Mystery SPCL Rom for keyboard.

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NovellNetware's picture
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Mystery SPCL Rom for keyboard.

As posted from another user. I found a different keyboard rom in an apple. This apple had the shit key mod in it. I was wondering how I found out what it does.

 

Product info on sticker.

Vision 20 by vista 1.0 .

The only strange thing I notices compared to before I put the rom in. In apple writter 1.1. The number keys are all lowercase. Only in apple writter. Now I might be missing part of the picture since I'm not using the keyboard with the mod wire to the joystick port. But I do have the apple ii to ps/2 keyboard mod and the uppler / lower case with cap locks work.

The only other strange thing is on the `/~ key instead of putting ' charater it looks like it puts the closed apple symbol instead. 

One more thing. If i Use the esc key and turn on caps accoridng to the apple works number. The 1234 keys work fine.

Oh and I did the character address dump and they looked normal to me.

 

Thanks,

Josh

 

 

 

 

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Tracked down some more information.

From a Personal Computing magaazine review in 1983. Q&A section of how do you get lower case into the apple.

 

Just install the Vista Vision 20 chip into your ROM spcl slot. (Also reviewed was the Dan Paymar chip.) that works just as well and cost about the same.

For those who are wondering around $30.00.

You have to use special software on some programs and other programs ask if you have a lower case display.

For those programs who do. You have an Identical Apple IIe's 40 column display.

 

But no other infromation and what the codes are. I'm hoping to look into the Dan Paymar chip and see if I can find code for that to see if it works on the

Vista Vision chip.

 

Thanks,

 

Josh

 

 

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NovellNetware wrote:

[quote=NovellNetware]

From a Personal Computing magaazine review in 1983. Q&A section of how do you get lower case into the apple.

 

Just install the Vista Vision 20 chip into your ROM spcl slot. (Also reviewed was the Dan Paymar chip.) that works just as well and cost about the same.

For those who are wondering around $30.00.

You have to use special software on some programs and other programs ask if you have a lower case display.

For those programs who do. You have an Identical Apple IIe's 40 column display.

 

But no other infromation and what the codes are. I'm hoping to look into the Dan Paymar chip and see if I can find code for that to see if it works on the

Vista Vision chip.

 

Thanks,

 

Josh

[/quote]

 

The chargen ROM in a ][+ can be replaced with a 2716, except very early revision motherboards.  If you have an EPROM eraser and burner it is pretty easy to burn one.  The ROM images are available for download places like Asimov.  You can even put in a different character set.  With a little ingenuity you can make a small daughter board to put a larger sized EPROM in and have multiple character sets that are switchable.  Very early motherboards require an adapter socket.

 

The //e uses a 2732 sized chip.

 

I wrote a utility to display the chargen ROM images (on modern computer, should work on Mac or Linux, maybe Windows but I don't have Windows to test it).  I have been planning to write a character set editor but I haven't gotten around to it yet.  The display utility can be found on my github page along with a few other Apple II related utilities and some other stuff.

 

 

 

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