Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hplvec!reid From: reid@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (Reid Trimble) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: RE: Apple II/III modem Message-ID: <9430002@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM> Date: 13 Feb 91 21:34:29 GMT References: <9102121255.AA05176@apple.com> Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Loveland, CO Lines: 56 > BEASON@GENESEO.BITNET (Bob Beason) / 5:50 am Feb 12, 1991 / > Answer to questions on Apple II/III > For the AIII there is little choice...Apple had one and there was one > called XMODEM plus a crude Kermit. > The stuff I have was not originall PD but the company that handled is > PAIR Software and may be out of business so it may not matter. The "crude Kermit" program was just that - pretty much unusable. It was sold by an outfit called Pair Software that went defunct many years ago. The best Apple /// communications program is The Communication Manager, available (still!) from On Three for about $25. Call them at (206) 334-8001. It supports Xmodem and Compuserve Bin II formats and does a good VT-52 emulation. > The AIII interp file is a compiled application or language file. There > has to be an interp file because it translates AIII code to 6502 code. Gads. All this time and *still* nobody understands how the Apple /// worked. The A/// was the ultimate "soft" machine. All it had was a 4K rom with some simple diagnostics and boot code. Everything else had to be loaded from the disk every time it powered up or changed application. Every A/// boot disk needs 3 files: SOS.KERNEL - the main, lowest level operating system software. This included the file manager, memory manager, interrupt/event manager and some other stuff I've forgotten now. It's written in *Very* tight 6502 machine code. SOS.DRIVER - the I/O drivers. Completely configurable device drivers, years before MS-DOS had them. You at least needed the console and rs232 drivers, but you could add and configure at will. This moved all the A][ driver code out of ROMs on the individual boards. SOS.INTRP - the so-called "interpreter" file. It was NOT an interpreter - it's the actual application you are running, written in 6502 machine code with "SOS extensions". Some INTRP files were: BASIC, Pascal, VisiCalc, WordJuggler and 3EZ Pieces (the AppleWorks prototype). There is *NO SUCH THING* as "AIII code", unless you consider the operating system calls which looked like a 4 byte 6502 op-code. Unfortunately, there never was a true compiler for the A///. Pascal was an adaption of the UCSD system that compiled to P-Code (Pseudo-code). The SOS.INTRP file found on the pascal system disks is the P-Code interpreter (itself written in 6502 machine code.) > There used to be a AIII bulletinboard, but it is probably defunct. Try 804-747-8752. Used to be the best Apple /// BBS in the world. The Apple /// was a great machine, probably years ahead of its time. Doomed by poor marketing and poorer documentation. ******************************************************************** All opionions expressed here are purely my own. ********************************************************************