#156 

Yeah, and the amazing thing is that most of that demo is apparently Applesoft BASIC! I haven't done anything more than the demo, but it seems very cool. Too bad it was never adopted more widely.

@@CT6502 When I get the card I'll do some tests and make them available.

@@CT6502 That's a shame, too... any 3rd-party card would have had that niche battle to fight to get a user base. Imagine how nice a IIgs would have been with an official Apple card that was 320(640)x400 with a sprite engine.

Yeah, I thought Joe was actually going to cover that in his video, but I didn't see anything either. Maybe I'll do a followup.

The latest firmware update (which I did wrong) actually fixes the two different volumes so they're at the same level. Then you can just adjust the overall volume on your speakers/monitor.

It was difficult to capture with my camera, but the view at 5:29 is probably the best. The effect was subtle, but really captured the "feel" of an old school CRT.

Thanks Rudy!

Nice! Hope you get one.

Actually, Joe Strosnider did some testing on the Apple IIGS on his channel. I might do more testing once they've added more features, and I could do the IIGS.

Definitely! It doesn't have as many bells and whistles as the VidHD (with the fancy graphics modes), but it also doesn't erase your floppy disks like the VidHD is prone to do ;-)

Those all sound like cool projects! Maybe post these on the Facebook page or the Slack Apple2Infinitum and see if you can drum up some support!

@@CT6502 thx. I never did FB, and was hoping it’s something you or Jav wanted to do. You guys will always have the support of many enthusiasts and followers, and I know time is always a factor. Firstly would it actually be possible? 👍

Good question on the firmware update process. I'm not sure if it's the particular board that they chose? wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/tang/tang-nano-20k/example/unbox.html

From Joshua: All functionality is supported simultaneously. So no, users don’t have to change modes or configuration to switch between things. We listen directly to the bus and the video RAM on the entire Apple II family, and then point instructions and data where they need to go. Super Serial Card support is currently offline in the current version of the firmware as we had picked up a couple of problems with it. If we are able to close those issues, the intent here was to support USB to USB serial connections so that things like ADT or VDrive didn’t have to go through a mess of different serial adapters and connectors. DB25 or DB9 RS-232 interfaces were not part of our original design goals - just a cleaner path for ADT or comms with modern machines.

Thanks!

Definitely very cool!

Yes, I imagine it would be possible - it's a small form factor. They would just need to piggyback on top of one of the other chips, similar to how the Mockingboard 4c works.

It's actually a "no-name" brand. The label on the back says 11.6" monitore, OHM-1106. I got it from ReactiveMicro: wiki.reactivemicro.com/12-inch_LCD_Display

@@CT6502 thanks. it still might work for what i need it for. i did find a spec sheet for it. part of a whole family of fixed-resolution monitors made for security systems. atlasgentech.co.nz/media/wysiwyg/OHM-1106A_Data_sheet.pdf

Not out of the box, but I'll pass along that idea to the developers.

I asked the team, and Joshua said: "Likely to be fine with the RomXe CD and EF ROMs. Could be a potential problem with the optional 32-font video ROMs though as the a2n20v2 Multicard has its own copy of the //e character ROM that it uses for display." Both product are sold by ReactiveMicro so you might reach out to Henry and see what he says.

I'm using ZSH. I can't even remember why I switched, I guess it had some fancier features. The syntax is very similar to BASH, so it's an easy switch.

That’s good to know that it’s an easy switch!

Hmm, I don't recall where I bought it. I looked on my Amazon orders and it's not there. I do recall that it was just a bit big for the case opening, and I had to widen the opening with a dremel. So it wasn't perfect, and maybe it's better for you to just look on Amazon and find a different one.

No problem. Just wondered. Found one on Amazon that looks like it might work. Oh and thanks for replying.

No, unfortunately. It sounds like they got the FPGA code for the Mockingboard from somewhere else, and that person hadn't implemented the speech chips...

@@CT6502 yeah, but the chips are known and the schematics are somewhere. Maybe a firmare update in the future will add it. I ordered the card. I always wanted to get the sprite card, but couldn't ever find it.

@@berighteous yep, I think they just need to prioritize what features they add. And it's true, just need a firmware update!

Interesting, I've never heard of that happening, and I don't recall ever seeing that happen when I was a kid. But perhaps it depends upon the machine or the floppy drive. I had a II+ with a Disk ][ growing up.

Good choice! I just bought mine as well.