Just got my FujiNet Apple II version today from Masteries on Tindie, some issues.

[TheGrandPubaa]

Greetings, not sure if this is an appropriate place to ask/discuss FujiNet or not, but it's worth a shot. I am able to connect to the TNFS servers that come preloaded, and from there I can load certain images. The ISS tracker works fine, as does the Total Replay .HDV. I put various disk images onto the SD card and it can see them and attach them to a slot, but none that I have tried load successfully - most simply fail on boot and say No Bootable Device Found. I've tried .DSK, .DO, .PO, .WOZ all to no avail. Am I doing something wrong or misunderstanding the capability of the FujiNet? Thanks in advance.

[Iamgroot]

You just listed all the disk images that need to be booted from slot #6.  Most devices like this have a menu or control panel to link images to a certain slot.  Your Fujinet manual should tell you how to do it.

[magnusfalkirk]

5 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

You just listed all the disk images that need to be booted from slot #6.  Most devices like this have a menu or control panel to link images to a certain slot.  Your Fujinet manual should tell you how to do it.

The last time I knew there wasn't a manual for the Apple version of the Fujinet, at least when I bought mine from Materies. The onlilne manual they had wasn't very good either.

[TheGrandPubaa]

9 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

You just listed all the disk images that need to be booted from slot #6.  Most devices like this have a menu or control panel to link images to a certain slot.  Your Fujinet manual should tell you how to do it.

There was a sort of quick start guide that was emailed after I placed my order but nothing about configuring slots was mentioned and there doesn't appear to be any settings in that regard in the FujiNet config menu; just drive 1-4 are available for insertion. The web ui will show the drives and what disk images are inserted but only has eject as an option.

 

Documentation in general is a bit sparse on the web and is primarily for the original Atari 8-bit version from the searching I've done.

[Iamgroot]

On Facebook it was mentioned that he upgraded to the latest firmware to get .dsk and .woz support, and even wifi support.

 

Look here for the latest update:

https://www.tindie.com/products/masteries/fujinet-for-apple-ii-sdcard-and-internet-interface/?fbclid=IwAR34vHymlygv5dfz_bbf3zkf_r0ozhdPintK9ch9yNsTI6zJ57xH2ky7p_E

Edited December 7, 2023 by Iamgroot

[TheGrandPubaa]

32 minutes ago, Iamgroot said:

On Facebook it was mentioned that he upgraded to the latest firmware to get .dsk and .woz support, and even wifi support.

 

Look here for the latest update:

https://www.tindie.com/products/masteries/fujinet-for-apple-ii-sdcard-and-internet-interface/?fbclid=IwAR34vHymlygv5dfz_bbf3zkf_r0ozhdPintK9ch9yNsTI6zJ57xH2ky7p_E

The email Masteries sent about my FujiNet said it was already on Firmware 1.2, which is the latest one that shows up in the fujinet-flasher. I also read some stuff anecdotally on the FujiNet Discord that suggested the Masteries FujiNet needed a tweaked firmware that he was supplying separately(i've seen a thread or two about it on AtariAge), but I can't find any references to a firmware version higher than 1.2 yet. I'm looking through the Apple II Enthusiasts Facebook group to see if i've overlooked something.

[Paul7]

Did you ever find a solution?

[TheGrandPubaa]

2 hours ago, Paul7 said:

Did you ever find a solution?

Well, DOS ordered disk images don't work stock on the FujiNet because it assumes it will run from the internal drive which I guess is hardwired to assume a particular slot. The short version of my back and forth with Masteries is that it is technically possible to do it, but that you need a way to switch between loading the FujiNet Config app from the smartport and actually loading the disk image after the fact from the internal drive header. I'm waiting to see if this process is feasible or if instructions on how to do this are provided at some point. I did get some PO and HDV images working, and there are some collections online that have various games and applications which will boot natively from the FujiNet, so that has been holding me over for the time being. I have gathered that converting DO disks to PO or HDV is a non-trivial process if there is any copy protection implemented. I've also had a bit of success connecting to my PC through telnet and i've at least accessed one BBS however briefly, but I haven't been able to use legacy Apple II terminal software to connect to anything through WIFI, nor have I been able to print a PDF of text over it. So that's a bit of a bummer.

[masteries]

The issue is not really an issue, its a limitation of Apple IIc model computer

 

It applies to Fujinet and FloppyEmu, this text is extracted from "big mess of wires" shop/webpage:

 

 

"If you’re using a Floppy Emu disk emulator with an Apple IIc, you’ll want to see this: a switched adapter that can reassign the external 5.25 inch drive as internal, and the internal 5.25 inch drive as external. This little gizmo helps to work around the Apple IIc’s inability to boot from an externally-connected 5.25 inch drive. That shortcoming is a headache for 5.25 inch disk emulators like Floppy Emu. With this internal/external drive switcher, the limitation is now gone!

 
Background

 

The IIc has an internal built-in 5.25 inch floppy drive. The internal drive appears to the computer as slot 6, drive 1. If you connect an external 5.25 inch floppy drive, it will appear to the computer as slot 6, drive 2. Unfortunately the whole Apple II family is designed to check for a bootable disk in drive 1 only. The computer can boot from drive 1, and then use drive 2 as a secondary disk, but it can’t boot from drive 2. So for the IIc with its built-in drive 1, this means it can never boot from an external 5.25 inch drive.

 

An important detail: this limitation only applies to the Apple IIc with an external 5.25 inch drive. An external Smartport drive (like Floppy Emu when configured for Smartport hard disk emulation mode) appears to the computer as slot 5, drive 1, and is bootable.

 

Apple IIc owners who want to boot from an emulated 5.25 inch disk image are in a difficult spot. Until now, their best option has been to remove the top panel from the IIc, disconnect the internal floppy drive, and connect the Floppy Emu to the internal drive connector on the motherboard. This works fine for the Floppy Emu, but it means IIc owners forfeit their ability to use the internal drive.

"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information source, as well extended info:  https://www.bigmessowires.com/2018/05/04/apple-iic-internalexternal-drive-switcher/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Briefly, Apple IIc, with a ROM greater than 255; can´t boot directly from an external disk drive

that is different from a Smartport based device.

 

Speculating, DOS 3.3 was deprecated in 1983, the Apple IIc was released in 1984;

the real good ROM firmwares for Apple IIc starts from version 0 to 4... they

expected to completely abandon DOS 3.3 in favour of SmartPort devices

and ProDOS volumes, but due to the inmense amount of Apple IIe and DOS 3.3

software... the transition was never accomplished at 100%

 

 

Tested: But it can boot automatically if the external disk drive is an Unidisk 3.5",

due to Unidisk 3.5" is a SmartPort based device;

with a ProDOS volume such the one I have with AppleWorks software diskette

 

 

 

In a future I will need to test it using the most simple and affordable solution as possible,

in order to swap internal/external drive,

 

 

 

 

the solution presented in big mess of wires appears to be

really simple and affordable to build, due to it fits internally,

and the jumper wires are externally accesible:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by masteries

[masteries]

 

Here there is an example of this limitation when using a FloppyEmu:

 

 

This sentence from user @nick3092 provides a clear explanation:

 

"My guess is that the //c rom doesn't expect a smartport device as the first device. It probably expects a 5.25 drive. A smartport device would normally only be connected to the external/drive 2 port. Basically, why would it try to boot a smartport device from drive 1 when drive 1 should always be a 5.25 floppy?

 

Pretty sure that's how my rom4 works (but it's been a while since I booted that with a smartport device). It spins the internal drive first, and if nothing is found in the drive, it then looks for a smartport device in the external port."

 

 

 

As a brief, if you desire to use  5.25" inch disk image with a Fujinet, in an Apple IIc computer:

 

-Connect the Fujinet externally, as usual.

-Select the 5.25" disk image when the Fujinet boot ups as a SmartPort device

-Swap the drive selection signal, now the external device will be 5.25" floppy only

-Restart the computer

 

-Enjoy your 5.25" disk image

 

You need a simple way to swap the internal/extenal device,

such the one proposed at big mess of wires

Edited January 12 by masteries