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From: Anthony K. <mai...@an...> - 2020-08-18 22:35:05
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DEAR BERNARD, THIS IS INCREDIBLY COOL!!! I'M RUNNING BP1 RIGHT NOW ON A VIRTUAL APPLE IIE. (Oops! I don't have to use all caps on my Mac ;-) I was able to load "Grammar Q.6.6 version 36" too after some trial and error with the emulator program. Then I got stuck in the grammar editor for awhile before I figured out that the menu commands in the editor require the Control key. I really don't know what I'm doing but it is fascinating! :) I found some of the Apple II emulators and tools that I used to use 20 years ago when I had a long bout of nostalgia for everything from my childhood. The following are on Sourceforge and GitHub, so free and open source. Catakig (II,II+,IIe,IIc) http://catakig.sourceforge.net/ KEGS (IIgs only) http://kegs.sourceforge.net/ Jace (IIe in Java) https://github.com/badvision/jace AppleCommander (disk image utility) https://applecommander.github.io/ I don't think Catakig or KEGS have been updated in a long while and they may not be the best emulators out there. (I think "Bernie II the Rescue" was my favorite IIgs emulator). But Catakig is working OK for me so far. (BP1 couldn't read the data files when I had the same disk in both drives, but ejecting the disk in drive 2 fixed that. Probably an issue with Catakig...) I set the emulator to x6 speed because I was feeling impatient. :) I'm looking forward to playing with BP1 some more and learning how to use it! THANKS SO MUCH for making the journey to copy disks and for posting the disk images!! Anthony On 8/18/20, 2:31 PM, Bernard Bel wrote: > Despite other urgent tasks I couldn't resist trying to run BP1 on a Mac. > Yesterday we had already checked it on a virtual Apple II under Windows. > > I installed the first emulator found by a search engine: > https://www.virtualii.com/ > > and paid the cheapest license (around 19 euros). > > It took a while finding ROMs for intalling the Apple II's system. On the > machine it was a piece of hardware. > > Finally I dowloaded "apple2_roms.zip" from: > https://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/emulators/rom_images/ > > and dragged the Apple_iie ROM to the ROM folder of the application, then > ran "create a new machine" to create an Apple IIe. I vaguely remember > this is the minimum setup to display 80 columns. > > Then I called "Insert a diskette image" telling it should go to drive 1 > and selected "BP-PRG.DSK". The program started. When it asked for a data > disk, I selected again drive 1 and uploaded "BP-OCT88.DSK". > > Probably it is necessary to click the "drive 1" image as shown on the > enclosed picture to instruct the machine we still want to use it… Having > 2 drives doesn't really matter because BP1 had been designed for a > single drive of the AppleIIc. The program is held in the upper RAM and > the program disk can be replaced with a data disk. > > Look at the attached picture proving I was able to load "Grammar Q.6.6 > version 36"! > > Frankly I haven't been able to do much with it because I have forgotten > most procedures. Still, I managed to edit the grammar and play with the > editor which is pure 6502 code. I will work with Jim Kippen to set up a > real demo of all features and document it on the website. > > The fun with this emulator is that it runs at the exact speed on an > Apple II and even produces the sounds of floppy disks spinning in > drives! It can also be set to run faster. > > The illusion is complete because the temperature in the South of France > is the same as in India 40 years ago. :-/ > > Bernard Bel > > ---------- > > Hello fans of the Apple 2! > > With the help of Philippe M. in Marseille, all floppy disks of Bol > Processor BP1 dating back to 1980 have been duplicated. These include > the source code in 6502, the binary program running on Apple 2 (64K) and > sets of data — Jim Kippen's work on tabla improvisation in North India. > > Philippe also transfered 3 disks to "DSK" images which can be downloaded > here: > > https://bolprocessor.org/misc/BP1/ > > The source+program disk is named "BP-PRG.DSK". > > We ran BP1 on an Apple II emulator. (Beware that the display is on 80 > columns…) It all works fine even though I am no longer familiar with the > interface! It will require an hour of training, remembering and documenting… > > > This material could be used in a memorial meeting, next year, for > celebrating 40 years of development on Bol Processor. :-) > > Bernard |
