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92 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
92 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
[home](index.md)
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[download](https://github.com/cmosher01/Epple-II/releases/latest)
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[screenshots](screenshots.md)
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configuration
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[reference](usermanual.md)
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---
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The Epple \]\[ Emulator is most useful when properly configured.
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After downloading and installing the Epple \]\[ Program, some System ROM (demo or real), and
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optionally the peripheral card ROMs you want to use, you will need to configure the program.
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Configuring is concerned primarily with telling the program what peripheral cards to use,
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and where the ROM files are located (and what memory addresses to load them at).
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## `epple2.conf`
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The default configuration file for
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the Epple \]\[ emulator is:
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/usr/local/etc/epple2/epple2.conf
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For Windows, the file will be:
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C:\<Path to>\epple2\epple2.conf
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You can specify a different configuration file for the emulator to use by
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specifying its name as the argument when running the epple2 program.
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The format of the configuration file is just lines of [commands](commands.md).
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Comments begin with a hash `#` character, and continue to the end of the line.
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## Firmware
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Firmware, commonly called ROM images or ROMs, will need to be loaded
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into the emulated ROM areas of the emulated Apple
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in order for it to be able to boot the emulated Apple machine.
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The firmware available is described in this documentation.
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Once the firmware image files are installed on your computer, you can use the `import`
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command in the configuration file to load the image files into the emulator.
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Since the Epple \]\[ program emulates only the hardware, you will need to load some _system software_
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into in, in order for it to operate usefully.
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This software is commonly called *firmware* or *ROMs*, because it is stored in the
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read-only memory area of the emulated system. The original system software on the
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Apple \]\[ machines is copyright by Apple, and is proprietary. If you own an actual
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Apple \]\[ or Apple \]\[ plus machine, you can copy the firmware
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from it (`$D000`-`$FFFF`) (into a file on your PC) and use it. Alternatively, you can
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download the firmware images from the [Apple II Library](https://mosher.mine.nu/apple2/).
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If you do not want to download the proprietary firmware, you can still use the emulator (albeit
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in a rudimentary manner) with the free (GPLv3) _System ROM (Demo)_ package (included with EPPLE \]\[).
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The source code is also available; you can
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assemble it using the [xa Assembler](http://www.floodgap.com/retrotech/xa/).
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The Demo System ROM only provides commands to dump or set memory bytes,
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or run a program in memory. It is not compatible with any Apple software, nor can it read from disks.
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It's just a free simple demo system to make the emulator do something reasonable.
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## Peripheral Cards
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Another primary concern for configuring the Epple \]\[ is the insertion of
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peripheral cards into the Apple's slots. The most useful card is probably the
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Disk \]\[ Controller card; you will need to insert one of these cards if you want
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to be able to load floppy disk images into the emulated Apple. The various
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types of cards available are described in the cards section.
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You can use the `slot` command in the configuration file to insert
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them into the Apple's slots.
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If you are going to use the Disk \]\[ Controller peripheral card (which you almost certainly will, if
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you want to read any floppy disk images), you will need to have to original ROMs from Apple.
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No demo of the Disk ROMs are provided here; you will need to
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use the original ROMs, which can be obtained from an original machine (by copying
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it from `$C600`-`$C6FF` into a file on the PC), or by downloading it
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from the [Apple II Library](http://mosher.mine.nu/apple2/).
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(And, of course, you will need the real Apple System ROM, as noted in the previous section,
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not the Demo System ROM.)
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If you are using any of the clock, the standard output, or the
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standard input cards, you will need to load their firmware as well.
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## Sample Configuration Files
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There are a number of configuration files provided with the distribution for
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your convenience. They provide various common configurations of machines.
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You can use one of these files directly, by specifying its path as the argument
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to the program, or as a starting point for you own configuration file. These sample
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files are in the same location as the default `epple2.conf` file.
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The Epple \]\[ Emulator can actually be run without a configuration file at all.
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In this case, you will be able to power on the Apple and see the low-resolution
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graphics display showing random RAM data. The system will not run, because
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there is no firmware loaded, but the emulator will otherwise be functional.
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