This mini forum is intended to provide a simple means of discussion about the Apple  APPLE IIe computer. If you want to share your own experience or memories, or add relevant information about this system: post a message!

I work for my school''s IT department and recently found one of these tucked away in a closet covered in decades of dust. The school decided to junk the thing but after cutting through miles of red tape and talking with an administrator that I had impressed in the past I managed to save it. I am happy to say that it is in perfect working order, is in beautiful condition, and won''t be going anywhere near a junkyard for a very very long time.

My first job out of college in 1981 was in the Environmental Hygiene Laboratory at Olin Corporation in New Haven, CT. We had an HP data acquisition system connected to a Teletype terminal. The HP system needed to be booted up using a key, input switches and a series of three paper table rolls. This system did the data integration for up to four of our Gas Chromatographs (all HP 5710A''s). In 1984, my boss purchased a Varian Vista 402 to replace the HP system. He wanted a computer for the laboratory but could not get it justified. Varian was smart - they had a "Vista Plus" package to go along with the Vista 402 Data Acquisition system. The Vista Pus package was an Apple IIe computer with dual floppy drives and a serial cable to connect the DA system to the IIe. It also came with a small assembly language program to transfer the data from each channel (up to four - one for each GC) to the IIe when it completed it analysis on each sample. I wrote a program to display the data for all four channels (needed the 80 column graphics card). In then enhanced the program to store the data, perform all of the calculations (blank subtraction and spike correction) that we used to do by hand and then write a nice neat report listing each sample analyzed and the concentrations of up to 15 components in each sample. My boss loved what I had done. No more errors by doing hand calculations and then the secretaries typing our results into the Xerox word processor as a neat report to send to the Industrial Hygenists!

Oh wow. This was probably my favorite computer to ever program on. I learned on an Apple $$ first and foremost. Then, we upgraded to the Apple //e with the extensible 80-column card in it. Added another 128K RAM board, and then eventually a Z-80 card so I could run CP/M. I used the Oraca macro assembler as well as the Aztec C environment where I first learned C as well as what a Unix-like environment was like. This is where my geekdom started, all self-taught (Apple Integer Basic, Applesoft Basic, machine language, assembler, Pascal and then C). Miss those days.

Ah, the workhorse that was the Apple //e. I had once owned both one of these and a IIplus, and had many a fun hour writing programs for these two rugged computers (their Disk II units failed long before they did.)

With only rudimentary graphics and sound capabilities, these were among the most extensible 8-bit computers of their time, with parallel and serial cards, an 80-column card (one model with an extra 48 kB of RAM,) and even a Z80 Softcard for CP/M!

I still kinda wax nostalgic when I think about these computers.

I actually bought seven IIe computers along with some monitors and parts a week ago for $40. People around here have just been hauling these computers to the dump and recyclers and I thought I would try and save at least a few! It''s been fun to work on them. :)

Anyone interested in an Apple IIe need to sell it because I have some debts if anyone is interested please contact me to my email
  frank-garcia89@hotmail.com

I was driving along last week through an area in Ottawa where it was Garbage day and I found full Apple IIe System complete that works! I love Old technology that works, but what should I do with it NOW?

My Apple //e died today, 3/22/2012, somewhat. There was a whoosh sound followed by a pop sound, then an odor of something hot, but no smoke. I turned it off and opened it up but could see no indication of trouble.

Afterward, when I turned it back on everything seemed normal..?? But after an hour or so of working normally, neither disc drive was able to read a disc although the disc would spin. Nor could I change anything on the monitor screen with the keyboard.

Both drives spin but neither could read or write. The keyboard could not change anything on the monitor.

DIAGNOSIS NEEDED and solutions requested.
Thanks,
Dave

My Apple //e died today, 3/22/2012, somewhat. There was a whoosh sound followed by a pop sound, then an odor of something hot, but no smoke. I turned it off and opened it up but could see no indication of trouble.

Afterward, when I turned it back on everything seemed normal..?? But after an hour or so of working normally, neither disc drive was able to read a disc although the disc would spin. Nor could I change anything on the monitor screen with the keyboard.

Both drives spin but neither could read or write. The keyboard could not change anything on the monitor.

DIAGNOSIS NEEDED and solutions requested.
Thanks,
Dave

If anyone else has an interest in the AppleII stuff, email me @ sharong311@aol.com. It is too much stuff to pack and ship so know that it is in MN.

i have 3 working apple IIe''s with software (educational mostly). printers too.

Sharon I would be interested. Email ronwoch at gmail

Sharon I would be interested. Email ronwoch at gmail

I have enough Apple II stuff for a reasonably complete museum. Includes the Apple graphics tablet, repair manuals, Thunderscan, printers, etc. Is anyone out there interested?

I need Parallel interface card(model $ 7720) for Apple IIe.
does anyone help?

Hi there
i found 1 unit of IIe + monitor.
what should be the price that i can get for this item on the free market?

Thanks
Edi
edigemail@gmail.com

I am still running my 2e
details are on my site,
http://members.iinet.net.au/~hal01/public_html$20copy/Apple_2e_hardware_software.html

I own an Apple Iie Enhanced, but just two weeks ago, something catastrophic happened: I was carrying it down to my basement when I tripped over two steps and tumbled to the cement. my Apple''s speaker was smashed, and my motherboard was junk. I still have lots of parts models, but I need some time to fix it.

Paul, the game you are looking for is called Agent USA. Here is the wikipedia link. I remember it too and we loved it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_USA

I am looking for a game that I played back in elementary school on an Apple 2E (I think… about 80% sure). I am not sure what the game is called. It might have the word Crystal in the title, but if I remember correctly, you played a guy who would walk around and plant crystals that would then multiply over time. But there were bad guys who would come and take them away if you didn’t collect them back up again.

In my memories, the layout of the game was 3ed person looking down and had a very Atari 2600 look and feel to it. Also I think you started each level by getting off a train, each board would be like a new town or level… but that might not be correct for this game… it has been a while.

If anyone knows what the name of his game is, please let me know. I would love to find it if it is available.

I am hunting for a copy of Jenny of the Prairie for the Apple IIe.

Thanks

My brother and I spent many hours playing video games and programming our 2e. It was a big step-up from our TI-99.

The old 2e was quite tough to stand up to our abuse.

Some of our favorite games included Ultima, Castle Wolfenstein (the original), a game where you served beer at a bar, Jaust (a game where you flew a bird into other birds and collected eggs), Lode Runner, a Karate game (very good graphics) and flight simulator. We usually copied the disks of our friends since we could not afford to buy them. Various copy protection schemes were being used unsuccessfully and nefarious people would release underground software to get around them (just like modern times).

Learned to hack binary files by using Norton Utilities (the original) to read each disk sector for ASCII code that could be changed and customized.

My grandfather and I made a light pen from a magazine article.

My mom learned to like/hate the computer as I soon was spending all of my time messing with it. The career path didn't turn out so bad, however.

I customized my Apple IIe into a wider but short in heigth case. and secured the keyboard to the top of the case. I placed the system and a monitor on a metal rolling cart, and I take it outside with my telescope at night, and I wrote star plotting software in Applesoft basic. And thats what I use it for!

I have some apple 2e software and I would like to run it on a newer Mac--os 9.1--- Is this possible? They are on 5 1\4 floppies and I have extra drives to plug into the powermac. will it work??

Is there any way to figure out if my Apple IIe is worth anything. I just found it in my brother's closet. I don't have a monitor for it, so I figured I could sell it, hoping to cheer someone up somewhere.

I've got some 5.25 floppies which were created on my Apple lle in the 80's. Does anyone out there have the ability to retreive the files?

I am 82 and pretty much housebound caring for an ailing wife, so i can't get out to look for stuff. I touched my first computer (a Quadra) about two years ago and it seems I have a natural affinity for Macs. Anyway, someone gave me an Apple lle yesterday with the monitor, 'profile' hard drive and 'silentype' thermal printer.Unfortunately no cables, also a few keys are missing. Does anyone have these items they would part with? I would be able to reimburse for shipping costs.

I am trying to remeber the name of a 2e game I used to round 1990 (game may have been older than me) that was a scrolling style adventure with graphics
where you had to type the commands in and recieve a response -
the story line had something to do with people living in trees and elders. you could even harvest grapes and so forth.

The Apple ][e was the first computer I ever saw as a kid; perhaps the
first thing I saw as a kid. Mine has a nice history behind it, but
finished off with an ending I would have liked to have rewritten. When
I was about the age of 3, my brother and I (10 at the time) used to
love playing on the old Apple. We used to spend many hours playing
Oregon Trail, Sticky Bear, Lemonade stand, and other games. One of
the games, I remember we nicknamed "number dumber" because the disk
had no label. The other side was a cheaply made pinball sim. The game
had 4 floors, and you, as a stick man, had to ascend and descend the
ladder, collecting the numbers 1 through 10, while evading enemies.
The second level resembled the game Donkey Kong. I remember calling my
mom constantly to read what was on the screen for me. This was usually
around 8:00 or so, and my brother was walking to school. I used to
drive her (as well as my dad) crazy with the buzzing of the disk
drive, and the sound FX from the games, as it was out in the living
room, next to our Macintosh Classic. One day when I was four, the disk
drive broke. What it would do was, it would power up properly, but it
wouldn't do anything; no matter what, it remained at the bootup
screen. Later on, I asked my dad if he could fix it. He couldn't.
Instead, he handed me two of the original
"Disk ][ 5 1/4" drives and an interface card and said "Here. If you
can't get this to work, I'll help you when I get home" and went off to
work. Later on in the day, I was studying the IIe carefully, looking
where to put the card in. I detatched the cover and studied the ports.
Uninstalling the redesigned drive controller, I figured that the board
would go in the spot where the old one was. Figuring out eventually
how to set it up, I carefully booted the computer. It worked. After
boasting to my parents for several hours, I resumed normal play. A
year later, my brother seemed to lose interest in it, and gain
interest in the Classic. Also,
we bought a modern Pentium-based computer in early '97, and put in the
desk next to the Classic. It was a HP 7000 tower series computer. We
got a 693C printer along with it, and a software bundle, including
children's book software such as "Sam I am", 'Lil Howie's Math
adventure, etc. Around kindergarten, I proclaimed the computer "mine".
I moved it to my room, including all the software and the monitor. I
was so happy with it there, I even wrote "Austin's Computer" on it
with a yellow colored pencil next to the //e logo. Then one day around
2nd grade, one of the disc drives nearly caught fire, and started
smoking ( it seems pretty funny to me now, so don't worry about
laughing about it :) ). I simply replaced the drive with the other. It
worked for a while. Eventually that one broke too. My guess is it was
due to my inept handling of the I/O card. I later noted that one of
the disc capacitors used to control the 2nd drive was broken off when
I installed it in '95. That wasn't the only computer having a bad day.
The HP's motherboard got damaged somehow. We replaced it with a newer
8380 series in '98. Many other things happened over time until we got
our handbuilt P4 computer made by my crafty brother (with some of my
help) :P. The 693C printer is working. It is being used by my dad in
his home office, and been replaced by a 950C that I fixed. As for the
Classic, it's still kicking. It's in my room, along with my handbuilt
P3 and my commodore 64, vic-20, 3 vcrs, and my laptop, electric guitar
(which i'm getting pretty damn good at), etc. My //e was sold to the
computer recycling center by my dad around '99 or so (boy was I mad!)
since the disk drives broke. At the age of 12 now,
I've exanded my horizons into much more interests, but computers still
hold a special place in my heart. I'm looking in to buying another //e
just for nostalgia's sake, or because I would
like to look into buying more 8-bit computers.

P. S. If you know the name of that "number dumber" game, please tell
me. I would like to
atleast play it again on an emulator.

I know it was quite long, but thanks for listening!

I bought an Apple IIe off eBay and I have NO disk drive, and no use for it, but it's the only computer in my collection. I love it.

TAMARA - Found this little site - its a start.

http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs4MAJORSITES.html

ANTHONY - name of game is "sabotage".

Trying to remember a game we played on the Apple IIe where you would gather 'memstones' by answering questions correctly. You build a home out of these memstones so that the hurricane at the end of the game doesn't blow you away! Can anyone help? (Science Island????) Who made it?

Looking for a game I used to play around 1983. It was a arcade style game, had a gun turret in the center bottom portion of the game, and using the arrows keys, you had to shoot down parachuters. If you didnt, they would land and climb up to the turret, if enough landed, they would climb onto the top of the gun turret and blow you up. If you shot the parachute and not the person, the person would fall to his death below. If there was a person below, he would fall onto of him and thus killing both. Anyone know the name of that game ?

You will find this game on this FTP site :
ftp.apple.asimov.net/
in the following directory:
pub/apple_II/images/games/simulation/

enjoy

I am seeking an old Apple II or IIE game entitled Three Mile Island. It is a simulation game of an atomic pile. Objective is to prevent melt down.
thanks

The apple IIe is NOT really a DOS system, it mainly ran thru BASIC
And used ProDos (which is NOT the same as DOS)

I can help with any Apple II questions you may have. Please email me if you need something answered, or want some software copied; I have games, disk-copying utilities, word processors and lots more stuff.

Jay, the game you're thinking of is Robot War. There's a few projects that are remaking it at:

http://robowar.sourceforge.net/
http://www.robotbattle.com/

oops, my last post had the wrong email, the correct email is above. If you can offer me any help, I would greatly appreciate it....Thanks again

I have jusy recently been given an Apple IIe computer. I am unfamiliar with DOS based systems. . I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out how to work it. I was thinking this would be a good way to introduce my 5 year old to computersIt came with many floppys, including apple worls startup, 3.3 dos, etc. The computer works, when you turn it on, Apple//e comes up. But I do not see any prompt. And I do not know how to load any of the disks. LOL I am a windows XP type. Any help or advise would be appreciated. Thanks.

I was wondering if someone could tell me the name of a game I played on the apple iie as a kid (1987/88)? I think it was made by Spinnaker or Broderbund. The best way I can describe it is that you controlled (programmed?) pod shaped robots to accomplish certain tasks like picking up items, turning on/off switches, and possibly turning on other robots? This is the best I can do...Does anyone know the Name of the game/program I'm talking about?? Thank you so much!!

I just got my IIe Platnum like yesterday and know I hardly play on my newer one! Its awesome

I have 4 iie's. 3 are the platium with color monitors. one has a duo drive. the other one is the orginal iie with a green monitor. I have over 200 disks for them. I still haven't tryed them all yet. Of all the old computers i have the iie is my favorite.

The Apple IIe was the very first computer that I used. This was back in 1990 when I started 4th grade. I have my own Apple IIe now.