!pr0
65C02 vs the older Apples...................Bob Sander-Cederlof

A few months ago we reported that apparently 2-MHz versions of the 65C02 chip worked in Apple IIs and II Plusses.  (Even 1-MHz versions work in //e's.)  Bob Stout was our source:  he tried it, it worked, and he told us so.

Based on Bob's good luck, Stephen Bach tried it, it did not work, and he told us so.  Steve and Bob got together, and it seems that the 2-MHz parts work in some IIs and II Plusses, but not all.  "Try it and see" seems to be the only definitive answer.

By the way, you can get the 65C02 from Hamilton/Avnet and several other distributors for under $15 each.  The 1MHz version is under $10 from Western Design Center.  There is no incentive for dealers to get into the distribution of chips like this, because quantity price breaks depend on volumes in the thousands.

If you are having trouble finding a distributor, call Rockwell International's sales office; they might sell to you directly, point you to a distributor, or even give you a free sample.  If not Rockwell, then try GTE or NCR, who also manufacture the 65C02, albeit without the extra 32 instructions Rockwell inserted.  Here are some phone numbers for Rockwell:

       California:  (714) 833-4655
       Texas:       (214) 996-6500
       Illinois:    (312) 297-8862
       New Jersey:  (609) 596-0090
       Tokyo:       (03)  265-8806
       West Germany:(089) 857-6016
       England:     (01)  759-9911

You might possibly find these chips at Apple dealers or repair centers in the near future, because it is being used in the Apple //c.  Apple is apparently not using the Rockwell version, because the BYTE article about the //c says the chip has 27 new opcodes.  This is the total count of new opcodes including the new addressing modes added by the 65C02 offered by NCR, GTE, Western Design, and others.  The Rockwell version adds an additonal 32.  Those 32 are NOT in the 65802 or 65816, so chasing after them will lead you into dead-end streets.

If you are able to wait, the 65802 and 65816 far surpass the 65C02.  You can order samples from Western Design Center, (602)962-4545, at $95 each.  Originally expected in January, they are now targeting June 15th.
!np
!pr2
The Apple //c..............................Bob Sander-Cederlof

In August 1977 I walked into CompuShop with checkbook in hand, hoping to fill a void in my life by (finally) buying my own personal computer.  I didn't know one brand from another, but there was a 4K Apple II running a color demo in lo-res graphics that caught my eye.  I bought it.  My toy, because I certainly could think of no possible way to consider it more than a toy.  The serial number is 219, and I am using it to write this article.  By the way, the other brands that were at CompuShop in 1977 are now all out of business.

The price for 4K was $1298; I got 4K extra RAM and paid $1348 plus sales tax.  No software.  No CRT.  No floating point BASIC.  No slick manuals.  About 45 pages of mimeographed notes was the total documentation package.  I had to build a modulator kit that afternoon so I could hook it up to my TV set.  The only other connection which seemed of any use was the cassette tape, which several hundred of you may remember.  The store gave me a cassette containing the color demo and Woz's Breakout game.  That was all there was!  Eight empty slots, and absolutely nothing on the market to plug into them.  Not even enough memory for hi-res graphics, which I did not even know existed.  Absolutely no software for sale from any vendor.

I have spent a lot of time on this Apple.  And money.  And it is not JUST a toy any more!  It has Applesoft on the motherboard, with 48K RAM.  Slot 0 has an STB 128K RAM card (the best, in my opinion).  All the other slots are full, but with what depends on the work for the day.

Now there is the Apple //c.  $1295 buys you 128K RAM, Applesoft BASIC, a disk drive, and ProDOS!  Probably over 10,000 programs on the market which will run in it, and many more to come.  Built-in interfaces including two serial ports, mouse, disk controller, 80-columns, many video options, and more.  The most often purchased interfaces are all there, enough to fill five slots in an older Apple.  They added a headphone jack and volume control, too; it is recessed under the left edge.  Using it will let you work later at night without disturbing light sleepers.  You still get a "game" port, but it is a 9-pin D-socket and doubles as the mouse port.  Sorry, no more Cassette port.  A second disk drive can be added, and it costs significantly less than a second //e drive.

There are two new switches beside the RESET switch, labeled 40/80 and Keyboard.  The first switches between 40 and 80 columns.  The second selects QWERTY or Dvorak keyboard arrangement.  Think a while of the implications to future generations of including THAT switch.  The 40/80 switch is really just connected to what used to be cassette input $C060.  You can read the switch position like the firmware does, by looking at the sign bit of that byte.

Until now all Apple game ports had four analog inputs, four switch outputs, and three switch inputs.  The //c has only two analog inputs, and no switch outputs.  The three switch inputs remain, with switch two dedicated to the mouse button.  The other two analog input addresses are used as single bits to read the mouse X and Y direction.  The four output bits are now used to control various interrrupt modes.

An interesting new softswitch input is at $C077.  If bit 7 of the byte is 1, the current line being stroked on the screen is graphics; if 0, it is text.  People like Bob Bishop, Don Lancaster, and Bill Budge probably already have figured out fantastic new tricks using this bit.

The power supply is now in a little box that is part of the power cord.  115 volts AC in, 12 volts DC out.  The rest of the supply voltages derived inside the case.  There will be a battery pack option later.  And how about an adapter for running in the car?

The video output capability is phenomenal.  Now you get all the American and European options built in.  One connector gives you the NTSC we are all used to.  Another gives you RF-modulated form for an American TV set.  You also get RGB and various European standards.  The 15-pin video connector also gives you an audio signal and various timing signals.

The ROM in the //c is VERY different.  The differences include serial port and mouse firmware, better interrupt handling, the improvements made in the new //e ROMs, no more self-test program, and extensions to the disassembler (monitor L-command) for the 65C02 chip.

It is getting to be quite a chore for software to distinguish which kind of Apple II it is in.  Here is a chart showing Apple's official ID bytes:

!lm+5
$FBB3  $FB1E  $FBC0    Environment
---------------------------------------------------
 $38                   Old (Original) Apple ][
 $EA    $AD            Apple ][ Plus Autostart
 $EA    $8A            Apple /// Emulation
 $06           $EA     Apple //e
 $06           $E0     New Apple //e ROM
 $06           $00     Apple //c
!lm-5

Interrupts are used extensively by the mouse firmware.  A keyboard interrupt plus firmware implements a 128-character type-ahead buffer.

All this talk about mouse support leads me to make one clarification.  You don't get a mouse unless you pay an extra $100.  The firmware and interface are built-in, but the actual device is optional.

By the way, besides the 16 memory chips there are and only 21 other chips.  More special chips, including IWM (Integrated Woz Machine, the disk controller); GLU (General Logical Unit); and TMG (Timing Generator).  Compare the total 37 chips with about 50 in the Macintosh, and more than 90 in the IBM PCjr.  Most of the chips are soldered in, but a few still sit in sockets.
