This disk contains several programs:
You might have noticed that one of the files on this disk is a program for the Apple II. This software runs on the PC. You will use a bootstrapping process to copy one file onto an Apple II disk.
You need an Apple 2 with a Super Serial Card. The software requires that the Super Serial Card is in either slot 1 or slot 2 of the Apple. The Disk controller must be in slot 6.
The Super Serial Card has 14 little switches and a special switch called the jumper block. The jumper block is a "chip" with a white triangle on it. We want it pointing to the word "terminal". If the jumper block is pointing to the word modem, pull out the chip, turn it around, and re-insert it. You also need a serial cable connecting the Super Serial Card to the PC serial port COM1.
This setup uses 9600 baud. You can change the SSC to run at 19200 baud if you want (switch 1-4 is off instead of on). Make sure the baud rate you give GETDISK is the same that is used on your Super Serial Card.
I presume you have unpacked the PC software in a directory called AP2TOOLS.
There is a program you copy onto the Apple II. Use SENDDISK.SL1 for Super Serial Card in Slot 1. Use SENDDISK.SL2 for Super Serial Card in Slot 2.
Set everything up. Connect the computers. Boot up on the Apple with a DOS 3.3 disk. Get to the BASIC ] prompt. Type the following on the Apple:
On the PC, run Procomm.
Within Procomm, type the following:
Once the process is over, type Alt-X Y <Enter> to Exit Procomm.
What have we done? We have told the Apple to expect input from slot 1 (the Super Serial Card and thus the PC). We have set the Super Serial Card for 300 baud (6B) and set the port parameters to match the PC. In Procomm, we set the PC for 300 baud, and sent to file SENDDISK.SL1 to the Apple.
What does SENDDISK.SL1 (or SENDDISK.SL2) do? It goes into the Apple monitor, copies about 500 bytes, and then saves the bytes as a Binary file called SENDDISK.
Boot the disk containing our little file. On the Apple 2, type:
Switch disks. On the PC, type the following:
On the PC, say 9600 baud, and give a file name. The file extension of .DSK is recommended.
On the Apple press a key to start the transfer. In about 3 minutes the transfer is done.
Getting the entire disk over to the PC as an encoded 143,360 byte file may not seem very useful. That is where a program called GRABA2 comes into play. If your image file is called LETTERS.DSK, then ype the following:
You get a catalog of your Apple II disk on your PC. Not bad. If there is a textfile called QUICK that you want, type the following:
One important trick: if the Apple 2 file name contains a space, use the tilde (~) as a substitute on the MS-DOS command line. A file called FRED 12/85 irs read by the following:
If there is a BEX file you want to read called REPORT that you want, type the following:
Notice that the program knows how to find all the .A .B .C files. It treats the BEX chapter (file) as if it was a single unit.
The disk image files can be run on the PC using software called Apple 2 emulators. A number of these programs are available on the internet. Contact David Holladay for assistance with emulators.
You can also load BEX on your Apple, and copy files directly to the PC (while the PC is running Procomm). This is the approach we have documented in the past in the RDC Newsletters, Interface Guide, and in the MegaDots manual.
To copy a BEX file into a PC textfile, first create a short set-up file consisting of:
Remember to enter a Control-I into a BEX chapter in the BEX Editor, type <Control-C> I.
Go into Procomm on the PC. The default should be 9600 baud. Press Alt-F1 [filename] <Enter> to start a new "log file". Give the new file name on the PC. On BEX, first print the set-up file then the file you want to slot 1. When the transfer is over, press another Alt-F1 on the PC to close the log file (if you don't close the file, the PC does not get the data).