Apple II expansion card using a Raspberry Pi for I/O
Go to file
2022-02-07 22:01:06 -05:00
.cicd Add ld65 config 2021-10-31 14:35:55 -04:00
.github Add version info 2022-02-07 22:01:06 -05:00
Apple2 Add version info 2022-02-07 22:01:06 -05:00
Hardware Update images for 5th prototype 2021-07-28 07:50:58 -04:00
RaspberryPi Add version info 2022-02-07 22:01:06 -05:00
.gitignore Change firmware to wait for RPi ready 2021-06-01 00:37:38 +00:00
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md Fix Codacy lint/security warnings 2021-11-03 05:33:09 -04:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Fix Codacy lint/security warnings 2021-11-03 05:33:09 -04:00
LICENSE Update copyright notices 2022-01-10 23:00:58 -05:00
README.md Update README.md 2022-02-07 06:11:01 -05:00
SECURITY.md Create SECURITY.md 2021-11-01 06:00:42 -04:00

Apple2-IO-RPi

Apple II expansion card using a Raspberry Pi for I/O

Image of Board

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to provide I/O for an Apple II series 8 bit computer via a Raspberry Pi Zero W which is powered by the Apple II expansion bus. This includes using the attached RPi Zero W for it's storage, network and processor to provide new functionality for the Apple II.

Features

  1. Boot message which waits for RPi to be ready
  2. ProDOS bootable drive from image stored on RPi
  3. Linux bash shell to the RPi from the Apple II including some VT100 support via -SHELL from ProDOS
  4. Load binary files directly from the RPi to the II (temporarily removed from firmware but will come back as a utility or dynamic virtual drive
  5. Update Apple II firmware in place from image on RPi (note, this is done per slot)
  6. Supports two drive images at the same time
  7. Supports "RPI" command from BASIC to execute Linux commands from the command prompt or inside BASIC programs: 10 PRINT CHR$(4);"RPI ls -al /"

Project Status

So far, this is a project and not a finished product. The current prototype is on the fifth revision and about 20 have been assembled and tested. It is now possible for the Apple II to boot from and write to virutal hard drive images stored on the RPi in any slot (except slot 3) and run a bash shell on the RPi via the Apple II. The code has very few tests and is incomplete. Note that currently the firmware assumes an 80 column card is in slot 3 and than you have lowercase support. Most testing has been done with an enhanced Apple //e with the card in slot 7. If you have other drive controllers earlier in the boot cycle, you can still boot from the Apple2-IO-RPi. For example, if the card was in slot 4, you could type PR#4 from the BASIC prompt to boot the card. If you have a problem or idea for enhancement, log an issue here. I recommend starring/watching the project for updates on GitHub. You are welcome to fork the project and submit pull requests which I will review.

Roadmap

  1. Allow more than two virutal hard drives at a time
  2. In-memory virutal drive representing current working directory in Linux for ease of copying files between Linux and ProDOS
  3. Proper ProDOS clock driver (currently just directly sets values on block reads)
  4. Bi-directional image conversion between common formats and HIRES
  5. Remote code execution
  6. Proxy VNC connection, rendering as Apple II compatible graphics

Setup

Setup card from scratch

Setup if you received a complete board from me

Update to latest

Additional steps to upgrade Golang and use new command line parameters for the service (if you had set up before October 11, 2021)

Similar Project

If you prefer having Apple II peripherals control a Raspberry Pi rather than simply using the Raspberry Pi to provide storage, network access and processing to the Apple II, have a look at David Schmenk's excellent Apple2Pi project. I am often asked about differences between these two projects. They are similar in some ways but essentially opposite. The Apple2Pi is meant for the primary machine to be the RPi, using the Apple II for it's peripherals. The Apple2-IO-RPi is meant to have the Apple II as the primary machine and just use the RPi for its processing, storage and network.