Growing up in the 90s we had apple IIe computers in primary school (what we call elementary school in Australia) and a commodore 64 at home. The 8bit era hung around longer than most people thought, arguably its still ticking along
We had Apple IIGS computers (and IIe) at my primary school. I fell into the "IT guy" role at my school so often was dragged out of class to go troubleshoot issues people had, even though they were a bit alien to me as I only had a C64. They let me take one home once on loan for the school holidays. Thanks for the video, Robin - still just as enjoyable even if you don't prepare as much.
@2:15. The final Apple II model released would actually be the Apple IIc+, released Sept 1988. It was both a step forward and a step backwards for the Apple II line. The IIc+ was faster then the stock gs, but didn't have the sound and graphics capabilities of the gs.
Your GS looks WAY cleaner than mine. I just fished mine out of my old barn. Turned out my brother smashed out all the windows and doors, and vines grew through them and into all the old Apple IIs that were in there, and flooded all the containers that held the accessories.
Dood that’s awesome. I went to a catholic high school in the 80s and we had Apple at school but I had Commodores at home. I later became a superstar Mac programmer in Silicon Valley in the 90’s and even worked @ Apple.
Bit jealous of that GS. I had a //e as a kid and the GS was just starting to show up in the Apple magazines. As it is we (well, my dad) sold the //e and we got a PC.
C128 is kind of a mess IMO. IIgs is like... I don't know. It has more going for it than the C128, it's like almost good enough to measure up to the m68k crowd like Amiga and ST (despite the much lower clock speed - I think the '816 could get more done per cycle) but not quite and it all being bound to that Apple II legacy design is just... kind of weird. As lovely a machine as the IIgs is in some ways, and despite being technically the pinnacle of the Apple II line - it just occupies a weird place for me. Like most of my nostalgia for the Apple II line is for the IIc and games like Karateka and Lode Runner. In a way the IIgs doesn't feel like a real Apple II to me - except when it does, then it feels like its 16-bit side is being held back by it...
Just powered up my own IIgs for the 1st time tonight. I gave $100 for the computer and monitor. No disk drive came with it, so this is so timely. Thanks Robin!!!
Re: Mockingboard. 1. With a ROM1 machine, and the Mockingboard in slot 4, you may have to disable the mouse whenever you want to use the Mockingboard and then reenable it whenever you want to use GSOS (or anything else that uses the mouse). If I were me, on a ROM1 machine I think I'd put it in either slot 7 or slot 1 (if you don't ever plan to have a printer hooked up). I am not 100% sure on this. I know it's not an issue on the ROM3 boxen (disabling it on ROM3 only disables it in IIe mode, but it's still available in IIgs mode), but I've heard that it's a thing on the ROM1 boxen (disabling it there disables it alltogether). 2. I have the Phasor clone from reactivemicro, and when I plug the motherboard audio into the header on the card, it gets SUPER noisy and distorted. I ended up just using two separate line outs and mixing them. But hopefully the mockingboard clone doesn't suffer from that issue. PS: I love the IIgs keyboard. One thing on my project list is to hack up something on an arduino to read the ADB data from an extra IIgs keyboard and output USB HID data, so I can use it on a KVM will all my boxen. :D
Thanks for the info! I'll try moving the Mockingboard to slot 7 if/when I start using the mouse on it. So far the motherboard audio sounds great through the Mockingboard clone.
The 65816 is cool. Strange that you can still buy them. I wonder what people are using them for. As a follow up to my Pi1541 project I am creating a SuperCPU clone.
I have both versions of the older Floppy Emu, with the monochrome screen. Maybe it's time to pick up a current one as neither of mine have the extra Smartport options or UniDisk 3.5 support. (They only either support Smartport 3.5 on the END of the daisy chain, 5.25, or Smartport hard drive.) I managed to get the rare-as-hen's-teeth CFFA3000 for one of my IIgs machines. It lets you boot (5.25) floppy images as slot 6 while also booting hard drive images without Floppy Emu's naming restrictions. If you want to do any serious stuff, like use GS/OS, I recommend you upgrade the RAM to something above 1MB. I have GGLabs 8MB RAM expansion. It's a SIMM on a board that's the length of the memory expansion connector.
I really wanted a mockingboard back-in-the-day, or actually a C= version of it since I didn't have an Apple to put it into. Eventually I was satisfied with a MIDI rig and a Yamaha CX5m, but gear lust knows no boundaries.
@@crouchinghamster6407 I understand they will eventually release a GS-specific version, ,but for now it'll run on an enhanced //e, preferably with Mockingboard/Phasor sound card.
The IiGS was not the last apple, for obsure reasons it was discontinued before the Apple IIc+ and even the IIe. Apple killed what was a machine that could shadow the early colorless and soundness mac. They prototyped a IIGS with SIMMS slots and internal HD and drive. But the project was cancelled. It was the second time that Jobs abandoned several thousands users.
Since I usually boot such games from floppy, I wrote a program that let me set the speed to 1MHz before booting the disk, without going to Control Panel Also, in programs I write that depend on 1MHz, I can also detect whether it's a IIgs, and set the speed to 1MHz if I need it. Very good for those old sound routines.
0:02 Is it Appleuary? 6:43 That is a little strange how the cards just flap in the breeze if they don't go through the backplate. 9:26 The composite video looks pretty sharp! 10:58 Looks like a step in the right direction - unlike PCs of the era, the Apple used the same connector for both floppy drives and hard drives. 11:35 It's interesting how the SD-Card form factor is becoming obsolete and the major vendors are selling their high-capacity new cards in the Micro-SD form factor with an SD-Card adaptor. I guess the phone/tablet market is the larger part of their business and a Micro-SD can hold 1TB anyway. 13:25 So, to use any of the six pre-assigned slots, you have to disable some existing functionality? Does the game you want to play use the mouse that you're disabling?
Appleuary is a new high in terrible retro computing event portmanteaus. Or is it a new low? #Appleuary it is! Yeah, it does seem the built-in functionality (some of which was only available for the first time on the IIgs, I believe; earlier models had more unassigned slots) needs to be sacrificed. I suppose full-blown IIgs software would make use of the (so I've heard) excellent built-in sound chip (designed by Bob Yannes who made the SID!) and wouldn't need the Mockingboard at all. As far as I know Nox Archaist is 100% keyboard controlled so I won't be missing the mouse.
@@8-bitshowandtell247 The one I mentioned reboots into the Control Panel instead of just entering it. (It also allows you to reset all settings to factory default and switch between NTSC and PAL mode.)
My left hand got a fair bit of screen time today - it's even in the video thumbnail twice! :) I don't know when my face will next make an appearance. It just doesn't fit in my video workflow all that well :)
Wait what? I didn't realise there was a video where our good man showed his face. It would be so cool to put a face to that voice, but I understand not everyone wants to do that.
@@heidirichter a video on the main channel called ”year one recap” at 9:09. You've been warned. I think Robin is just shy. I get it. I'm shy too. But I always show my face at the beginning of my videos. We love the videos so much we're willing to listen to the hand. But if I had just one wish for 2021, it would be the face.
Putting a Mockingboard into an Apple IIgs. Huh. *The computer with native sound hardware that blew away anything that came before it and most of what came after it for the next half decade.* I get it, this new game probably does not support the Ensoniq 5503. It's just weird to see for somebody who lived through the era. :)
Yeah, Nox Archaist only supports Mockingboard for music, and the regular Apple II audio for the sound effects. It does seem strange not using the built-in audio.
@@8-bitshowandtell247 I don’t recall any 8-bit software making use of it, come to think of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the processor and/or other components had to be put into 16-bit mode or something to access it.
The excellent sound capabilities of the IIGS are only available in IIGS mode. When running software written for the II/II+/IIc/IIe (like Nox Archaist) you're stuck with the very basic sound capabilities of those machines -- unless you have an add-in card like the Mockingboard.
I love the Commodore Security patch placement even more than usual in this one.
Bah, humbug.
Apple ][ Forever!
Never heard of a robin setting up a mockingbird.
LOL! I just finally picked up a 2GS a couple weeks ago and did a video on it today! I am loving my 2GS with the Floppy Emu.
Growing up in the 90s we had apple IIe computers in primary school (what we call elementary school in Australia) and a commodore 64 at home. The 8bit era hung around longer than most people thought, arguably its still ticking along
We call it Elementary School in Canada, too.
We had Apple IIGS computers (and IIe) at my primary school. I fell into the "IT guy" role at my school so often was dragged out of class to go troubleshoot issues people had, even though they were a bit alien to me as I only had a C64. They let me take one home once on loan for the school holidays.
Thanks for the video, Robin - still just as enjoyable even if you don't prepare as much.
@2:15. The final Apple II model released would actually be the Apple IIc+, released Sept 1988. It was both a step forward and a step backwards for the Apple II line. The IIc+ was faster then the stock gs, but didn't have the sound and graphics capabilities of the gs.
Your GS looks WAY cleaner than mine. I just fished mine out of my old barn. Turned out my brother smashed out all the windows and doors, and vines grew through them and into all the old Apple IIs that were in there, and flooded all the containers that held the accessories.
Yikes, sorry to hear that! I hope at least some of it can be recovered.
Dood that’s awesome. I went to a catholic high school in the 80s and we had Apple at school but I had Commodores at home. I later became a superstar Mac programmer in Silicon Valley in the 90’s and even worked @ Apple.
Bit jealous of that GS. I had a //e as a kid and the GS was just starting to show up in the Apple magazines. As it is we (well, my dad) sold the //e and we got a PC.
I've always found the Apple IIGS an interesting machine, much like the C128 and the Acorn Archimedes machines.
C128 is kind of a mess IMO. IIgs is like... I don't know. It has more going for it than the C128, it's like almost good enough to measure up to the m68k crowd like Amiga and ST (despite the much lower clock speed - I think the '816 could get more done per cycle) but not quite and it all being bound to that Apple II legacy design is just... kind of weird.
As lovely a machine as the IIgs is in some ways, and despite being technically the pinnacle of the Apple II line - it just occupies a weird place for me. Like most of my nostalgia for the Apple II line is for the IIc and games like Karateka and Lode Runner. In a way the IIgs doesn't feel like a real Apple II to me - except when it does, then it feels like its 16-bit side is being held back by it...
Just powered up my own IIgs for the 1st time tonight. I gave $100 for the computer and monitor. No disk drive came with it, so this is so timely. Thanks Robin!!!
Re: Mockingboard.
1. With a ROM1 machine, and the Mockingboard in slot 4, you may have to disable the mouse whenever you want to use the Mockingboard and then reenable it whenever you want to use GSOS (or anything else that uses the mouse). If I were me, on a ROM1 machine I think I'd put it in either slot 7 or slot 1 (if you don't ever plan to have a printer hooked up). I am not 100% sure on this. I know it's not an issue on the ROM3 boxen (disabling it on ROM3 only disables it in IIe mode, but it's still available in IIgs mode), but I've heard that it's a thing on the ROM1 boxen (disabling it there disables it alltogether).
2. I have the Phasor clone from reactivemicro, and when I plug the motherboard audio into the header on the card, it gets SUPER noisy and distorted. I ended up just using two separate line outs and mixing them. But hopefully the mockingboard clone doesn't suffer from that issue.
PS: I love the IIgs keyboard. One thing on my project list is to hack up something on an arduino to read the ADB data from an extra IIgs keyboard and output USB HID data, so I can use it on a KVM will all my boxen. :D
Thanks for the info! I'll try moving the Mockingboard to slot 7 if/when I start using the mouse on it. So far the motherboard audio sounds great through the Mockingboard clone.
The 65816 is cool. Strange that you can still buy them. I wonder what people are using them for.
As a follow up to my Pi1541 project I am creating a SuperCPU clone.
Rare to see such an immaculate Apple IIgs. Have fun!
Lol, I didn’t realize this was a second channel. I thought you took the video down.😂. I love the content on both and the Podcast.
Very nice IIGS, thanks for sharing.
I have both versions of the older Floppy Emu, with the monochrome screen. Maybe it's time to pick up a current one as neither of mine have the extra Smartport options or UniDisk 3.5 support. (They only either support Smartport 3.5 on the END of the daisy chain, 5.25, or Smartport hard drive.)
I managed to get the rare-as-hen's-teeth CFFA3000 for one of my IIgs machines. It lets you boot (5.25) floppy images as slot 6 while also booting hard drive images without Floppy Emu's naming restrictions.
If you want to do any serious stuff, like use GS/OS, I recommend you upgrade the RAM to something above 1MB. I have GGLabs 8MB RAM expansion. It's a SIMM on a board that's the length of the memory expansion connector.
I really wanted a mockingboard back-in-the-day, or actually a C= version of it since I didn't have an Apple to put it into. Eventually I was satisfied with a MIDI rig and a Yamaha CX5m, but gear lust knows no boundaries.
I bought Nox Archaist, too. Now I need to buy a computer to run it on! =) Was thinking I'll buy a IIgs.
You know it comes with a Windows and Mac executable too, right? :-)
@@rivards1 yes! But I'm a purist.
@@crouchinghamster6407 I understand they will eventually release a GS-specific version, ,but for now it'll run on an enhanced //e, preferably with Mockingboard/Phasor sound card.
The IiGS was not the last apple, for obsure reasons it was discontinued before the Apple IIc+ and even the IIe.
Apple killed what was a machine that could shadow the early colorless and soundness mac. They prototyped a IIGS with SIMMS slots and internal HD and drive. But the project was cancelled.
It was the second time that Jobs abandoned several thousands users.
Did you not pull off both sides of the protective film on the perspex enclosure?
Also you need some strain relief on your new audio cable.
IIgs is a really great machine!!! :D Just remember to set the system speed down to "Normal" when you run IIe games. ;P
Thanks, I ran into that when I tried Donkey Kong and a couple other games. Nox Archaist seems to run fine with the fast speed as far as I can tell.
Since I usually boot such games from floppy, I wrote a program that let me set the speed to 1MHz before booting the disk, without going to Control Panel
Also, in programs I write that depend on 1MHz, I can also detect whether it's a IIgs, and set the speed to 1MHz if I need it. Very good for those old sound routines.
I miss my Apple II GS. :(
Interesting. I always thought the IIgs was fully 16-bit.
Where did the "Nox Archaist" title screen speech come from? The IIgs ensoniq chip, the Apple II speaker, or the Mockingboard?
I'm pretty sure that's the Apple II speaker.
0:02 Is it Appleuary?
6:43 That is a little strange how the cards just flap in the breeze if they don't go through the backplate.
9:26 The composite video looks pretty sharp!
10:58 Looks like a step in the right direction - unlike PCs of the era, the Apple used the same connector for both floppy drives and hard drives.
11:35 It's interesting how the SD-Card form factor is becoming obsolete and the major vendors are selling their high-capacity new cards in the Micro-SD form factor with an SD-Card adaptor. I guess the phone/tablet market is the larger part of their business and a Micro-SD can hold 1TB anyway.
13:25 So, to use any of the six pre-assigned slots, you have to disable some existing functionality? Does the game you want to play use the mouse that you're disabling?
Appleuary is a new high in terrible retro computing event portmanteaus. Or is it a new low? #Appleuary it is!
Yeah, it does seem the built-in functionality (some of which was only available for the first time on the IIgs, I believe; earlier models had more unassigned slots) needs to be sacrificed. I suppose full-blown IIgs software would make use of the (so I've heard) excellent built-in sound chip (designed by Bob Yannes who made the SID!) and wouldn't need the Mockingboard at all. As far as I know Nox Archaist is 100% keyboard controlled so I won't be missing the mouse.
@@8-bitshowandtell247 I was holding out for #Apple-ril
IIRC, the version 3 firmware rejigged how mice work so disabling the mouse in Control Panel doesn't stop it from working in GS/OS like in version 1.
Another way to enter the control panel is Option-Ctrl-Reset.
Interesting that there are two key combos for it! Is there any difference between them?
@@8-bitshowandtell247 The one I mentioned reboots into the Control Panel instead of just entering it. (It also allows you to reset all settings to factory default and switch between NTSC and PAL mode.)
Source some matching RAM chips and populate the rest of that board!! They should be inexpensive by now.
Com POZZ zit
I found mine to be really stiff... That’s what she said. She, was my chiropractor and it was my back ;)
IIc plus was last one
I thought this channel would feature your left hand :)
When do we get to see your face again? It's a good face!
My left hand got a fair bit of screen time today - it's even in the video thumbnail twice! :) I don't know when my face will next make an appearance. It just doesn't fit in my video workflow all that well :)
Wait what? I didn't realise there was a video where our good man showed his face. It would be so cool to put a face to that voice, but I understand not everyone wants to do that.
@@heidirichter a video on the main channel called ”year one recap” at 9:09. You've been warned.
I think Robin is just shy. I get it. I'm shy too. But I always show my face at the beginning of my videos.
We love the videos so much we're willing to listen to the hand.
But if I had just one wish for 2021, it would be the face.
Putting a Mockingboard into an Apple IIgs. Huh. *The computer with native sound hardware that blew away anything that came before it and most of what came after it for the next half decade.*
I get it, this new game probably does not support the Ensoniq 5503. It's just weird to see for somebody who lived through the era. :)
Yeah, Nox Archaist only supports Mockingboard for music, and the regular Apple II audio for the sound effects. It does seem strange not using the built-in audio.
@@8-bitshowandtell247 I don’t recall any 8-bit software making use of it, come to think of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the processor and/or other components had to be put into 16-bit mode or something to access it.
The excellent sound capabilities of the IIGS are only available in IIGS mode. When running software written for the II/II+/IIc/IIe (like Nox Archaist) you're stuck with the very basic sound capabilities of those machines -- unless you have an add-in card like the Mockingboard.