealed box of floppies, serial cable, and serial<->usb adapter. My next plan is setup A2CLOUD and/or ADTPro so I can get it online and start grabbing more software. There's some BBS's (yes, as in dial-up, except they all use telnet now) I visit, so it'd be nice to try and get onto those with the Apple IIe. Of course there's games to play (I'm a huge Wizardry nut, and have been fiending to play it on the original hardware.)

 

Reproduction Mockingboards aren't unreasonably priced, so I'll have to get one of those before moving onto Ultima. Also want to get the IIe enhanced kit, and an "official" color monitor. I'm using a small Trinitron when I need color, but I honestly prefer how sharp things are on the monochrome green screen.

 

I'll keep everbody posted.

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deepthaw
8 hours ago, Keatah said:

And be sure to get a head-cleaning diskette. You will need that.

 

Those are expensive... I saw a post where somebody said to user printer paper soaked in alcohol put inside a floppy sleeve. Is that for real?

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Keatah

Keatah 16,327

Posted (edited)

It's real to whomever came up with the idea. I wouldn't do it though.  Paper is likely to leave fibers behind which will bunch up and snowball at an inopportune time. A proper cleaning requires the head be moved back and forth. And the motor turned on. Paper won't stand up to that. Not for very long before it starts shredding. Square-cut paper won't do the job completely because there is no linear motion. So that's out.

 

Better to get in there and do it manually with a lint-free cloth.

Edited by Keatah
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