Major_Tom_coming_home
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Posts posted by Major_Tom_coming_home
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I took a computer class in 8th grade and we used these machines. I'm dating myself but not as badly as it sounds - it was around 1989 or 1990 and even then they were ancient. We did some learning but mostly played video games of course. There was a very good lunar lander clone. Sadly, even if I get the one I got today working it doesn't have disk drives and cassette would be my only option. Realistically though, this was a business computer back in the day and today probably best at being a display piece...But I'd still try to hunt down the lunar lander game on cassette.
I learned to program on one of those. You are correct that the monitor does normally wink then fade on the dot when turned off. Most mono monitors of the day did that. I would expect capacitors are the first thing to check. They provide the necessary boost to fire up the CRT. I expect the parts in that model are pretty cheap. It looked almost like a project kit when I worked on it in the 80s.
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Bought a TRS-80 Model III for $15 at a yard sale today (the monochrome all-in-one, not the COCO). I can see a brief faint flicker when I turn it on but nothing displays. I did manage to get it to the cass? command prompt once but lost it after a few minutes. When I turn it off I see the display powering down (a vertical line and then a point of light that fades out - I think this is normal for this model of computer.) I've tried playing with the brightness dials and booting it up with the break button held down but that did not help. I'm thinking it probably needs capacitors to be replaced - likely on the power supply. Does anyone have suggestions about what the problem may be, and where I might be able to get replacement parts?
To be honest, I'd like to get the thing working if doing so is economical and to give myself some practice replacing capacitors on a machine that isn't worth much, but if that isn't possible I wouldn't mind using it as a display piece or passing it along as a fixer upper to someone who is more into this type of computer. I've played games on this model of computer back in the day, but it isn't exactly a Vic-20, Apple II, or Amiga. Just an interesting curiosity.
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Thanks, I just purchased the drive you linked to. Do I need anything like cables, scsi terminator, etc. to get it working? It's going to be installed in place of the original hard drive that was removed.
From what I can find, no. Thats an IDE.
This would be your best / easiest option:
Your might find these link helpful too:
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would this be the drive I need (along with some kind of adapter I assume). My concern is that I don't think my SE can run 7.6 but presumably I can reformat it? Thanks
Your best bet for getting a hard drive on the cheap is to buy another old Mac. A Centris or a Quadra have 256 Mb hard drives that will work in a Mac SE. I had one of each, but since they were basically the same computer, but the Quadra had more Ram and slightly faster, I stripped the Centris of the hard drive and upgraded my SE that way.
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No on the adapters - you need male to male. They cost 2 - 3 times as much.
Also, any apple disk tool software wont even recognize any non-apple hard drive. Like all apple scsi have a pic/sticker of an apple on them.
68 to 50 adapters are use on some macs already - My 7300 uses one. Also like a 2gb limit for older stuff.
But to be honest, your going down a rabbit hole with this.
You will spend more money in the long run by trying to "save" with old electronics.
This guy got the SCSI2SD to work on an se:
http://appletothecore.me/files/scsi2sd_mac_se_solid_state_drive.php
His problem - to use non-apple drives (which the sd drive is), you have to use a hacked version of drive setup to install a driver.
Probably the reason 8-bit coulden't get his to work.
Read this - http://lowendmac.com/2007/format-any-hard-drive-for-older-macs-with-patched-apple-tools/
Note, you need a mac to patch the software.
I do have a Power Mac G4, would that allow me to patch the necessary software? Could the hardrive from a G4 be installed in the SE? If so, what kind of scsi adapter would be required?
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Your best bet for getting a hard drive on the cheap is to buy another old Mac. A Centris or a Quadra have 256 Mb hard drives that will work in a Mac SE. I had one of each, but since they were basically the same computer, but the Quadra had more Ram and slightly faster, I stripped the Centris of the hard drive and upgraded my SE that way.
Would a HD from a Power Mac G4 Work? If so, what kind of Adapter do I need to install it in a SE?
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I recently picked up a functional tested working Macintosh SE on Ebay for $60 shipped. It does not have a hard drive, and I would like to add one using the cheapest method possible (it's only a $60 computer after all). On youtube the 8-Bit guy tried to install an SD to SCSI adapter on the exact same model but he couldn't get it to work. 20 Megabyte 50 pin Apple SCSI drives are stupid expensive for what you get. 80 pin SCSI drives don't seem to work with an adapter, but what about a 50 to 68 pin adapter along with a SCSI 68 pin HDD? I'm linking the adapter and HD I'm looking at as well as the Ebay auction for the computer. Any other advice about installing / formatting the hard drive and installing an OS (which I don't have) would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Adapter I am looking at:
68 pin hard drive to use with 50 pin adapter - would it work???:
This is the SE I bought from Ebay:
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I recently picked up a IIc (my first vintage Apple system) and have been doing a bit of research on some of the slightly more recent models of Apple computers, to figure out whether or not I wanted to get into them or not. It seems like Apple's product lines from the late 1980s and into the 1990s were convoluted to say the least, with the Apple II family and Macintosh family running concurrently into the 1990s. I was wondering how the game libraries of the GS and Macintosh (Quadra, LC, etc.) compare to each other as far as quality and quantity. I'm thinking most games available for Macintosh circa 1990 were probably PC ports since Dos/,Wintel then had a larger market share. On the other hand, I would guess that GS games would tend to be more exclusive and numerous considering the popularity of the Apple II line at the time. Thanks for any insights!
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Thanks,
Now that I have electricity and internet after Irma passed by I've joined the group
Major Tom check out the Fb Apple II group also - https://www.facebook.com/groups/5251478676/
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You may already know about this game, but the one everyone remembers from the COCO2 is Dungeons of Daggorath. The gameplay is ancient, the graphics are primitive, and reading directions is mandatory, but in my opinion the atmosphere, minimalism, and sound of Dungeons of Daggorath makes anything from the Resident Evil or Silent Hill series look like a Spongebob Squarepants episodes.
I am Totally the Opposite.. I have a "deep" Vintage Apple ][ interest, but recently have been getting into the Tandy Color Computer... I got a NIB, CoCo 3 about 5 years ago, with a Platinum //e, that came with Drives and Monitor and Original Software....
I kept the CoCo 3, because it has the Motorola 6809, and I wanted to learn more about it.. Since then I have added Two CoCo 2s, a 4K CoCo 1, two MPIs and a practically new FD-500 Disk Drive.. and a Dragon64 by Tano... The CoCoSDCs for the CoCos are just as incredible as the CFFA3000 for the Apples...
MarkO -
Using the same family of computers for that long must have been a great experience. On paper that's comparable to me using PCs from 1994 to present day, but the Wintel platform is so ubiquitous and de-facto computer platform that is kind of like saying "I've used electric stoves since 1994".
The //c never does a whole lot for me in the nostalgia department. Though I wish I could mod it so it worked like the one in Explorers!
I also prefer the E//e for it's classic keyboard look over the P//e. Though I like the P//e for its even lesser chip count.
I literally grew up with the II series. From its initial release in 1977 all the way into the mid-90's. It was actually useful during those times either for gaming or for real work. Not to mention the many ways it fired off my imagination. The short stories we wrote often included the computer as a character or prop. And I have 0 regrets for any excess money I spent on the series. All the things I've learned from it have paid off in some form or another many times over.
What gives nostalgia and recollections of the good times a big boost are the original manuals, which I'm glad to have kept. All the cozy sleepovers during stormy & thundering evenings spent in my bedroom learning the commands and tossing around ideas about program concepts. Truly great times!
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I'll have to get a copy of this book at some point. What I really like about it is that it is a modern book (2012) that documents and provides instruction a computer that hasn't been made for about 25 years. This is the first time I have ever seen anything like it.
I'm quite inexperienced. This book....
https://www.amazon.com/New-Apple-II-Users-Guide/dp/0615639879
....looks appropriate for modern-day Apple 2 newbies.
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I know exactly what you mean. I admittedly don't have nostalgia for any vintage Apple Computer model and can therefore base my decisions soley on capabilities and price. I do have nostalgia for the Tandy Color Computer II but not for the Color Computer III. The II happens to be much less expensive and more common than the III, so in my case nostalgia saved me a lot of money :-)
I have to admit that I don't know a hill of beans about Apple II computers, but for me, it was the IIe (Enhanced) that I settled for.
The Apple II (not even sure if it was a Plus) was the first personal computer I ever touched (elementary school), so it has a bit of an attachment for me. However, they seem like expensive collector's items now. It also bugged me that they didn't have lower case characters, and seemed to top out at 48k.
The IIe looks enough like it to satisfy my nostalgia, plus it's later and presumably more reliable (fewer components) anyway. I bought the nicest, latest one that I could find at a reasonable price. It came in this box....
....so I figured it must have been a later Enhanced model because it shipped with 128k.
The IIe Platinum looks too different for my nostalgia, although it looks like a really fine machine at the same time.
The IIgs just came too late to pique my interest. By then, the Atari St and (to some extent) Amiga computers had my attention, and the lion's share of the 16-bit Home Computer software compared to what natively-supported the IIgs' unique capabilities. Apple II software that captures my sense of nostalgia are the ones that I do most remembering playing on a IIe with a color monitor.
I always though that the IIc was an amazing design for its time, but there's that darned nostalgia again for the bigger II computers, and of course the IIc can't accomodate the CFFA3000 card, so that makes it a no-go for me.
The CFFA3000 is one bad-ass Apple II accessory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q113bbwR5A
Although I grew up with (and remain obsessed with) Atari 8-bit computers, a IIe with a CFFA3000, and a Commodore 64 with a 1541 Ultimate II have somehow managed to generate some 8-bit junkie interest in me.
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Thanks, I'll check it out!
As far as I'm concerned Sweet 16, by Sheppy, is the best GA emulator. You can download it from here: http://www.sheppyware.net/software-mac/sweet16/it's freeware and Sheppy is always updating it, unlike Bernie2TheRescue, which hasn't been updated in quite a while.
magnus
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AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll have to check but I think my imac has 9.x. When I think about it it is kind of funny that I would be using an Apple computer to emulate another apple computer. Assuming there is a good Windows GS emulator it would be the same as using an 9.x on paper, but doing what you suggest will basically turn my Imac into a GS. If it works well and has close to the same functionality, I could save a lot of money by skipping the real thing and pretending my I-Mac is a real GS - THANKS!!!!
If you are running Mac OS 9.x.x on any of your Macs, you will want to get a hold of Bernie2theRescue. There is a version 3 that is totally complete, is now free and is the best IIGS emulator, bar none. I think they took down the main website, but there should be a version floating around.
It played all the demos perfectly, shows a 3200 color image perfectly (no other IIGS emulator does), mounts cd-roms, emulates the ensoniq music chip, has the most compatibility with the most disk images, really nice interface for mounting disk images, etc, etc.
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Thanks for the info, your post was indeed very helpful. I actually just ended up getting a nice IIe on fleabay. I have to admit that my brain was telling me to get the IIe for expandability and flexibility, but my heart was telling me to get the IIc because I love the design. Now that I have the benefits of the IIe I'll keep an eye out for a fairly priced good condition IIc
I now have a IIc and I love it. Growing up, I had a Laser 128EX with an RGB monitor and the colors were wrong on it (things that were supposed to be blue were gray) due to the color numbering being different. This made playing games like King's Quest annoying. My friend had a IIc and I loved his better even though on mine I had a 1MB RAM disk and an accelerator. Also the open and closed apple symbols were triangles on the Laser 128EX and that bugged me too.
With the IIc, you can get a Floppy Emu which works just as well for me as what a CFFA might do on a IIe. https://www.bigmessowires.com/floppy-emu/ It also works with my MAC LC III. I also purchased the floppy switch device from his website and that allows me to easily switch between the internal drive on the IIc and the Floppy Emu. I don't feel like I am missing anything that I want with my setup.
I also have a Mac LC III with a IIe card in it, but I much prefer my IIc for that authentic look and feel. The graphics on the LC III are beautiful, but they are more pixel perfect rather than the much nicer IMO blended look on the IIc. For this reason I have no interest in getting a VGA adapter for the IIc.
There is also a RAM card and with a clock on it available, so this takes away that advantage from the IIGS when saving files. I don't have this, but I might want it someday. With my Floppy Emu, it also emulates 3.5 inch disks and hard drives, so I don't really need the extra ram. I would just use it as a RAM disk so I could store more files without having to change floppies.
And I love the keyboard on the IIc. I retrobright'd my IIc and it looks almost new.
Hope this helps.
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UPDATE: I just won an Ebay auction for a tested / working IIe in very nice shape. Comes with 2 floppy drives, monitor, and even a printer for $230 shipped. I'll swap in the enhanced chipset for $25 and then good to go. I plan to get the IIc in the future and maybe a GS if the price is right. For my next acquisition, however, I'd like to get a Macintosh Classic or something similar in the Mac Family since I can check the 'Apple II Family" box on my want list. :-)
As a side note / interesting observation - I'm sure I probably could have gotten a much better deal even just a few years ago. Old video games and computers have become more in demand as collectibles as of late with people such as myself getting on the bandwagon thanks to Atari Age, Youtube, etc. I've always had an interest in old computers - especially ones I grew up with - but it has only been recently that I have been obtaining them. Thanks to websites such as Atari and Youtube people have become more interested in these relics. Personally, I started obtaining vintage computers because I'm curious and want to experience these machines I've always heard of but never owned or even experienced. There weren't many kids or adults back in the day who simultaneously owned a Vic-20, C64, Apple II, TI-99, Tandy Color Computer, PC, Atari 800xl, Amiga 1200, and Aquarius at the same time but over the course of the past 3-4 years I've obtained all these (the only yard sale find was the Amiga for 1200, otherwise it would be outside my price range). These days, even though these machines are collectible they still only cost a small fraction of their original price and ordinary middle class folks like myself can get them. The prices have been going up, but the communities supporting these machines has grown and they are more respected for their place in history.
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I have a theory that for senior citizens and people afraid to use computers something like an Apple II is a great way for them to experience computers. A modern OS is a complicated piece of software with lots of icons to click on and multiple ways to do anything. It's basically a huge open world with dragons, unicorns, and wizards. With old computers, for the most part you can only do one thing at a time and you can read, follow, and memorize the step by step instructions that do the same thing every time. It's a yellow brick oz road you can follow without getting lost.
You know, I learned a ton the same way. An Apple was, and I would argue, still is a great introduction to what computing is.
The CFFA makes it for me. I can actually write, create graphics, and get both into modern environments super easy. -
I have that kind of nostalgia too. I have no reason to have the Atari 400/800xl/XEGS other than the fact they are 'cool'.
I often go back and forth, round and round between the II+, the Enhanced //e, and Platinum //e as being my favs. The II+ and E//e are in there because I had them as I was growing up. Great memories of BBS programming and beginning my electronic journal (which I continue to this day). I learned so much about computer concepts, disks, and digital electronics on the II+. And I learned so much about added and refined features on the //e, as well as using a GUI. I had loads of fun exploring the depths and fine points of 80 columns and an additional 64k of bankswitched memory. Currently the 64K/80column card ranks in my top-ten of best computer upgrades ever. MouseText and lowercase + extra symbols was a real hoot.
Today I enjoy most all of that through nostalgia and fading memories and the P//e. I also appreciate its lower power consumption and even-smaller-chipcount over the E//e. I also like the crisp hollow feel of the keyboard and the final upgraded firmware.
I also enjoyed instant access to all kinds of languages, Fortran, Pascal, Integer Basic, Applesoft Basic, Machine Language and Assembly, mini-Assembler, Pilot, Logo, and a million versions of DOS and spinoffs. The II series accepted all of that as if it were all built-in. Not that I fully new what to do with everything!
Playing with those DOSes was like magic because of the unique extra commands some had. They made you feel as if you were really expanding you system, for real. Giving it new capabilities.
So yeh, lots of nostalgia and good times.
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I'll keep this in mind. Would an Amiga 1200 monitor work an Apple II? I already own one of those.
For a monitor, you should keep an eye out for one of the pro grade monitors.
http://www.tested.com/tech/gaming/456719-best-crt-retro-games/
I'll have to take some photos of what Apple video looks like one of these days. Unlike most, if not all, other computers of this era, the Apple 8 bit computers used artifact color. On consumer grade gear, this ends up looking very distinctive, but it can be difficult to read text and or enjoy color graphics on the same screen. Many people got two screens, one monochrome, one color or a TV to get it all done in a useful way. These PVM devices can do both!
On a side note, the article I linked shows the good and bad of such a great display. Most things will be pixel perfect, even on a composite signal output. I like the look, because I like to see the pixels, but for some the lack of smudge sort of degrades the experience. But, the Apple 2 color also has a texture to it, because of the artifacting, that really adds to the overall experience. This texture is best seen on a display with high bandwidth.
These monitors have great circuits that can pick out the image from the messy composite signal. They also have computer grade CRT masks. The color dots are much smaller, which prevents fringing and blurry text. 80 column text is easy to read, and the monitor can be adjusted for bright color without too much fringing on text, best of both worlds when playing RPG games, for example.
Many models feature RGB inputs, which can work with a GS directly. Mine is flat out awesome. The GS on composite is dubious on most displays. These PVM displays actually make composite on a GS usable. But, the RGB is pixel perfect, not much different, if not better than the original monitor. In short, any 80 column capable computer from this time period will rock hard on one of these displays, and you get the niceness of a CRT, probably the best CRTs available, for a song these days.
I've used mine with a few different systems, Apple, Atari CoCo 3, and it's nice.
If you watch, these can be scored for a couple hundred bucks. Worth it.
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I'm thinking the IIe is what I will end up with unless I can find a GS on Ebay that isn't price gouged. And yes, I will most likely branch out and get at least the IIc. I have a C64 and 128, Atari 400 800xl XEGS.so it wouldn't be the first time I have bought different versions of the same basic platform. :-)
In that case, I still recommend a //e enhanced or platinum. They're still relatively cheap at under $200. And the OP can branch out. "Invested" Apple enthusiasts almost always get more than one machine.
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Thanks for the info. Space is not a concern so I'm probably going to start with a IIe or GS. Then at some later point I'll get a IIc since I love the look and small size. Back in the day we could only have one computer at a time but as adults we can get every Apple / Mac ever made if we can afford it. :-)
If space is a concern, then the IIc might be your best choice.
Just remember that you may never have a Mockingboard, speech board, accelerator board, etc...
It's definitely a good machine but there's just some things it's never going to do.
The IIc Plus is a IIc with a fast mode that needs an external 5.25" drive for better compatibility. And it has all the IIc's limitations
The IIgs is a nice machine with unique features, but you have to decide what you want to do to know it it's for you or not.
Some form of IIe will do everything but iigs specific stuff and it's more expandable than the IIc.
I have a Laser 128EX I'm going to use for most of my stuff until I can rebuild my IIgs. It's okay but I need to drop in a ROM cloned from the Apple for better compatibility with some copy protections.
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I think the LC2 is a bit too modern for my tastes. I have an Imac G3 Slot Loader and a Power Mac G4.. I got the Imac for $15 at a garage sale and the next weekend I got the Powermac G4 for $5 at a different yard sale. Both work. I figure since I already have two late 1990's / early 2000's Apple computers I want to get something from the 1980s.
I had a //e growing up, in my early 30's I got a //c cause the price was right but eventually my answer was a mac LC2 (much rather had the LC3 but I found the gimped lc2 for a buck) and apple IIe card, now I have the exact same compatibility as the IIgs for the 8 bit machines, and a 32 bit 68020 mac with hard drives, modern disk drives and hooks up to a VGA monitor lol
course I sold that and the //c setup cause after another decade of apple // I remembered why I wanted to jump ship so bad, but that's a different topic
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I think you hit the nail right on the head. If I only have one Apple II model I should get one with a lot of expansion possibilities. That said, I'd probably get a second and it would definitely be the IIc. The beauty is that Apple II computers don't cost over $1000 like they did when new. Even on Ebay I could get all three models and still pay much less than I would have in 1983
I have a //c, which I've had since the 80s. I love it for nostalgic reasons, but I really want to take advantage of the CFFA 3000 or other sd/cf solutions. If you're coming in from scratch I'd go with a ][gs if you can swing it, or a ][e.
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Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega
in Dedicated Systems
Posted
Just wanted to come here and say for no real reason that I am a Yank who has been educated about 1980's British Microcomputers by Kim Justice, The Nostalgia Nerd, and many more. The Spectrum on paper is not well suited to games but that never stopped them from being made in huge quantities. While Nintendo had their boot on the throat of our video game market, British gamers had all kinds of gaming options with Sinclair, Dragon 32, Oric, Amistrad, Amiga, Atari XL, C64, etc. etc. etc. We had a monopoly that crushed all competition and did things we would today consider illegal. Gaming in the 1980's on the other side of the pond must have been very interesting experience. If not for all the Voltage and video signal incompatibilities I'd import a 128 but emulation is the only practical options. I wonder what would have happened (assuming it was technically possible) if the North American market received a Spectrum 100% compatible with the UK Spectrum and was sold by our big retailers of the day: Sears, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Woolworth etc. Sir Clive may have made Bill Gates amounts of money. An newly released NES game was $50 while a Spectrum game I'm thinking was $10-$15 in USD assuming it wasn't pirated for free.