68 KiB
A2CLOUD
Table of Contents
- A2CLOUD: intro
- A2CLOUD: what you need
- A2CLOUD: prepare your Pi
- A2CLOUD: go headless (optional)
- A2CLOUD: install the software
- A2CLOUD: attach your cables
- A2CLOUD: make your boot disk
- A2CLOUD: use virtual drives!
- A2CLOUD: log in from your Apple II
- A2CLOUD: make a floppy or image
- A2CLOUD: learn some Unix
- A2CLOUD: “insert” a disk image
- A2CLOUD: connect with other people
- A2CLOUD: browse & download
- A2CLOUD: use disk images
- A2CLOUD: expand archives
- A2CLOUD: transfer files
- A2CLOUD: increase serial port speed
- A2CLOUD: emulate an Apple II
- A2CLOUD: Apple II Pi
- A2CLOUD: release history and notes
- A2CLOUD: other stuff
A2CLOUD: intro
Hello, and welcome to A2CLOUD! It provides any Apple II — even a IIc — with internet access, mass storage, and floppy disk transfer, via a Raspberry Pi, a tiny silent $35 computer. You can also use A2CLOUD with other Linux computers or virtual machines; click here for details.
This web page is the user guide; just read the posts in order. The table of contents is over on the right. You might want to start with the intro video below. (For other ways to use your Raspberry Pi with your Apple II, check out A2SERVER, and Apple II Pi, both part of Raspple II.)
5-May-15: A2CLOUD 1.8.1 is available, featuring compatibility with every
Raspberry Pi including Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and Raspberry Pi 1 Model A+, and
non-Pi users now get the GSport emulator. If you already have A2CLOUD
installed, type a2cloud-update
to update, or start over with the Raspple
II easy installation method (or upgrade Raspple II with a2cloud-update os
). The complete version history is here.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx
A2CLOUD: what you need
To use A2CLOUD, you need various things. Here’s a video to show you what goes where, followed by your shopping list. (Don’t pay much attention to 2:00 through 6:00, as it’s now much simpler to set up A2CLOUD than when I made the video.)
Places to purchase are linked:
-
for virtual drives, any Apple II model with Applesoft
-
for internet, an Apple IIc, IIgs, or 128K Apple IIe enhanced (though Apple II Plus and unenhanced IIe might work)
-
any Raspberry Pi, B/B+ models recommended (buy direct from distributor, or at Amazon: Pi 2 model B, Pi 1 model B+, Pi 1 model B, Pi 1 model A+)
-
a 4 GB or larger SD card (8 GB or larger recommended)
-
a good power supply with a micro-USB plug that provides at least 1A of current
-
an ethernet cable attached to your router, or a Wi-Fi adapter (more complex)
-
a Super Serial Card, if you have an Apple IIe (see note below)
If you want simultaneous virtual drives and internet access from your Apple II:
-
another null modem Apple II serial cable (or: roll your own)
-
another USB-to-serial adapter
-
another Super Serial Card, if you have an Apple IIe (see note below)
Optional items:
-
an SD card reader to prepare the SD card, if your computer doesn’t have one
-
a USB keyboard and possibly mouse (or: you can control the Pi from another computer)
-
a powered USB hub (if you don’t have a free port for a USB-to-serial adapter)
-
an Apple II Pi card, or another Super Serial Card with a Raspberry Pi Console cable, if you want to use Apple II Pi
If you have a straight-through serial cable rather than a null modem serial cable, and you are using a IIgs or IIc (no Super Serial Card), you can use a DE-9 (aka DB-9) male-to-female null modem adapter.
If you have a Super Serial Card, its jumper block needs to point towards “Modem” if you have a null modem cable, or “Terminal” if you have a straight-through cable. (Or, if you are using it with a Raspberry Pi console cable, that acts as a null modem cable, so reverse the jumper positions described here.)
(A note about the USB-to-serial adapter: there are lots of different brands and models of these. The only ones I have ever tested, including the TRENDnet model linked above, are those based on the Prolific PL2303 chipset. Other models based on other chipsets such as FTDI may also work; I just haven’t tried them.)
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: prepare your Pi
Starting Fresh
If you have never used your Pi, you will need to prepare your SD card. Download Raspple II (a distribution of the Raspbian operating system with Apple II goodies preinstalled), and expand the .zip file. Copy all of its files to a 4 GB or larger SD card (8 GB or larger recommended). Then put the SD card in your Pi, and attach power. The operating system will automatically install, which will take about 20 minutes. If you don’t have a screen attached to your Pi, you’ll know when it’s done when the ACT/OK lamp on the Raspberry Pi board stops flickering.
(If you are starting over with the same SD card, or want to ensure the card is formatted correctly, you can use the official SD Formatter utility — carefully! — before copying the files.)
If you’re already up and running, or want to customize the installation
You can also install A2CLOUD from the Raspbian command line. Type:
wget appleii.ivanx.com/a2cloud/setup; source setup
If you want all the features, answer “Y” to the questions. Then be patient, as it takes a little while to install.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: go headless (optional)
For basic A2CLOUD use, I recommend going headless with your Raspberry Pi — that is, using it without a screen and keyboard. This will keep your USB ports free and reduce clutter, plus make it feel more like an Apple II peripheral. It’s pretty doable because you can always display your Pi’s screen on a newer computer on your network, and you can even log into its command line from your Apple II.
With that said, you may want a screen and keyboard attached if you want to use Apple II Pi, or you just feel more comfortable using it that way. So if you’re not ready to go headless, you can skip the rest of this post.
Log in to the Pi’s command line:
If you’re gonna go headless, then you’ll need to take a few steps so that you can control your Pi from another computer, which could be an Apple II, as I’ll explain in a few posts. But you can also use a current-day computer on your network.
On a Mac, open Terminal (in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder),
and at the prompt, type ssh pi@raspberrypi.local
to connect. If you have
Windows, you can install Bonjour Print Services, and then use
PuTTY to connect to the address “raspberrypi.local”.
If that doesn’t work, try updating A2CLOUD by typing a2cloud-setup
. If it
still doesn’t work, or you don’t want to install Bonjour Print Services for
Windows, you will need to find your Pi’s IP address and use that instead. If
you have a Mac, you can use Pi Finder to help with this; if you have
Windows, you can use Advanced IP Scanner.
The username is “pi” and the password is “apple2″ (or instead “raspberry” if you installed a fresh copy of Raspbian, rather than Raspple II). You should arrive at the Linux prompt.
Remotely Access the Raspbian desktop
You can access the Raspbian graphical desktop by using remote desktop software. Use the Remote Desktop Connection application included with Microsoft Windows, or its Mac version, to connect to your Raspberry Pi by putting in “raspberrypi.local”, or your Pi’s IP address. (If you would prefer to use a VNC client, configure tightvncserver. You could also use RDP or VNC clients for other platforms, like iOS and Android.)
Get a consistent IP Address
If “raspberrypi.local” doesn’t work for you for some reason, and you don’t want to have to use Pi Finder or Advanced IP Scanner every time you want to log into your Pi, I suggest you create a DHCP reservation in your router. This will make your router give your Pi the same IP address every time. Every router’s configuration screen is a little different, but they all require the same things: the 12-digit MAC (ethernet hardware) address, and the IP address that should be assigned to it.
Pi Finder and Advanced IP Scanner give you this info. Alternatively, from your
Pi, type ip addr
and you’ll find the MAC address as six pairs of digits
separated by colons, in a line that starts with “link”, and the IP address as
four numbers separated by periods immediately after the word “inet”. If you
need help creating DHCP reservations on your particular router, check the
manual, or Google for it.
If your router can’t provide a DHCP reservation, you can alternatively configure your Pi to have a static IP address (which is permanently set, rather than asking your router for it) via the method discussed here.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: install the software
If you used the Raspple II installation method, you’ve already installed the A2CLOUD software, and can skip the rest of this post.
If you don’t have A2CLOUD installed yet — because, for example, you installed vanilla NOOBS or Raspbian, rather than Raspple II — log in to your Pi, and at the Linux prompt type:
wget ivanx.com/a2cloud/setup; source setup
A2CLOUD is confirmed to work on Debian 7 (“Wheezy”), all releases of Raspbian, and possibly earlier versions of both. It is believed to work on other Debian derivatives, such as Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (A2CLOUD does not yet fully work on Debian 8 or Ubuntu 15.04, or other distributions that use systemd.)
Follow the prompts; I suggest you answer “yes” to all of them, and everything on these pages will assume that you have. When you are asked to specify the size of your virtual disk (in KB), keep in mind that the larger it is, the slower it will be; hopefully this will change in the future.
When it’s done, the A2CLOUD installer will ask you to reboot your Pi. Do so, and wait about two minutes for it to complete. (If you’ve got a screen attached, wait until it shows you the login prompt; you don’t actually need to log in.)
You’ve now got your Raspberry Pi providing virtual drives and internet access for your Apple II!
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: attach your cables
Figure out which of the following scenarios applies to you, and attach your USB-to-serial adapter(s) according to the options you see.
If you are using a Raspberry Pi with four USB ports, then use the pair of USB ports next to the Ethernet port, not the ones in the corner.
If you are using a Raspberry Pi model A or A+, consider its one USB port to be the “lower” port in the instructions below. If you have a USB hub attached to it, then port 2 on that hub is the “upper” port, and port 3 on that hub is the “lower” port. Since the physical ports these correspond to may vary by hub, you may need to try different ports to figure out which is which.
You’ll see mentioned below the “lowest-numbered” or “highest-numbered” port in a USB hub, which isn’t necessarily obvious. If you have a USB hub, try the leftmost or topmost port, and if that doesn’t work, try the rightmost or bottommost port. If you want to definitively know, see the note at the end.
If you have an Apple IIe, then “printer port” or “modem port” means a Super Serial Card in slot 1 or 2, respectively.
You have one USB-to-serial adapter, and want to use it for virtual drives
You can use:
-
the lower USB port
-
any port in a hub on the lower USB port if it is the only USB-to-serial adapter in the hub
-
the lowest-numbered port on a hub with multiple USB-to-serial adapters
Connect the adapter to a serial cable attached to to your Apple II modem port.
You have one USB-to-serial adapter, and want to use it for internet
You can use:
-
the upper USB port
-
any port in a hub on the upper USB port if it is the only USB-to-serial adapter in the hub
-
the highest-numbered port on a hub with multiple USB-to-serial adapters
Connect the adapter to a serial cable attached to to your Apple II printer port.
You have two USB-to-serial adapters
Do both of the above.
How to figure out the lowest or highest numbered port on your USB hub
You can attach two USB-to-serial adapters to a USB hub attached to either USB port on the Pi. A2CLOUD tells them apart based on their being attached to a lower numbered port for virtual drives, and a higher numbered port for internet.
I did it this way so you can simply try the ports at either end of the USB hub
and see if you get the results you expect. But If you want to know the actual
port number, detach all of your USB-to-serial adapters, then plug in one
adapter. Then type ls /dev/ttyUSBlower_hub*
and see what it shows you. The
number at the end is your USB port number. You can then move the adapter to a
different port and repeat until you figure out which one is the lowest and
which one is the highest.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: make your boot disk
You’re almost ready to use virtual drives, courtesy of David Schmidt’s VSDRIVE, which is included with ADTPro. You can also use ADTPro itself to transfer disk images to actual disks, and vice versa.
To access the virtual drives, you need to boot from the A2CLOUD disk. To get that, you need ADTPro to transfer it to an Apple II floppy. If you’ve already got ADTPro on an Apple II disk, boot it (choose Serial if prompted), and skip the video and the paragraph which follows it. Or, if you’ve got some other means of turning disk image files into floppies, you can download the 140K A2CLOUD boot disk or the 800K A2CLOUD boot disk, and skip the rest of this post.
If you don’t have ADTPro on an Apple II disk already, you need to get it running on your Apple II via a process called bootstrapping. Here’s a video to show you how to do that, or you can read the instructions below it.
First, turn on your Apple II and press ctrl-RESET before DOS or ProDOS can
load. Next, if you have a screen, keyboard, and mouse attached to your Pi,
type startx.
Otherwise, log in with Remote Desktop Connection (as described
in A2CLOUD: go headless) from another computer. Once you see the
desktop, double-click ADTPro Server, and when the ADTPro server window
appears, choose Bootstrapping->ProDOS->SpeediBoot and follow the
instructions which pop up. When you get to the “LOADING MLI” phase on your
Apple II, nothing may appear to happen for several minutes; just be patient
and it will eventually kick in. (You can alternatively choose
VSDRIVE+SpeediBoot to immediately gain access to the virtual drives, but as
soon as you reboot, you’ll need to bootstrap again. It’s much more convenient
to have a boot floppy.)
Once you’ve ADTPro running, put in a blank floppy disk and type F to format it (unless you know it’s already formatted). You can use any volume name. When it’s done, type R to receive, and then enter (in all caps) A2CLOUD.DSK for a 5.25″ drive or A2CLOUD.PO for a 3.5″ drive. The A2CLOUD disk will be copied from your Pi to your Apple II. (You can use ADTPro to transfer any other disk images to or from your Pi at any time.)
If you bootstrapped, once you’ve got your A2CLOUD disk, you can leave the
ADTPro server window open, or reboot your Pi. If you close the window, or quit
the Raspbian desktop without rebooting, ADTPro server will no longer be
running; you can type adtpro-start
at a prompt to get it going again, or
reboot, or disconnect and then reconnect the USB-to-serial adapter on the
lower USB port.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: use virtual drives!
Ok, almost there. Fire up your A2CLOUD floppy, and at the welcome screen, type
V. (If you are at an Applesoft prompt, you can instead type -VSDRIVE
.)
Once you’ve done this, you can access your blank virtual disk on slot 2 drive
1, and the 800K version of the A2CLOUD disk on slot 2 drive 2. Check it out
by typing CAT,S2,D2
. After specifying the slot and drive, they will stick
for subsequent ProDOS commands (that’s a quick list; here’s a
full manual). You will no longer have access to slot 6. To regain
access to slot 6, do a full reset of your Apple II and boot any ProDOS disk as
usual.
You can also run VSDRIVE from a ProDOS 8 program launcher (e.g. the BYE
command). Nothing will appear to happen, but your virtual drives will become
available. (If you don’t see VSDRIVE when you’re not in BASIC.SYSTEM, update
ADTPro by typing a2cloud-update
.)
If you need access to both slot 6 and the virtual drives at the same time, you can, after booting, type:
-VSDRIVE.LOW
However, this version of the driver for the virtual disks is easily
overwritten by other software, especially if you exit BASIC.SYSTEM. However,
ProDOS Filer works ok, so it is included on the A2CLOUD disk if you need to
transfer files from slot 6 to a virtual drive. Just type -FILER
to use it.
Note that if you’re transferring from the A2CLOUD floppy disk to the virtual
A2CLOUD disk (in S2,D2 by default), you’ll first need to rename the volume of
your boot floppy to something like A2CLOUD.DISK, so Filer can tell it apart
from the volume named A2CLOUD in the virtual drive.
If you think Filer sucks, because it does, you can instead use ADTPro to transfer your entire 5.25″ disk to a new disk image on your Pi that you can use with VSDRIVE, or experiment with other copy programs.
You can also change the virtual drives to use different images, which I’ll explain in a later post.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: log in from your Apple II
If you’re happy enough controlling your Pi with a screen or keyboard attached, or by logging into it from another computer, then you don’t really need to read any of this post. But it’s more fun to log into it from your Apple II. You try it.
To do that, you’ll need terminal communications software which supports VT-100 emulation. The A2CLOUD installer provides both ProTERM and Z-Link for IIc, IIgs, and enhanced IIe; GS/OS users can also download and use Spectrum for color and graphic text. Apple II Plus and unenhanced IIe users have some options too.
Once you’ve connected with your terminal program — specifics are below — press
return a couple of times, and you should see the Raspberry Pi login prompt.
Log in with username pi
and password apple2
(or raspberry
, if you
installed standard Raspbian). You should be taken to the Linux prompt. If you
quit your terminal program, and then run it later, you’ll be right where you
left off — you won’t have to log in again unless you restart your Pi.
Then you can download files and transfer them into your disk images or to your Apple II, and do other stuff on the internet. More on how in a future post. (Once you’ve got one of the below terminal programs working, you may also want to try out a faster serial port rate than the default 4800 baud.)
Once you get comfortable with logging in, you might want
multiple terminal screens you can switch freely between. To do this,
type screen
. Then, whenever you need a new screen, type ctrl-A followed by
C. You can go back to a previous screen with ctrl-A followed by P, or forward
to the next screen by typing ctrl-A followed by N. To close a screen,
type exit
or ctrl-A followed by K. When you close the last screen, Screen
quits. All Screen commands start with ctrl-A; for a full list of commands,
type ctrl-A followed by a question mark. A well-written, easy-to-follow guide
on how to get the most out of Screen is here.
ProTERM
ProTERM is a robust and recommended terminal program, but it does not fit on the 140K A2CLOUD disk, and it needs to stay in the drive (or virtual drive) while being used. You’ll find it on the 800K disk, or the S2,D2 virtual drive. When ProTERM runs, select the “Null Modem (CTS/RTS)” driver and the IIgs/IIc/IIc+ printer port, or a Super Serial Card in slot 1. (Note that if you use your own copy of ProTERM, the IIc/IIc+ printer port is not listed, so for that machine you’d need to use the copy that A2CLOUD provides; thanks to Hugh Hood for this patch.) For printer, select No Printer In System. When you’re ready to connect, choose Parameters from the Online menu, choose 4800 baud and VT-100 emulation, hide the status bar, and select Line Status: Online. (Thanks to Tony Diaz and Intrec Software for making ProTERM free to the community.)
Spectrum
Spectrum, for the Apple IIgs, is not provided on the A2CLOUD disk,
but is freely available for download. From the Settings menu, choose
Port and select the printer port at 4800 baud. Then in the Settings menu,
choose Online Display and select VT-100 (monochrome text), or ANSI (color and
graphic text, though slower). Then from the Show menu, choose Online Display.
If you are using ANSI, type term color
after logging in, or term -d color
if you don’t want to do it every time. You can also type term mono
if you
want to switch it back for use with other terminal programs. When you’re done,
type Apple-W to “close” the display. (Thanks to Ewen Wannop for making
Spectrum free to the community.)
Z-Link
Z-Link is provided on both the 5.25″ and 3.5″ versions of the A2CLOUD disk.
While not quite as capable as ProTERM, it is able to fit on a 5.25″ disk and
is self-contained in memory without needing further disk access. When you
first run Z-Link, you need to configure it by pressing openApple-W and
choosing 4800 baud, slot 1. Then press openApple-T until VT-100 emulation is
enabled. Finally, press open-apple-S and type the file name Z.LINK.CONFIG
to
save the configuration and have it be loaded whenever you run Z.LINK.
If you want to run Z-Link from a virtual drive, you need to first copy
Z.LINK.CONFIG from your floppy, because otherwise it will go online
immediately using slot 2, which makes the virtual drive stop working. Boot
your A2CLOUD disk and set it up as above. Then, at the Applesoft prompt,
type -VSDRIVE.LOW
followed by -FILER
. Once in Filer, rename the volume of
your A2CLOUD floppy to A2CLOUD.DISK, then copy /A2CLOUD.DISK/Z.LINK.CONFIG to
/A2CLOUD/Z.LINK.CONFIG.
Apple II Plus and unenhanced IIe
If you have an Apple II Plus or unehnanced IIe, there have been reports of success with using Kermit 3.87, or DCOM 3.3, for terminal access to your Raspberry Pi. They need to be set for VT-100 emulation, and on an Apple II Plus you need a Videx VideoTerm (but not UltraTerm) for 80 column support. I haven’t tried them, but here’s the relevant discussion thread.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: make a floppy or image
If you have A2SERVER installed — which you do if you installed A2CLOUD with Raspple II — it’s easy to download software with your modern computer and turn it into a floppy disk with your Apple II, or use it as a virtual drive. And it’s just as easy to make an image from an Apple II floppy that you can use in an emulator on your modern computer.
(If you don’t have A2SERVER installed, you can start over with
Raspple II, or you can, at your Raspberry Pi’s prompt, type wget ivanx.com/a2server/setup; source setup
to install it. If you’re not sure,
type a2server-help
; if you get a help screen, you’ve got A2SERVER.)
On your newer computer, you can browse your network and you should see “raspberrypi” as a server you can connect to. You can log in as Guest if asked.
On Mac OS X, it should appear under Shared in the sidebar of a Finder window, or under “Network” from the “Go” menu of the Finder. On Windows, it should appear under Network. On Mac OS 7 through 9, open Chooser from the Apple menu and click on AppleShare.
(If you can’t browse to the server on your network, try typing
a2server-setup
to update it, and if that doesn’t work, type showip
to get
your Pi’s IP address. On Mac OS X, enter the IP address under “Connect To
Server…” from the Go menu of the Finder; on Windows, type the IP address
following two blackslash characters (\) in an Explorer window.)
Open the ADTDISKS shared volume and copy any disk images you want to make into disks in there.
Then run ADTPro on your Apple II, which is on your A2CLOUD boot disk. Type R to receive, and type the name of the image file (case matters), and then choose the drive containing the disk you want to put the image onto. The disk will be erased, so be careful. Also, if you were using VSDRIVE before you ran ADTPro, you might not have access to slot 6; if you need it, reboot and then run ADTPro.
If you want to turn a disk into an image, do the reverse process: type S to send in ADTPro, and then choose the drive you wish. The image will appear in the ADTDISKS network volume on your newer computer.
You can type D for directory in ADTPro to get a listing, but characters are sometimes missing, so you might need to do it a few times, or refer to the ADTDISKS network volume on your newer computer.
Unix-type computers can also use scp
to copy files to and from A2SERVER;
Windows computers can also do so in the command window by using pscp
in PuTTY. The shared volume is at /media/A2SHARED/ADTDISKS.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: learn some Unix
Once you’re logged into your Raspberry Pi, you can download disk images and use them with VSDRIVE or transfer them with ADTPro.
To do so, you’ll need to know some Unix. Everything you type at a prompt is a Unix command, either built-in, or a program that gets executed. Most commands can take additional arguments (parameters) separated by spaces to modify how they operate. Note that everything in Unix is (usually) case-sensitive — that is, “ls” is not the same thing as “LS”.
Here’s some basics:
pwd
will print the path of the current directory (like PREFIX)
cd /path/name
will change the directory to /path/name (like PREFIX
/PATH/NAME)
ls
will list the files in the current directory (like CAT)
ls -lp
will list the files in the current directory in long format (like
CATALOG)
cp sourceFilePath targetFilePath
will copy a file
mv filePath newFilePath
will move or rename a file (like RENAME)
rm filePath
will delete a file (like DELETE)
mkdir dirPath
will create a subdirectory (like CREATE)
rmdir dirPath
will delete a subdirectory (like DELETE)
logout
logs you out
sudo shutdown -h now
will shut down your Pi
sudo shutdown -r now
will restart your Pi
There are also three “special” directories, indicated by a single or double period, or a tilde:
.
means the current directory
..
means the parent (enclosing) directory
~
means your home directory (on the Pi’s default user, it’s /home/pi)
A couple of tips:
pressing up-arrow (or solidApple-up-arrow in ProTERM on a IIe/IIc, or in Z-Link) at the command prompt will display previously typed commands
pressing ctrl-A while editing a command will take you to the beginning of a line
pressing ctrl-E while editing will take you to the end of a line
A2CLOUD provides some specialized commands as well, some of which will be
covered in upcoming posts. To see a full list, type a2cloud-help
.
If you need additional explanation of a command and its arguments, you can sometimes type “command -h” or “command –help”, and for most commands, extensive help is available by typing “man command”.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots and lots of Unix commands for every purpose imaginable. If you think there are others which should be included here, please mention them in the comments.
This entry was posted on July 15, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: “insert” a disk image
To make things easy, A2CLOUD has commands to “insert” disk image files into the virtual drives:
vsd1 imageFileName
will “insert” imageFileName into S2,D1
vsd2 imageFileName
will “insert” imageFileName into S2,D2
vsd1
or vsd2
by itself will show you the path to the disk image currently
“in” the drive
Note that the disk image you “insert” can be either DOS-ordered or ProDOS-ordered. VSDRIVE will figure it out. The disk doesn’t need to even contain ProDOS, as long as you’re using ProDOS software which can access it — for example, System Utilities can copy files from a DOS 3.3 or Pascal image.
To make new image files, you can transfer real floppy disks from your Apple II using ADTPro. These will arrive in /usr/local/adtpro/disks, which you can also refer to as $ADTDISKS for short; if you have A2SERVER installed, this folder is also available on your network to other computers, so you can use the images you create with an emulator.
Also from another computer, you can copy an image into the ADTDISKS network
folder and then insert it into a virtual drive by typing vsd1 $ADTDISKS/imageFileName
. (For virtual drive 2, use vsd2
instead.) Or you
can download disk images from the internet directly on your Pi, which I’ll
explain in a later post.
You can always put the A2CLOUD disk image back in virtual drive 2 with:
vsd2 $A2CLOUD
(The vsd1
and vsd2
commands create a symbolic link, which is like a
Windows shortcut or Mac alias, to whatever file you specify as imageFileName.
The symlinks are in /usr/local/adtpro/disks, and are called Virtual.po or
Virtual2.po, respectively.)
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: connect with other people
Once you’ve logged into your Pi — that could be from your Apple II using ProTERM or Z-Link or Spectrum, or with a directly attached keyboard and screen, or via SSH from another computer — you can start communicating on the internet.
Unless you’re using ProTERM or Spectrum on an Apple IIgs, remember to hold down solidApple when pressing the arrow keys when you’re using these programs.
IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
If you want to chat live with other Apple II people, all you need to do is
type a2chat
. It will launch an IRC program called Irssi and connect you
directly to the #a2c.chat channel. (If you want to connect to other channels,
instead type irssi
.) Type /quit
when you’re done. You might want to check
out more detailed instructions for IRC generally or
Irssi specifically.
Usenet newsgroups (discussion boards)
To access the Apple II discussion boards on Usenet (often referred to as
comp.sys.apple2.*), type a2news
and it will start the Tin newsreader. You
will be subscribed to only the Apple II newsgroups by default; to access all
the other ones, type Y (for “yank”) and subscribe to the ones you like. (If
you have a preferred NNTP server you would like to use, you can set it by
typing a2news -s your.server.address
.)
You can indeed tweet from your Apple II, if you can believe it. Type ttytter
and follow the instructions. For initial setup, you’ll need to sign in to your
Twitter account from a web browser, which, if you don’t want to leave your
Apple II, could be Lynx, as I will explain in the next post. If you need
help, an extensive manual is available for TTYtter. You can also try
starting it by typing ttytter -readline
for enhanced input, though it is
beta and may have problems.
There are email programs you can use, but they can be challenging to set up, so they have not formally been made a part of A2CLOUD for the moment. If you want to give it a go, see this comment to get started, and look for help on Linux forums if you need it.
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: browse & download
If you want to get new Apple II software, there are a few ways to go about it.
You could try a desktop browser on the Pi, such as the included Epiphany (a.k.a. Web), Midori, or Netsurf, or install an alternative such as Chromium, the open-source cousin of Google Chrome, or Iceweasel, which is a rebranded Firefox.
You can also download with a modern computer, and copy to your Pi over your network. If you don’t want to immediately create a real floppy, see the next post for what to do with your downloads.
Or, for maximum fun, you can browse and download with your Apple II, because A2CLOUD provides you with the stuff on your Pi that you need. My general advice here is to just dive in and try these out if you’re not familiar with them. You’ll find no shortage of help for most of these if you search for it.
Unless you’re using ProTERM or Spectrum on an Apple IIgs, remember to hold down solidApple when pressing the arrow keys when you’re using these programs.
lynx
: a text-only web browser which can access simply laid out sites.
Examples: lynx ivanx.com
, or a download site, like lynx mirrors.apple2.org.za
. ProTERM and Spectrum work better for lynx than Z-Link
does. (You can also try out alternative text-only web browsers.)
links
: another text-only web browser you might, or might not, prefer to
Lynx. If you see only a black screen when you start it, press the ESC key to
see the menu.
cftp
: What you’ll probably spend a lot of time using if you want new Apple
II software. It’s for logging into FTP (File Transfer Protocol) servers.
Unlike the traditional command line FTP program, cftp is full-screen, uses the
arrow keys, and is easy. Example: cftp ftp.gno.org
ftp
: The traditional command line FTP program. Example: ftp ftp.gno.org
.
It uses (mostly) typical Unix commands. When asked for username, enter
“anonymous” and then anything for the password. Use the usual directory
listing and navigation commands (cd
, pwd
, ls
), to browse the site,
then get filename
to download a file from a site, or put filename
to
upload a file to a site. To see the current local directory (the one you’ll be
downloading into or uploading from), type !pwd
, and to change it, type lcd directoryPath
. You can see all commands by typing help
.
wget
: a simple program that can download a full URL from an FTP or web site
in a single command, e.g: wget http://appleii.ivanx.com/slammer/files/SLAMMER111P.DSK
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: use disk images
Once you’ve downloaded stuff to your Pi, or copied stuff on to it from
another computer on your network, you can immediately use the vsd1
or
vsd2
commands for an uncompressed disk image file (.DSK, .DO, .PO,
.RAW, .HDV, .2MG. ISO) containing ProDOS files, and then access them from your
Apple II. The image file will be “inserted” into virtual drive 1 or 2, and
accessible from VSDRIVE at S2,D1 or S2,D2.
If what you download is an archive file (.SHK, .SDK, .BXY, .ZIP, .TAR.GZ, etc.), you’ll need to expand it first, which you can read about how to do in the next post.
If you’re not sure whether the disk image you downloaded is ProDOS format or
not, you can type a2cat imageFileName
on your Pi, and it will catalog the
disk and tell you the format at the bottom of the listing.
If it’s a DOS 3.3 disk, you can type dos2pro imageFileName
to copy the files
to a new ProDOS image, or dos2pro imageFileName DOSFILENAME
to copy a
single file. Some programs may not work when copied to ProDOS.
Or, you can use ADTPro to transfer the image file to a floppy disk. To make a
disk image available to ADTPro, you need to move it into into the ADTPro disk
images directory (/usr/local/adtpro/disks) by typing forfloppy imageFileName
. To access the files inside that directory, you can also refer
to it as $ADTDISKS (e.g. ls $ADTDISKS
).
You can also use vsd1
or vsd2
for non-ProDOS disks, but you won’t be able
to access them from within ProDOS. However, you can use a ProDOS utility which
knows how to access the format (e.g. System Utilities can copy files from DOS
3.3 and Pascal disks).
Some commands for working with Apple II disk images:
mkpo -b totalBlocks newImageFileName PRODOS.VOL.NAME
will make a new disk
image that has the capacity specified in totalBlocks
. (A block is 512 bytes,
or half a KB.) The maximum block count is 65535, though if you plan to use the
disk image with VSDRIVE, a realistic maximum is 8192. If you omit -b totalBlocks
, you’ll get an 800K disk image, unless your image name ends in
“.dsk”, in which case you’ll get a 140K disk image. You can also
omit PRODOS.VOL.NAME
to get an untitled disk image.
dopo imageFileName
will convert a DOS-ordered 140K disk image to a
ProDOS-ordered image, or vice-versa. The original ordering will not be kept.
acmd
will do lots of stuff with Apple II disk images (many formats,
including ProDOS, DOS 3.3, and Pascal, are supported). Type acmd
by itself
to see usage; syntax for copying files in and out of images will be mentioned
in the next post on transferring things to your Apple II. (cppo
is an
alternative, but it’s even slower. It does preserve dates, however.)
$VSD1
and $VSD2
can be used in commands to refer to the disk images
assigned to virtual drives 1 and 2, rather than typing out the full path.
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: expand archives
If you have an archive file, on your Pi, you’ll need to expand it.
Commands for general archive formats:
unzip archiveFileName
will extract files from a .zip archive
gunzip compressedFileName
will uncompress a .gz compressed file
tar xf archiveFileName
will extract files from a .tar archive
tar zxf archiveFileName
will extract files from a .tar.gz (or .tgz) archive
(both of the previous commands in a single step)
unar archiveFileName
will extract files from tons of archive formats,
including obsolete ones like StuffIt and DiskDoubler. See The
Unarchiver for a full list.
Commands for Apple II archive formats:
nulib2 -x archiveFileName
will extract files from a ShrinkIt (.SHK, .SDK,
.BXY) or Binary II (.BQY, .BNY) archive. This will mostly be useful when the
archive contains a full disk image (typically, but not always, indicated as
.SDK); if the archive contains files, use one of the commands below. You can
view the contents of an archive before expanding with nulib2 -v archiveFileName
.
shk2image archiveFileName imageFileName
will extract files from a ShrinkIt
or Binary II archive to a ProDOS disk image file (if the one you specify
doesn’t exist, an 800K image will be created, unless the name you gave ends in
“.dsk”, in which case a 140K image will be created). If you want the archive
to be expanded directly to virtual drive 1 or 2, use $VSD1
or $VSD2
for
imageFileName
.
If you want the archive to be expanded into a ProDOS subdirectory rather than at the top level of the disk image, you can supply a ProDOS path, without the volume name, as an additional argument. The subdirectory (and any subdirectories within it) will be created if it doesn’t exist. For example:
shk2image archiveFileName $VSD2 PATH/TO/PRODOS.DIR.NAME
(You can also uncompress ShrinkIt archives on your Apple II by transferring the archive, as I’ll explain in the next post. It’s slower that way, though.)
For other (and older) Apple II formats: sciibin filename
will decode a
BinSCII file (.BSC, .BSQ); note that .BSQ files produce ShrinkIt archives when
decoded, so use nulib2 -x
or shk2image
on the result. nulib2 -x filename
will extract files from a Binary II (.BNY, .BQY) archive, and will
automatically uncompress any Squeezed (.QQ) files within the archive;
alternatively, unblu filename
will extract files from a Binary II archive
and usq filename
will uncompress Squeezed files. unbit filename > outfilename
will decode an EXEC file made by Executioner; unexec filename > outfilename
will decode an EXEC file containing monitor input.
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: transfer files
If you’ve got files on your Pi that aren’t inside one of your viritual disks, and you want to transfer them to your Apple II, you’ve got a few options.
Archive files:
If it’s an archive file, you can (and perhaps should) expand it directly on the Pi, as explained in A2CLOUD: working with archives and disk images. Otherwise, use one of the cool moves below, and then expand it with ShrinkIt or the appropriate program on the Apple II.
Copy a file into a disk image
acmd -c fileToBeCopied imageFileName
You can then use vsd1
or vsd2
to access the image file, or, alternatively,
transfer it to a floppy with ADTPro. If you want to copy a file directly to a
disk image already in a virtual drive, use $VSD1
or $VSD2
for
imageFileName
. You must immediately type vsdsync
if you modify an image
currently assigned to a virtual drive.
If you want to specify a different name and/or file type, you can use the long form:
acmd -p imageFileName APPLE2.FILENAME fileType auxType < fileToBeCopied
fileType
should be a three-letter name (e.g. TXT), or a numeric type (e.g.
255 or $E0). auxType
is also needed for file types that require it (e.g.
BIN), and can be either decimal, or hexadecimal if preceded with $. You can
use $2000 for auxType
if you’re not sure. If you want the file to go into a
ProDOS subdirectory, you can specify the path as part of APPLE2.FILENAME
(but do not include the volume name); any subdirectories that don’t already
exist will be created.
(This is a slightly modified version of AppleCommander’s normal -p option: the file type and ProDOS file name are optional, the file name is checked to make sure it’s ProDOS-compatible, and any existing file of the same name within the image is first deleted.)
Transfer a file from your Pi to your Apple II
You can transfer a file to be saved on a local or virtual disk by using the YMODEM protocol. To send one or more files with YMODEM, type:
sb fileToBeTransferred1 fileToBeTransferred2 fileToBeTransferred3
(etc)
Once started, you will need to tell ProTERM or Z-Link to receive YMODEM. In ProTERM, choose YMODEM from the Receive menu; in Z-Link, type open-apple-downarrow, then option 4. In either one, accept the default options (unless you want to change them), and the files should transfer. If for whatever reason they don’t, and you can’t get access to the Linux shell prompt again, type ctrl-X until the prompt reappears. Transfer may be slow at the default 4800 baud rate; I’ll explain how to increase the baud rate in the next post.
If you are using ProTERM, you can also try ZMODEM by using sz
instead of
sb
. ZMODEM is a more efficient protocol than YMODEM, it can auto-start, and
it can recover from incomplete transfers, but those are less important in a
direct-attached (rather than dial-up) situation, and I haven’t had as much
success with it as I have had with YMODEM.
Transfer a file from your Apple II to your Pi
You can also go in the other direction — from your Apple II to the Pi.
Type rb
(for YMODEM) then tell ProTERM or Z-Link to send YMODEM. (If you
prefer to send ZMODEM from ProTERM, just do that, and the Pi will
automatically start receiving; you don’t need to type a command first.)
Another option is to save a file to a virtual disk — or transfer a real floppy using ADTPro — and then copy files out of the disk image on the Pi with this command:
acmd -g imageFileName APPLE2.FILENAME
If you saved to the virtual disk, you can type $VSD1
or $VSD2
for
imageFileName.
acmd (AppleCommander) has some smarts, and it can translate (or “export”, as
it prefers to say) from various Apple II file formats into modern formats. If
you want it to give that a shot, use -e
instead of -g
above.
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: increase serial port speed
I chose the default speed of 4800 baud for Pi as a lowest common denominator that should work in almost any situation, even a IIc using Z-Link without any kind of hardware handshaking serial cable. It should be fine for command-line stuff, but might be slower than you’d like if you use any full-screen programs (like cftp) or are transferring with YMODEM.
You can try to use a faster baud rate with the following command:
baud baudRate
baudRate
can be 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600,
or 115200. The change will take effect immediately (unless you’re not doing it
from your Apple II itself, in which case it won’t do anything), so you’ll need
to change the setting in ProTERM or Z-Link, too.
If you want to make the change permanent, with the change taking effect on logout, use:
baud -d baudRate
To see the current speed, just type baud
by itself.
You’ll only be able to use 38400 or 57600 on a IIgs (and not with Z-Link), but Hugh Hood has come up with clever ProTERM macros that enable 115200 baud on any Apple II, and A2CLOUD provides them with ProTERM. If you use 115200 baud, you’ll likely drop some characters, especially on an 8-bit Apple II. One strategy you might want to try is to use a slower speed normally, but then “upshift” to 115200 for transfers. When you’re done, you can switch back to the slower speed.
To use Hugh’s macros, choose “Read Globals” from the “Misc” menu, and select either PT3.IIE.GLOBALS, PT3.IIC.GLOBALS, or PT3.IIGS.GLOBALS, depending on what computer you’re using. Then, for a IIe or IIc/IIc+, type solid-apple-F, and it will switch to 115200; you can still switch back to other speeds as usual from the “Online” window. For a IIgs, type shift-option-H, and it will switch to 115200 baud; to switch back to other speeds, type option-H to disable the macro. If you want these macros to automatically be available when ProTERM starts without having to use the “Read Globals” menu item, delete or rename PT3.GLOBALS, and then rename the appropriate globals file to PT3.GLOBALS.
This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: emulate an Apple II
Though the purpose of A2CLOUD is primarily to extend the functionality of your actual Apple II, there are also emulators provided in case you want a virtual Apple II. (If you’re using Apple II Pi, that’s in fact sort of the point.)
You’ll either need a screen attached to your Raspberry Pi, or remote desktop software.
For an emulated Apple IIgs, use GSport, a descendent of the KEGS
emulator with significant enhancements by David Schmidt, David Schmenk, Peter
Neubauer, Christopher Mason, and others. GSport’s features include Uthernet
card emulation, AppleTalk networking, and ImageWriter and Epson printer
emulation. Type gsport
to if you are at the command prompt and want a
full-screen experience, or double-click GSport on the Raspbian desktop. Press
F4 for the configuration screen, and alt-F4 to exit. Usage instructions are on
the GSport home page.
For a emulated Apple IIe, type linapple
to run the LinApple emulator.
It has some nifty features like built-in software downloading and a built-in
help screen. More information is here.
You can also use GSport’s ancestor, KEGS, by choosing it from the menu
of the Raspbian desktop. (To start the Raspbian desktop, type startx
or use
remote desktop software.) Usage instructions are here.
This entry was posted on November 29, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: Apple II Pi
David Schmenk has created Apple II Pi, which takes a different approach than A2CLOUD. With A2CLOUD, the idea is to use your Pi as a peripheral for your Apple II.
Apple II Pi flips this around: you can use your Apple II’s keyboard, mouse, joystick, and drives to control your Raspberry Pi, primarily so you can use the GSport emulator, giving you a virtual souped up Apple II. To get benefit from this, you’ll need a screen attached to your Pi.
To use Apple II Pi, you’ll need the Apple II Pi card, or a Raspberry
Pi console cable attached to a Super Serial Card (even in a IIgs) or a
IIc/IIc+ serial port, via the appropriate serial cable and possibly a
DE-9 (aka DB-9) male-to-male null modem adapter. The software is
already installed by Raspple II or A2CLOUD (if it doesn’t seem to work, try
updating A2CLOUD by typing a2cloud-update
).
Once connected, boot the A2CLOUD floppy, and press space on the splash screen.
The first time you do this, it will ask you to choose the slot of your Apple
II Pi card or Super Serial Card. It should then connect immediately; your
Apple II will sound a tone, and any keystrokes you type will show up on the
Raspberry Pi’s screen, rather than your Apple II; on the Raspbian desktop, you
can use your Apple II mouse. And if you want to see your Apple II prompt on
your Raspberry Pi, type a2term
; prepare to be pleasantly disoriented.
Apple II Pi also lets you go straight into GSport, bypassing the Raspbian command line, by logging in with username “apple2″ (no password); type alt-F4 (or openApple-solidApple-4 on an Apple II keyboard) to quit. When you do, your Pi will fully shut down.
Apple II Pi has many more sophisticated abilities, such being able to develop 6502 code on the Raspberry Pi and execute it on the Apple II. For more info on how to use it, check out Dave’s web site and the Ultimate Apple 2 forums.
This entry was posted on November 29, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: release history and notes
A2CLOUD is sorta always in a state of development with tiny tweaks happening
without announcement, often to the installer script rather than any visible
features per se, and those changes and other small details are (somewhat)
documented at the end of the script itself. But here are the noteworthy
enhancements. To update, type a2cloud-update
.
v1.8.1, May 5, 2015
-
ADTPro 2.0.1
-
Apple II Pi client 1.5
v1.8.0, March 17, 2015
-
compatible with every Raspberry Pi, including Raspberry Pi 2 Model B
-
GSport installed for non-Raspberry Pi computers, with option for new GS/OS+Spectrum installation, or GSport Internet Starter Kit premade image
-
Links web browser
-
desktop shortcuts and Apple II menu group for emulators and ADTPro
-
new
a2cloud-update os
command will perform full Raspple II update, including Raspbian OS and NOOBS install manager, A2CLOUD, A2SERVER, and Apple II Pi -
many small improvements and fixes to A2CLOUD environment and installer script
v1.7.2, February 7, 2015
-
supports Raspberry Pi Model A and A+ (and Pi 2 Model B)
-
resolves issues with Raspbian 2015-01-31 (kernel 3.18)
v1.7.1, August 11, 2014
-
A2CLOUD is no longer “beta” on non-Raspberry Pi computers
-
A2CLOUD includes KEGS and Linapple on non-Raspberry Pi computers
-
A2CLOUD has a faster install script for non-Raspberry Pi computers (downloads binaries)
-
unbit/unexec/bsq archive tools are installed
v1.7.0, August 2, 2014
- a2cloud-setup installs Java 8 if not already installed
v1.6.9, July 24, 2014 (KansasFest)
-
ADTPro 2.0.0 (quicker and more reliable transfer; selectable filenames from list)
-
confirmed working on Raspberry Pi Model B+ (use the USB ports closer to the Ethernet port)
v1.6.8, Apr 7, 2014
-
ADTPro 1.3.0
-
TTYtter installs properly on non-Pi systems
v1.6.7, Feb 19, 2014
-
A2CLOUD boot floppy contains A2PI client version 1.4
-
A2CLOUD boot floppy splash screen provides simple menu for virtual drives, Apple II Pi, or BASIC
-
A2CLOUD.HDV is now called A2CLOUD.PO (a symbolic link called A2CLOUD.HDV is still there for backwards compatibility/habits)
-
bug fixes for
cppo
,shk2image
, and some launcher scripts``
v1.6.6, Feb 17, 2014
-
ttytter support for color and avoiding non-ASCII characters when running under Screen
-
opens LXTerminal window by default when starting graphical desktop
-
a2cloud-setup installs Screen if not already installed
-
a2cloud-setup shows installed and available versions
-
a2cloud-setup -y bypasses all prompts
v1.6.5, Feb 5, 2014
- can use
term mono
andterm color
instead ofterm vt100
andterm pcansi
v1.6.4, Jan 31, 2014
-
support for
screen
command to allow switching between multiple terminals on Apple II -
term -f
can be used to force emulation setting even whenterm
doesn’t want to
v1.6.3, Jan 23, 2014
-
Set TTYtter to always use -ssl mode, which is required by Twitter after 14-Jan-14.
-
Set TTYtter to avoid display of non-ASCII characters on serial port shell
-
Set TTYtter to use color ANSI text (for IIgs) if shell is currently set to display it
-
Provided TTYtter readline module for enhanced input with -readline option
-
Added
appleiipi-update
command
v1.6.2, Jan 19, 2014
-
Improved display of non-ASCII characters in Apple II terminal emulation programs
-
Support for “PC ANSI” colored text and graphics characters , for use with Spectrum’s ANSI online display, via new
term
command * Addedsciibin
andunblu
for converting BinSCII and Binary II files -
baud
command supports 300 baud, in case you really want to kick it old school
v1.6.1, Jan 14, 2014
-
Added
telnet
andttytter
(Twitter client) -
fix for network boot failure when set up under v1.6
v1.6, Dec 31, 2013
-
ADTPro/VSDRIVE 1.2.9 (much faster virtual drives read performance, for the price of a short delay on the
vsd1
/vsd2
commands and a need to typevsdsync
after changing an active virtual drive directly on the Pi; ability to run VSDRIVE from ProDOS program launcher, not just BASIC.SYSTEM) -
if A2SERVER is installed, shares the ADTPro disks folder as ADTDISKS on the network
-
responds to name “raspberrypi.local” as alternative to IP address to Mac OS X (and Windows with Bonjour Print Services installed) computers on network
v1.5.2, Dec 22 2013
-
added
dos2pro
command -
Apple II Pi is now installed with GSport emulator and “apple2user” packages
-
speedier install by downloading A2CLOUD disk images instead of building them
v1.5, Dec 1 2013
-
Adds IRC and newsreader clients (Irssi and Tin) and, with shortcuts for Apple II community (
a2chat
anda2news
commands) -
adds KEGS and LinApple emulators
-
installs Apple II Pi
-
easy installation via Raspple II
v1.2.3, Nov 2013
-
A2PI client version 1.3 added to A2CLOUD disk
-
faster install for unar/lsar, nulib2, and cftp (downloads rather than compiles)
-
console (built-in serial) login disabled, to allow Apple II Pi to have that port
-
installs xrdp/tightvncserver for remote desktop access from another computer
-
adds DSK2FILE image utility to A2CLOUD disk
v1.0, Sep 2 2013
- first proper release with full documentation, bug fixes, and demo video
beta, Jul 27, 2013
- internet access and virtual drives for any Apple II via a Raspberry Pi; introduced at KansasFest 2013
This entry was posted on December 28, 2013 by ivanx.
A2CLOUD: other stuff
This is a post for new techniques or features that aren’t fully ready, or other stuff that doesn’t seem to fit into the main guide. View the comments to see, or post one of your own.
If this is at the top of a bunch of posts below, you’re reading the A2CLOUD guide backwards. Click “A2CLOUD” in the menu header above to fix it, or just go to http://ivanx.com/a2cloud.
### ivanx, January 26, 2014 at 4:03 pm
Alistair Ross, who suggested the TTYtter client for Twitter that is now in A2CLOUD, has introduced me to the Mutt email client. Mutt requires a hand-built .muttrc file to put in account information, but Alistair has developed a wizard that will create one for Gmail and other IMAP servers. I have more familiarity with Alpine (a clone of my first email client from the early 90’s, Pine), and may include one, or the other, or both, or neither, in a future A2CLOUD release.
To install Mutt or Alpine, type:
sudo apt-get install mutt
(or alpine
)
also, get Alistair’s Mutt configuration wizard
### ivanx, January 26, 2014 at 9:44 pm
Alistair Ross also suggested the Links web browser. It has a cleaner
layout than Lynx does, devoting more screen space to web content (especially
valuable on the Apple II’s 80×24 display). You get nothing but a blank screen
on startup, but press ESC to get a menu bar, and from there it’s
self-explanatory. On a IIgs with Spectrum’s ANSI online display, you need to
enable its color support from the Settings menu. There’s also a derivative
called “Elinks” which at first glance seems to have more accurate color
support (select “16 colors” from its setup menu). Alistair also suggested w3m,
which I haven’t tried. You can get any of these with:
sudo apt-get install links
(or elinks
, or w3m
)
ivanx, January 26, 2014 at 10:08 pm
In this comp.sys.apple2 thread I discuss various techniques for copying contents of Apple II floppy images to another disk. In this case, it’s a hard disk image file used by a CFFA 3000 card, but it could be any kind of “hard disk”, including a Focus or MicroDrive card, or one provided by VSDRIVE such as the default 4 MB disk in S2,D1.
ivanx, February 17, 2014 at 9:43 pm
A2CLOUD can be installed on Debian or Ubuntu Linux (and possibly derivatives). It has been tried on the 32-bit versions of Debian 7 and Ubuntu Server 13.10. To install, type:
wget ivanx.com/a2cloud/setup; source setup
You can also install it into the A2SERVER virtual machine with the same command, or start fresh with the premade A2SERVER+A2CLOUD virtual machine. To use a USB-to-serial adapter with the VM, click the USB icon in the bottom of the window, and select the adapter. If you have two, repeat. If you want it to be automatically recognized, you can add it under Settings -> Ports -> USB.
One particular difference compared with running A2CLOUD on a Pi is
that there is no assignment of USB-to-serial adapters to specific physical USB
ports. Instead, the “upper” USB port is always the adapter that appears first
to the system (aka /dev/ttyUSB0
or /dev/ttyUSBupper
), and is used for
shell login. The “lower” USB port is always the adapter that appears second to
the system (aka /dev/ttyUSB1
or /dev/ttyUSBlower
), and is used for ADTPro
and virtual drives.
If they are both present at system startup, or connected to a hub which is then attached to the system, there’s no way of knowing which the system will see first. If things don’t work, either swap the cables on the Apple II side, or unplug both adapters and reattach one at a time, starting with the one connected to the Apple II printer port.
Apple II Pi is not offered as an installation option on non-Pi computers, though if you’re dedicated, you can compile it yourself here.
This entry was posted on January 26, 2014 by ivanx.