Welcome to my Apple II projects blog. I have setup this blog to document my Apple II project work and share it with the Apple II community.
I've been looking to build an inexpensive IIgs video card for quite a long time. Building a IIgs video card isn't a problem. Building an inexpensive IIgs video card is. Unlike the IIe or the IIc which contain ports with digital video streaming signals, the IIgs does not have any of these. You can use this concept, but you need to solder directly to the motherboard, which I'm not fond of doing.…
While working on developing the A2VGA Pico IIc/IIe video cards (not to be confused with the other Apple II video cards with the A2VGA name which work in a completely different way) I had a small project in mind that would be good to have around so as to show off the video cards. I'd been slowly collecting the main components and I figured it would be a reasonably quick build. As it turned out, I…
The A2VGA (Pico IIc/IIe) is a video card that reads Apple IIc/IIe serial video signals and translates those into the VGA format. The difference with this card is that it attempts to preserve the unique Apple II look of analog and artifact colour that is so entwined in how the Apple II was designed and how it was displayed on the technology of the day ie CRT monitors/televisions. I still use CRT…
Even after being on the second run of prototype PCBs at the last Apple II OzKFest event in Oct 2023 there was still a lot of work to be done in getting this into a consumer product. The OzKFest event was great for getting help with things that otherwise would have been difficult for me to do. Like borrowing a bunch of other video cards to compare against, being able to borrow an NTSC IIe and…
Are the photos above taken of an LCD or CRT monitor screen? Hard to tell? That's the challenge. The challenge of making the LCD display resemble that experience we had growing up with CRT technology. Is it authentic enough? Everyone is going to have a different opinion. I find it impressive, even though it's work in progress and there is always room for improvement. There has been a substantial…
A2VGA - Pico IIe/IIc cards are now capable of displaying HD/WUXGA resolutions ie 1920x1080 60Hz and 1920x1200 60Hz. All this while amazingly still running the Pi Pico at the video pixel clock frequency. The importance of this will be explained shortly. What's the big deal with a HD (high definition) resolution I hear you ask? Well it has nothing to do with modern monitors or digital video. It's…
The A2VGA - Pico IIe is an Apple IIe specific VGA card for the budget conscious user. This card like many of the Apple II RGB video cards uses the raw video signals from the Apple IIe auxiliary slot. It's constructed from easy to obtain, through hole and relatively inexpensive components. These include the Pi Pico microcontroller, a level shifter, a diode, several resistors, sockets and some…
On my hobby desk I usually keep my 9inch Sony monitor sitting around as it does not take up a lot of room. It supports composite as well as RGB so I can quickly connect up any of my Apple II variants. For the IIGS I've been using a bogey custom cable that I knocked up a long time ago. It's always been a pain for the times when I need the cable to be just a fraction longer. So it's been on my to do…
Did you know that the Apple II computer contains native multiplayer non-keyboard support? Over the years I've documented this functionality being done with digital joysticks but since I've also been involved with native two joystick game enhancement projects, I figured it was a good time to document these as well. All Apple II models contain a 16 pin or a 9 pin plug providing support for a single…
Example output from an Apple II video to HDMI adapter that I have been toying with. Pictured is one of the many colour models. The dual colour mode represents how the Apple II's video is inherently monochrome and yet the use of artifact colour results in a decent colour depth for such a small storage footprint. In September 2021, Rob, a fellow Apple II enthusiast posted some images of an…
AppleWin, the dominant Apple II emulation software for the Windows platform, from version 1.30.5.0 now supports the 4play and SNES MAX joystick cards. Thank-you to Tom and Nick (long time AppleWin developers) for helping me get this feature into the software. Gamers now have the opportunity to play games such as "Attack of the PETSCII Rebots" which only supports the SNES MAX or a keyboard for user…
Just like the 4Play joystick card, I have setup this software resource page to keep together a list of supported SNES MAX software titles. I'll add more to this list as they become available. Program(s) SNES MAX adaptation/conversion by SNES MAX port usage Comment Links Attack of the PETSCII Robots David Murray / Ian Brumby 1…
The SNES MAX Cable and the SNES MAX Socket. What is it? The SNES MAX is a serial interface card that allows an Apple II to communicate with SNES Controllers. It allows a slotted Apple II to read the maximum number of the SNES controller pushbuttons ie all twelve of them. The game "Attack of the PETSCII Robots", developed by David (the 8bit guy) makes use of all twelve buttons. It allows you to do…
Total 4play is a hard drive based collection of arcade style games which have been modified to support digital joystick gameplay, specifically via the 4play card. This compilation has only been made possible due to an amazing bit of infrastructure, called Total Replay, which is what Total 4play is based upon. Total Replay can be described as a menu selection system and compilation of Apple II…
Early home computers were built around the concept of using televisions for a source of display. As monitors became more affordable, monochrome and then colour monitors became the norm. These solutions rely on CRT technology but as time goes on it becomes harder and harder to support, in terms of replacement or in terms of repair. Numerous creative solutions have been designed and built to cater…
In 1981 H.A.L. Labs released Taxman, a direct Pac-Man clone on the Apple II. Atari was not happy since they held the rights to Pac-Man so they asked H.A.L. Labs to stop selling the software. Atari took Taxman, changed the title and then went on to release the game as their own official Pac-Man for the Apple II platform. Not to be outdone, Taxman's developers re-created the game but this time they…
The Apple II 4Joy is an adapter that lets you connect four digital joysticks to the Apple II via the game port. In my last blog I looked at running a digital joystick interface via the IIc's serial port. Technically I wasn't correct in saying that the serial interface is the only available option for communication on the IIc. Obviously there are other options such as the floppy disk interface, the…
The 4Serjoy is a device that allows you to connect four digital joysticks to an Apple II computer using a serial port. With the release of the 4Play card, the Apple II models now have a great option for multiplayer gaming using digital joysticks. But what about the poor ole Apple IIc, the slotless Apple II? Having a slotless Apple II is like having your arms and legs chopped off. It really limits…
CHECKPOINT is based on classic arcade style driving games where you go from point A to point B via checkpoints and do that within certain time restrictions. However, unlike the typical driving game which is computer generated, CHECKPOINT relies on the user driving a real vehicle, not a full-size vehicle although it could be done but a remote-control toy vehicle. The camera feed from within the…
I recently noticed that the software which supports the 4play card is scattered about in various locations. I have also been contacted by a few members of the Apple II enthusiast community who have graciously sent me their software conversions. I figured that this might be a good time to consolidate the information. The result of which is the following table. I'll add more software to this list as…
A few months ago 8Bitdo released an Apple II coloured version of their PRO GamePad Bluetooth controller along with a receiver that can replace the need for an actual Apple II joystick https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/8bitdo/ap40-a-bluetooth-controller-for-ios-android-mac-pc . I love their controller but the receiver was initially implemented without the full analog range which is required by…
These title pictures are photos taken of a composite monitor attached to a standard Apple IIe with an 80 column card. Double High Resolution Graphics (DHRG) is the highest resolution of graphics that is natively supported by the 8bit Apple II line of computers. DHGR mode is not available on the earlier models but it is available on the IIe (with a RevB motherboard and an 80column card), the IIc…
Every now and again I get asked to do archiving of Apple II disks for people who don't have their physical computers anymore. I've archived personal files, commercial software and even disks for court cases. In all that time I've never come across disk corruption when archiving disks for others. That is until now. These disks tended not to be the your everyday usage disks but instead the ones that…
The printed circuit boards and parts arrived. I put a few boards together so that I could get a few pictures made up for the blog, website, kit construction instructions and to test out distribution options. The only thing that concerned me at first was the rainbow ribbon cable I received from Futurlec. Compared to what I was used to, it was more rigid and transparent between the cores. Looking…
From the time I recreated the Sirius Joyport device (the digital joystick part of the card) in 2009 I have wondered if producing a Sirius Joyport clone would have been a good idea. Several people have asked me about it but I have turned them down. The Joyport works well on the Apple II and II+ machines but not on the IIe and IIGS which accounts for the majority of today's Apple II users (the IIc…