I picked up an Apple IIe at a hamfest this morning, and it was pretty much a barebones system - no cards or peripherals besides an original Apple joystick (which is pretty damn cool). What's my best bet for running 5.25" disk images on this thing? Should I go straight for a FloppyEmu, and if so, what disk controller card should I be looking for to go with it? Or is there a simpler/cheaper option if I have no intention of hooking up actual floppy drives? I also have a IIgs that could make use of a FloppyEmu or similar device.
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Got a barebones IIe - what to get next?
- Thread starter db2
- Start date
VERAULT
Veteran Member
i would buy a disk ii and disk ii controller card. they are typically cheaper than othet cards and drives (because they made more of them). i have two flopp emus but for me a real working disk drive is a must. also get a super serial card or clone so you can use adtpro.
optional cards: booti hsrd drive emulator cards are great and inexpensive.
uthernet ii network card is fun for doing web or network stuff(and it works with adtpro)
optional cards: booti hsrd drive emulator cards are great and inexpensive.
uthernet ii network card is fun for doing web or network stuff(and it works with adtpro)
I wouldn't invest $$$ into the IIe just yet. I'd go for cheap, and then later if you still have the enthusiasm, buy the more expensive stuff. On eBay, some sellers are selling the SDISK II emulators. They're not the finest devices by any means, but they at least give you a functional disk drive at a reasonable price. You still need to buy a disk controller, but I wouldn't exactly buy the Disk II controller. I actually like the Franklin Ace disk controller, which is what I currently use on my IIe. I can't give any details, but BMOW will be releasing the Yellowstone controller soon, which does circles around all other controllers out there. I'm currently helping beta test the card. Again, no release date, but It is worth the wait!!!
Yeah, I'm not going to dump a ton of money into it since I've already got a IIgs, but I wouldn't mind something a little fancier than cassette storage.
So an SDISK II and an old Disk II card? That's the older one with the twin ribbon cable connectors, and not the one with the DSUB connector that's exposed at the rear of the machine, right? I'll go nose around ebay a bit. Thanks!MNrocketry
New Member
If the Aux slot is empty, you may want to pick up a cheap Extended 80-column Card for it that will give you the extra 64K of RAM.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
those sdisk ii emulators are terrible. they only hold one image and you need to take out the sd card every time you change the image. bit worth the money. i bought one a couple years. it lives on my shelf till i can find someone to punt it off to.
Everything is empty unless I plug in the joystick.
I'll keep an eye out for the 80-column card.And duly noted on the SDISK II limitations...
MNrocketry
New Member
A lot of IIe / IIc software will expect a full 128K. Last one of those 64K 80col cards that I bought, think that I paid $9 plus shipping.
I have a CFFA3000 card that lives in my Platinum IIe. I also have a Floppy Emu because that's easier to move around and use with my Enhanced IIe or II+.
If they were available, I'd pick up a BOOTI card too.
I have a CFFA3000 card that lives in my Platinum IIe. I also have a Floppy Emu because that's easier to move around and use with my Enhanced IIe or II+.
If they were available, I'd pick up a BOOTI card too.
Okay, good to know. Looks like the RAM/80 col. cards are indeed pretty cheap. I went ahead and ordered a Floppy Emu since I can use it with my IIgs right away (and I've been wanting one to use with it for a while now - a lot of old self-boot software doesn't play nice with a ProDOS hard drive). I'll look around for a good deal on a IIe disk controller and RAM/80 col. to get that machine up and running too. In the meantime, I rummaged around the storage room and found a Super Serial card, so I'm all set if I want to hook this thing to my packet radio TNC.