Questions tagged [apple-dos]
for questions about the Apple DOS operating system used on the Apple II series of microcomputers
23
questions
5
votes
1
answer
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How Can Apple II DOS 3.3 Floppy Disks be Restored after Formatting with INIT?
I have files on around 50 5.25" floppy disks. Most are in the Apple II (or ][ Plus), DOS 3.3 formats. I have the Apple ][+ with 64K RAM (48K on MBd plus 16K on the Language Card in Slot 0), and ...
3
votes
0
answers
154
views
Did any DOS 3.3 variants relocate start of BASIC?
A common annoyance when programming in BASIC on the Apple II is that 6K of BASIC storage area falls before the start of the first hires screen, with another big chunk of storage falling after it. On ...
9
votes
2
answers
892
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How to change what program Apple ProDOS 'starts' when booting
I finally have my Apple //e booting from my SCSI2SD but I'm missing something regarding how ProDOS knows what program to start when it boots.
As I understand it, ProDOS will look for the first .SYSTEM ...
11
votes
1
answer
802
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What exactly was the intent and implementation of Apple DOS 3.3's volume concept?
Inspired by this question, it got me thinking about how DOS 3.3 for the Apple II had the 'DISK VOLUME 254' at the top of every CATALOG listing. The default was always 254, but you could make your ...
9
votes
1
answer
225
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What is the VTOC format for an AppleDOS disk with more than 50 tracks?
I am trying to read files of an AppleDOS 3.3 disk. The documentation I've found, both from Inside AppleDOS and also from Archiveteams' website (which I believe was taken from Inside AppleDOS): http://...
2
votes
1
answer
296
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Motivation for DOS 3.3 using I/O hooks rather than ampersand-hook
AppleSoft BASIC is designed so that if it encounters an ampersand while processing a program, it will jump to address $03F5, allowing code there to examine what follows and process it suitably. While ...
6
votes
2
answers
268
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6502 Assembly on Apple IIe: GETLN fails with 'syntax error' under ProDOS
I'm writing a text adventure in assembly for the Apple IIe (using Merlin). I'm also using ProDOS 8 v2.0.3. At some point, I have a subroutine to read user input from the keyboard using the GETLN1 call....
6
votes
1
answer
224
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What determines the amount of space occupied by an Applesoft BASIC program?
I've been writing an Applesoft BASIC program over the last few months or so (IIgs and IIe, ProDOS 2.4.2 with BASIC.SYSTEM v1.6).
My large BASIC program was sitting at something like 51 ProDOS blocks. ...
4
votes
2
answers
439
views
Was the ProDOS beep part of the kernel or just a commonly duplicated piece of code?
On the Apple II, system beeps were typically just the 'Control-G' beep noise. However, many ProDOS-based applications from Apple Computer abandoned the firmware-based beep routine and instead used a ...
4
votes
1
answer
427
views
Converting Apple II ProDOS blocks to DOS tracks and sectors
The 8-bit Apple II had two disk operating systems with different disk access semantics.
DOS used tracks and sectors. A sector is 256 bytes.
ProDOS used blocks. A block is 512 bytes.
But mapping ...
2
votes
1
answer
170
views
Where can I find original Apple DOS 3.3 System Master diskette images?
The original Apple DOS 3.3 was released on 1980-07-25, and there seem to have been at least two more updates after that that did not bump the version number:
Two more versions of Apple DOS, both ...
23
votes
3
answers
5k
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Could you manually eject a floppy quick enough to prevent data loss?
I have the vague recollection of "Panic Ejecting" floppy disks by lifting the latch on the drive after immediately regretting a command I had typed. At the time, I was young, impulsive, and blessed ...
5
votes
2
answers
634
views
Where did the "LEVI" file selector/runner for the Apple II DOS 3.3 come from?
There's a fairly common BASIC program for DOS 3.3 on the Apple II that clears the screen, prints a catalog of the disk, and allows you to select files by letter to run or do other operations on them. ...
14
votes
12
answers
5k
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Late 1970s and 6502 chip facilities for operating systems
I'm quite unfamiliar with how operating systems used to be written but its clear to me that operating systems were clearly written for these systems. I'm particularly interested in how operating ...
2
votes
1
answer
434
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How to transfer file from one disk to another in Apple //e (Applewin)
For the nostalgia, I'm going through Apple Pascal - A Hands-on Approach using AppleWin.
There are four disks, pascal0 through pascal3, and for some reason pascal0 is missing a file called SYSTEM....
22
votes
2
answers
2k
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Why did Apple remove booting from external drives in later IIc ROM versions?
Apple II computers don't come with DOS in ROM, but rather need to boot from a floppy disk to make the disk drives usable. The IIc was the first Apple II that came with a built-in disk drive, so ...
7
votes
2
answers
893
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How could a 16-sector PROM Apple II access a 13-sector disk?
When the Disk ][ first came out for the Apple II, the PROMs on the interface card only knew how to work with a 13-sector format. Around 1980, the Disk ][ was updated with 16-sector PROMs either for ...
18
votes
3
answers
2k
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Was Apple DOS 3.3 created because of the Apple III?
I recently read a document which discussed how the Apple III would implement the Apple II emulation mode. On page 20, it goes on about difficulties involved with how the Apple III would have ...
9
votes
2
answers
298
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Apple II: ProDOS partitions on floppy disks?
On the Apple II using ProDOS, was it possible to create partitions on a floppy disk? Would it be possible to have two or more partitions on a 140k 5.25" or 800k 3.5" disk?
(The question here is not ...
10
votes
1
answer
284
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Apple II: What type of partition tables were used?
What type of partition table was used with ProDOS?
ProDOS (8-bit) version 1.2 was available in January 1983, one year before the Macintosh was released, so it is unclear to me if ProDOS 1.2 used the "...
17
votes
3
answers
1k
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Apple II: DOS 3.3 Virus?
Does anyone know the source of this Apple II DOS 3.3 virus that infected my disks back in the 1990's? I got it from a public domain disk collection that was given to me by a friend, called the ...
10
votes
2
answers
2k
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Apple II / ProDOS: Run binary games without BASIC.SYSTEM?
Is there a way in ProDOS 8, to directly run old DOS 3.3 binary games without loading BASIC.SYSTEM ?
Most games never access DOS 3.3 once the program was running, so even though these were never meant ...
18
votes
2
answers
787
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How many versions of DOS were there for the Apple II and what were the differences?
DOS 3.3 was the most common before ProDOS. How did it differ to DOS 3.2 and what versions were there before that?