Calling ApleII experts......

From: Mike van Bokhoven <mike_at_ambientdesign.com>
Date: Sat Jul 26 19:23:00 2003

> > across a BIOS chip for this M/Board?? If some one can provide me with
the
> > contents of the Eprom I can burn it from a file and test it if necasary.
> You most likely don't need to go through all that trouble. Just take the
> ROMs from any other Apple ][ motherboard and pop them into this one. For
> minimal system operation you can just transfer ROM F8. For BASIC, you
> also want ROM-D0, ROM-D8, ROM-E0, ROM-E8 and ROM-F0.

I seem to recall it's necessary to be a bit careful with this - the original
Apple II series (II, II+) used ROM ICs that were basically pin-compatible
with standard EPROMS, but had an inverted enable line or something of the
sort. Clone manufacturers simply used normal EPROMS. Hence, even if the
actual contents of a clone EPROM is the same as the original Apple II ROM,
you can't swap the two and have it work.

It's a pity I can't remember the exact details; anyway, the practical
upshot is that you can't use clone EPROMSs in real Apple IIs, or vice versa.

Exception time: I once had an Apple II clone that used actual Apple ROM, it
must have been licensed. The brand was Med Fly (yes, weird, these machines
were sold into hospitals and doctors' surgeries).

Mike.
Received on Sat Jul 26 2003 - 19:23:00 BST