Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

7 posts / 0 new
Last post
Offline
Last seen: 12 years 3 months ago
Joined: Jul 17 2011 - 19:48
Posts: 25
Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

Hi AppleFritter Members,
+
+
I was writing with some questions I have with regard to an Apple IIgs ROM 3 System.
+
+
I'd appreciate any answers that you may know about, and may be able to reply to these questions with.
+
+
( 1 ) Approximately how many Apple IIgs CPUs in total were manufactured/sold new by Apple Computers, including all of the Versions released (I believe only the ROM 00, the ROM 01, and the ROM 3 Versions, but please correct me if I'm wrong about that)?
+
+
( 2 ) Approximately how many (or what percent) of the total number of Apple IIgs CPUs manufactured/sold new by Apple Computers were ROM 3 Version Apple IIgs CPUs?
+
+
( 3 ) I've noticed various numbers (and number-letter combinations) that are printed on various areas of the Apple IIgs ROM 3's main circuit board. I'm really interested in whether 1 or more of these numbers / number-letter combinations (a couple of which look like Serial Numbers) would allow me to identify either the date (or the approximate date, relative to other ROM 3 main circuit boards manufactured/sold new by Apple Computers).
+
+
( 4 ) I have the impression that of the overall Apple II computer model line, the comparative number of each Apple II model that was sold was in the following order (is this correct)?:
+
+
(BEGINNING WITH THE GREATEST NUMBER SOLD:)
+
1. The Apple //e (including all sub-models of Apple //e); followed by
2. The Apple //c (by far mostly the regular Apple //c, with a comparatively very small number of Apple //c+'s sold); followed by
3. The Apple ][+; followed by
4. The Apple IIgs (including all Versions - ROM 00, ROM 01, ROM 3, and any other Versions of the Apple IIgs that I may not know about); followed by
5. The Apple ][.
+
+
( 5 ) Looking more closely at the Apple IIgses in particular that were manufactured/sold new by Apple Computers, my impression is that approximately:
-- 15% were ROM 00s;
-- 60% were ROM 01s; and
-- 25% were ROM 3s.
-- Is this correct?
+
+
( 6 ) Also by way of comparative Version sales statistics by Apple Computers of new Apple IIgs CPUs, my impression is that:
-- 20% of all Apple IIgs Versions sold new by Apple Computers had "Woz Limited Edition" CPU Cases; and that
-- One-Third of all ROM 01 Version Apple IIgs CPU's sold new by Apple Computers had "Woz Limited Edition" CPU Cases.
-- Is this correct?
+
+
( 7 ) I've noticed that, with an Apple IIgs ROM 3, when it's not functioning in the 6.0.1 GS/OS Operating System, the CPU recognizes only the 1st two disk drives (regardless of whether they're 3.5" or 5.25" disk drives) in the "daisy chain" connected to the "plug and play" Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU's Disk Drive Port.

And, regardless of which Operating System it's utilizing, the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU appears unable to recognize/activate more than 2 "daisy chained" disk drives that are connected in a series to one another. (So much so that I've found it impossible even electrically to eject [let alone to utilize] a 3.5" Disk [through pressing the Eject Button on the 3.5" Disk Drive] that I've had in, what the CPU considers to be, at any given time, the 3rd "daisy-chained", apparently unrecognizable/non-activatable Disk Drive).
+
+
Whereas, when the Apple IIgs ROM 3 is functioning in whatever its native Operating System is upon start-up (is it a version of ProDos? Is it AppleSoft BASIC - or is BASIC solely a computer language rather than also an Operating System?), the CPU recognizes/activates the 3rd and the 2nd-to-closest-to-the-CPU in the "daisy chain" Disk Drives, but not the (1st) Disk Drive that's directly attached to the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU's "plug-and-play" Disk Drive Port (which begins the "daisy chain").
+
+
Is this difference in the particular 2 Disk Drive places within the "daisy chain" that the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU recognizes/activates, plus the fact that this Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU apparently cannot, using any Operating System, recognize/activate more than 2 Disk Drives in a "daisy chain", the way in which the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU intentionally was engineered to function, or is this functioning that I'm observing a reflection that the particular Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU that I'm utilizing is malfunctioning, (based upon these observed Disk Drive "daisy chain" recognition/activation inconsistencies, and this 2 Disk Drive Maximum "daisy chain" recognition/activation limitation)?
+
+
( 8 ) When in the 6.0.1 GS/OS Operating System mode, is there a way in which I can copy software on 5.25" or 3.5" floppy disks connected to the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU's "plug-and-play" Port via a "daisy chain" to the System's Hard Drive, when both an Icon for the relevant source disk drive, and an Icon for the attached Hard Drive, are visible on the screen? That is, is there a software program built into the 6.0.1 GS/OS Operating System that allows one to make copies of floppy disks, or is a particular disk copying software disk needed to be inserted and run first while working within the 6.0.1 GS/OS Operating System mode, before any other disks' software can be copied onto an attached Hard Drive?
+
+
( 9 ) Is there a special technique needed to get the "Control-Open Apple-Reset" classic Apple II models restart command to work on the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU and Keyboard? I've found that no matter what order in which I try holding down these 3 keys, this 3-key famous Apple II models System Restart Command almost never works. I'd estimate that it works, seemingly at random, about once every 10 consecutive times when I try it. But then, after it does work, I never can duplicate the specific way in which I know that I just pressed these 3 keys, so that I then would know a reliable way for "Control-Open Apple-Reset" to work thereafter.
+
+
Thanks, everyone, for any answer(s) to any of these Apple IIgs question(s) to which you may be able to reply!

Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: Apr 10 2006 - 20:01
Posts: 1013
Re: Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

( 8 ) When in the 6.0.1 GS/OS Operating System mode, is there a way in which I can copy software on 5.25" or 3.5" floppy disks connected to the Apple IIgs ROM 3 CPU's "plug-and-play" Port via a "daisy chain" to the System's Hard Drive, when both an Icon for the relevant source disk drive, and an Icon for the attached Hard Drive, are visible on the screen?

Yes, simply drag and drop one to the other.

Offline
Last seen: 9 years 10 months ago
Joined: Aug 3 2011 - 07:50
Posts: 33
Re: Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

6. IIRC, 50,000 IIGSes, all ROM 00 originally, had the Woz lid and certificate. However, many ROM 00s would have been upgraded to ROM 01s, and the lids are completely interchangeable.

7. What order is your drive chain? The correct order, if I recall correctly is:

IIGS motherboard
Any number of UniDisk 3.5 drives
Up to 2 Apple 3.5 drives
Up to 2 Apple 5.25 drives (or, on a ROM 00 or 01, UniDisk 5.25 drives are also acceptable)

There may well be issues with drives after the second, third, or fourth 3.5" (especially depending on your OS version - ProDOS 8 1.9 can see fewer drives than 2.0.3 or GS/OS), but both 5.25" drives should be recognized even in such a situation, if the chain is connected correctly.

Also, the "native" operating system is GS/OS, a derivative of ProDOS 16, which is based on ProDOS. Applesoft is not an OS, it's a BASIC interpreter, and there are OSes that run alongside it - the monitor ROM OS, which doesn't do anything with disks, and either DOS or ProDOS, which sit in between the monitor ROM and Applesoft, if I recall correctly.

9. Hold down Command, hold down Ctrl, press Reset. Releasing Reset while Command/Open Apple and Ctrl are held down is what triggers the reset.

Offline
Last seen: 5 years 6 months ago
Joined: Jul 5 2009 - 23:18
Posts: 44
Re: Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

Diablo

IIRC, 50,000 IIGSes, all ROM 00 originally, had the Woz lid and certificate. However, many ROM 00s would have been upgraded to ROM 01s, and the lids are completely interchangeable.
Those are the numbers I have seen around too. However here http://oldcomputers.net/appleiigs.html the number is 10 000 and I have seen also 100 000 somewhere...

On a side note you forget IIGS Upgrade. IIRC - 1000 units...

Offline
Last seen: 7 years 1 month ago
Joined: Jun 11 2011 - 21:57
Posts: 109
Re: Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

Approximately how many Apple IIgs CPUs in total were manufactured/sold new by Apple Computers, including all of the Versions released (I believe only the ROM 00, the ROM 01, and the ROM 3 Versions, but please correct me if I'm wrong about that)?

About 1.5 million is the number I have seen most frequently.

Approximately how many (or what percent) of the total number of Apple IIgs CPUs manufactured/sold new by Apple Computers were ROM 3 Version Apple IIgs CPUs?

Roughly a third, based on the date of introduction. However, this doesn't account for however many ROM01 machines were in inventory at the time of introduction and those were the days before just-in-time manufacturing, so figure anywhere between a quarter and a third.

I have the impression that of the overall Apple II computer model line, the comparative number of each Apple II model that was sold was in the following order (is this correct)?:

1. IIe ~6,000,000
2. IIc ~3,000,000
3. IIgs ~1,500,000
4. II+ ~900,000
5. IIc+ ~100,000
6. II 50,000 - 100,000, depending on whose interpretation of serial numbers you believe

Offline
Last seen: 12 years 3 months ago
Joined: Jul 17 2011 - 19:48
Posts: 25
Please Delete This Account.

Please Delete This Account.

Offline
Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: Apr 10 2006 - 20:01
Posts: 1013
Re: Apple IIgs ROM 3 System Questions

I think, if you needed a numeric keypad squeezed onto your IIe's keyboard, it'd have been better simply to buy a IIe Enhanced and a plain calculator.

Then you have forgotten the world's first Killer App.

Log in or register to post comments