21 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

Holy Crap! I just discovered that you can emulate a Apple IIe on a mac! Does anyone know more about this? Which Macs is it compatible with? How well does it work? I've always been curious about Macs (my only experience was with a Mac Classic which I absolutely adored), so it would be awesome if I could combine my IIe with a Mac.

Tempest

[Allan]

Tempest said:

Holy Crap!  I just discovered that you can emulate a Apple IIe on a mac!  Does anyone know more about this?  Which Macs is it compatible with?  How well does it work?  I've always been curious about Macs (my only experience was with a Mac Classic which I absolutely adored), so it would be awesome if I could combine my IIe with a Mac.  

Tempest

Uhh, welcome to the twenty-first century Tempest. You can also emulate IIe/IIgs on PCs as well although I've heard you will burn in hell for this. If your refereing to the IIe card for Macs, that's not an emulator but a real IIe on a Mac card. Your probably better off running one of the later software emulators though since they're faster and have extra features for dealing with file formats and such. Just do a search for Apple IIe emulators and I'm sure you'll get a bunch of hits.

Allan

[Tempest]

Ok I found this list of systems that work with the card: http://www.mug.jhmi....6/15/apple.html

Macintosh LC
Macintosh Color Classic
Macintosh LC II
Macintosh LC III
Macintosh LC 475
Macintosh LC 520
Macintosh LC 550
Macintosh LC 575*
Macintosh Quadra 605
Macintosh Performa 4xx
Macintosh Performa 55x
Macintosh Performa 56x
Macintosh Performa 57x*


Can any Mac buffs out there tell me anything about these systems? Jsut how freakin' many Macs are there anyway? I guess I'm looking for the most powerful one that will still run the Apple IIe card (which I've listed). The Performa series looks good, it's nice, compact, and it has the little 14" montior that my original Apple had.

Tempest

[Tempest]

Quote

Uhh, welcome to the twenty-first century Tempest.  You can also emulate IIe/IIgs on PCs as well although I've heard you will burn in hell for this. If your refereing to the IIe card for Macs, that's not an emulator but a real IIe on a Mac card. Your probably better off running one of the later software emulators though since they're faster and have extra features for dealing with file formats and such. Just do a search for Apple IIe emulators and I'm sure you'll get a bunch of hits.

How the hell can an emulator be faster than the real thing? Woudln't that mess the game up? I don't want to use an emualtor anyway, I want to use the real disks and such. I've always shyed away from emulators anyway.

Tempest

[Xot]

Tempest said:

Ok I found this list of systems that work with the card: http://www.mug.jhmi....6/15/apple.html

Macintosh LC  
Macintosh Color Classic  
Macintosh LC II  
Macintosh LC III  
Macintosh LC 475  
Macintosh LC 520  
Macintosh LC 550  
Macintosh LC 575*  
Macintosh Quadra 605  
Macintosh Performa 4xx  
Macintosh Performa 55x  
Macintosh Performa 56x  
Macintosh Performa 57x*


Can any Mac buffs out there tell me anything about these systems?  Jsut how freakin' many Macs are there anyway?  I guess I'm looking for the most powerful one that will still run the Apple IIe card (which I've listed).  The Performa series looks good, it's nice, compact, and it has the little 14" montior that my original Apple had.  

Tempest

Currently there are approximate 9,744,042 models of Macintosh computers. Not all Performas have built in monitors, but there are the lateest model you will be able to use the Apple II card in. The Performa 61xx series is not compatible because it uses the PowerPC architecture.

Anyways, the upper-level stats for those Peformas are about a 90-130 Mhz processor, usually 8 meg of onboard Ram expandable to 136 (two 64 MB DIMMs, I believe) and a 1 GB HD. That's based on my memory of the last couple Performas I had, anyways. You should be able to d/l the latest system software that's non-PPC friendly from Apple's web site... I think it's system 7.6.x, but I'm not sure.

This is all from my often-failing memory so don't take these numbers as definitive.

You'll still need a 5.25 drive to run the majority of IIe/c software; it's probably easier to get an original Apple II.

Good luck!

[Tempest]

Quote

You'll still need a 5.25 drive to run the majority of IIe/c software; it's probably easier to get an original Apple II.

Actually I already have one. I have my Apple IIe set up right now, but I thought it would be cool to replace it with a Mac and still be able to play Apple IIe games. Not to mention that it takes up alot less space...

I honestly can't tell the difference between all those models. An I thought the Atari ST models were confusing...

Tempest

[Nukey Shay]

Tempest said:

How the hell can an emulator be faster than the real thing?  Woudln't that mess the game up?  I don't want to use an emualtor anyway, I want to use the real disks and such.  I've always shyed away from emulators anyway.  

Tempest

Uh...what? Software-based emulators can usually run as fast as the system allows (which can be a boon for running terribly slow programs). Imagine running games like Sargon II or Chessmaster at the highest setting, and not be a deceased old man by the time the computer makes a move.

[Tempest]

Well I suppose that would work for games where the computer "thinks", but I can't imagine it would be useful for action games which are 95% of my library. I want to run them the way they were made to be run.

Tempest

[Curt Vendel]

Matt,

Around 1993'ish or so, (Maybe a little earlier) Apple got out of control and began to create dozens of overlapping product lines and models.... in this panic mode to get into every nook, niche and cranny Apple ended up causing a great deal of confusion and customer resentment, this lead to its near-death demise and Steve Jobs was able to correct the firm, cut down the product line and get things under control.

I was only familiar with the Apple LC (Low Cost) models being able to use the Apple //e card, but its good to know it did work in others.

While there are many software emulators, I think having a true hardware card within the system to run things is a better solution.


Curt

Tempest said:

Ok I found this list of systems that work with the card: http://www.mug.jhmi....6/15/apple.html

Macintosh LC  
Macintosh Color Classic  
Macintosh LC II  
Macintosh LC III  
Macintosh LC 475  
Macintosh LC 520  
Macintosh LC 550  
Macintosh LC 575*  
Macintosh Quadra 605  
Macintosh Performa 4xx  
Macintosh Performa 55x  
Macintosh Performa 56x  
Macintosh Performa 57x*


Can any Mac buffs out there tell me anything about these systems?  Jsut how freakin' many Macs are there anyway?  I guess I'm looking for the most powerful one that will still run the Apple IIe card (which I've listed).  The Performa series looks good, it's nice, compact, and it has the little 14" montior that my original Apple had.  

Tempest

[Tempest]

So umm which one is best then? I guess one of the Performa 57x series (I like the built-in monitor). What's the difference between the 575, 577, and 578?

Tempest

[Christophero Sly]

The Apple IIe card requires a Mac with an LC Proccessor Direct Slot. Of the models on your list, the Performa 57x series probably have the most horsepower. They run a Motorola 68040, sans floating point unit, at 50-66mhz. I don't think any particular Macintosh model on your list is best if all you want to do is use the IIe card. I don't think much horespower is required to run the IIe card. It should function fine on a low end LC (20mhz 68020).

I don't think any Power PC equipped Macs came with an LC slot. I think you can upgrade the LC /Performa 575 to Power PC, but you lose the LC slot doing so.

Also, you'll have to go back three OS versions to System 7 in order to use the IIe card.

You can find tech specs for all vintage Macs at:

http://www.info.appl...gacy/index.html

[Tempest]

Well the reason I was going for horsepower was that I thought it would also be nice to play some Mac games (like this Marathon I've always heard about).

Tempest

[Christophero Sly]

I wouldn't recommend playing Marathon on a 68k series Mac like those on your list. IMO, a PowerPC above 100mhz is required for the Marathon games.

[Allan]

Tempest said:

Quote

Uhh, welcome to the twenty-first century Tempest.  You can also emulate IIe/IIgs on PCs as well although I've heard you will burn in hell for this. If your refereing to the IIe card for Macs, that's not an emulator but a real IIe on a Mac card. Your probably better off running one of the later software emulators though since they're faster and have extra features for dealing with file formats and such. Just do a search for Apple IIe emulators and I'm sure you'll get a bunch of hits.

How the hell can an emulator be faster than the real thing? Woudln't that mess the game up? I don't want to use an emualtor anyway, I want to use the real disks and such. I've always shyed away from emulators anyway.

Tempest

Thanks Tempest, you made me laugh. Yes, the timing would mess up most games, but other software like word processors, databases, graphics programs, etc., would greatly benefit from this. Yea, I can understand about using the real thing. If you really want a real IIe that's fast, has access to 3 1/2 inch disks among many other things, and is flat out one of the coolest computers, get yourself a IIgs. They rock and will play all your IIe stuff as well as tons of IIgs software. It will also run IIe software faster than a IIe but can easily be slowed down to IIe speed for games.

Allan

[desiv]

Just to clarify things..

The Apple II card for those Macs is not an Apple II emulator....

It's an Apple II on a card...

http://www.mandrake....c_card_faq.html

Pretty good FAQ above...

The software emulators can run faster than a standard Apple II if you have a fast Mac or PC, but since most people use emulators for games, it's not generally a big deal.. Most people run their Apple II emulators at original Apple II speed..

Me, I use my Apple //e for Apple stuff and my Mac LC for old Mac stuff. (Like Continuum... Great GAME!!! B/W Thrust type game... Or Daleks!! :-)

desiv

[Jasoco]

I have one for one of my LC III's. It's cool and all, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get into the blue screened BASIC programming program. Like I used to do in school. I'm pissed that no one has been able to help me. I want to program! Explore! Dammit.

[desiv]

If I boot my //e with no disks in the drives, I get a blank screen (except for the Apple //e at the top of the screen).

Then, if I hit Control-Reset, I get to BASIC..
(Control-OpenApple-Reset will Reset my //e...)

Of course, that's on a Real //e, not a //e card...

Not sure if they left BASIC in ROM for the IIe card.. Worth a shot...

desiv

p.s. BASIC on me //e ain't blue screened. It's black.. Is the screen for the //e card blue???

[Tempest]

I've decided to forego my first foray into Macs and go with a simple IIgs. It's still a Apple II so it plays IIe games, and it plays IIgs games (not that there are alot of those). I know jack about Macs and I don't belong in that world. Best to stay with what I know.

Anything special I should know about IIgs's?

Tempest

[Wntermute]

Tempest said:

Ok I found this list of systems that work with the card: http://www.mug.jhmi....6/15/apple.html

Can any Mac buffs out there tell me anything about these systems?  Jsut how freakin' many Macs are there anyway?  I guess I'm looking for the most powerful one that will still run the Apple IIe card (which I've listed).  The Performa series looks good, it's nice, compact, and it has the little 14" montior that my original Apple had.

Macintosh LC (16MHz 68020)
Macintosh Color Classic (MHz 68 w/monitor)
Macintosh LC II (16MHz 68030)
Macintosh LC III (25MHz 68030)
Macintosh LC 475 (25MHz 68LC040)
Macintosh LC 520 (25MHz 68030 w/14" monitor & CD)
Macintosh LC 550 (33MHz 68030 w/14" monitor & CD)
Macintosh LC 575* (33MHz 68LC040 w/14" monitor & CD)
Macintosh Quadra 605 (25MHz 68LC040)
Macintosh Performa 40x-43x (16MHz 68030)
Macintosh Performa 45x (25Mhz 68030)
Macintosh Performa 46x (33MHz 68030)
Macintosh Performa 47x (25MHz 68LC040)
Macintosh Performa 55x (33MHz 68030 w/14" monitor & CD)
Macintosh Performa 56x (33MHz 68030 w/14" monitor & CD)
Macintosh Performa 57x* (33MHz 68LC040 w/14" monitor & CD)

So, out of those, I'd say the most powerful is the LC/Performa 575.
BTW, the Macintosh Centris/Quadra 660AV was codenamed "Tempest"

[Xot]

Tempest said:

I've decided to forego my first foray into Macs and go with a simple IIgs.  It's still a Apple II so it plays IIe games, and it plays IIgs games (not that there are alot of those).  I know jack about Macs and I don't belong in that world.  Best to stay with what I know.

Anything special I should know about IIgs's?  

Tempest

Aw, yeah, a IIgs. I still have mine from 1987.

A couple things you should know is that for the most part the thing runs in IIe mode; all you need to do is put a disk in the floppy drive and it'll auto-run it in either IIe or IIgs mode as necessary.

The IIgs will also drop to BASIC if you hit control-reset at startup. However, if you hit open apple-control-escape, you'll go to the system menu which, among other things, toggles between Normal and Fast mode (for when you want to limit your speed for action games). The system options are powered by a lithium atter so you may want to replace that if necessary.

I have tons of IIe software and a fair chunk of IIgs stuff, including a couple of the King's Quest games. PM me if you're interested in anything.

[Room 34]

Tempest said:

How the hell can an emulator be faster than the real thing?

Just a guess... but the real thing only runs in archaic Macs whereas the modern Macs have such a powerful processor that the emulators can run at full speed... or faster.

[Room 34]

Tempest said:

I know jack about Macs and I don't belong in that world.  Best to stay with what I know.

What's to know?