Brought back to life

[fdion]

I've just gotten this computer back to life. It is old. Can you guess what it is? It is not a raspberry pi, hence I'm posting in the off topic section.



First clue is that picture. Follow the clue tail here (started yesterday):

http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... int-1.html
Link to next hint is at the bottom of that blog post.

If nobody guesses by next Monday (one hint a day until then), I'll post the answer.

François

[gordon@drogon.net]

I've just gotten this computer back to life. It is old. Can you guess what it is? It is not a raspberry pi, hence I'm posting in the off topic section.



First clue is that picture. Follow the clue tail here (started yesterday):

http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... int-1.html
Link to next hint is at the bottom of that blog post.

If nobody guesses by next Monday (one hint a day until then), I'll post the answer.

François

I'ts one of these:



call -151, indeed.

*3D0G

-Gordon

[fdion]

The screenshot I posted here could not have been produced by an Apple ][...

[jamesh]

My original thought was Apple 2, but it might even be an Apple 1. Or perhaps an early Commodore PET?

The Press Reset at the top isn't familar....

[SN]

UK101?

[gordon@drogon.net]

The screenshot I posted here could not have been produced by an Apple ][...

My Apple IIs could produce that if I desired. You hook some code into the "language card" to intercept the reset vector and off you go...

So if not a genuine Apple II, It's an Apple something then - compatible/clone. ITT 2020? It's running Applesoft. call -151 is the entry point to the monitor with a * prompt. The different part is the "PRESS RESET", so while it may not be an Apple II, it's an early Apple of some sort.

-Gordon

[ukscone]

Franklin Ace

[fdion]

This gets harder before it gets easier

http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... int-3.html

[fdion]

Next hint up...

http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... int-4.html

[gordon@drogon.net]

Next hint up...

http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... int-4.html

that's a 48K Apple II motherboard with some extra boards over the bottom area - where the keyboard and character generator chips are. Typically some add-ons would be to provide lower case characters and keyboard hooks.

so it's still an Apple II of some sorts - just dressed up a bit.

-Gordon

[fdion]

Been quite busy with the PyCarolinas conference this weekend, but I posted the solution / recap and who had what right first. It was hard, I'll give you that. But a very cool piece of computing history in education, at any rate:

[ur]http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... ution.html[/url]

That was used in US classrooms to teach about microcomputers, in 1982.



Francois

[gordon@drogon.net]

Been quite busy with the PyCarolinas conference this weekend, but I posted the solution / recap and who had what right first. It was hard, I'll give you that. But a very cool piece of computing history in education, at any rate:

[ur]http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/20 ... ution.html[/url]

That was used in US classrooms to teach about microcomputers, in 1982.



Francois

So it's still an Apple II of some sorts - just dressed up a bit.

-Gordon

[fdion]

Still having some vertical lines when I use the color board. If I bypass it, it looks way better. I've been digging in my old magazines to see if I didn't find anything on the subject, and while it's been really cool pulling out some old Circuit Cellars, Byte, etc and chuckling at the advertising, I've not found anything yet on this. On a real Apple 2, I have some schematics, but that color board was particular to only some early Franklin Ace 1000. In other words, there is no documentation.

So I guess I'll have to figure it out the hard way... Time to pull out the scope...

ukscone, you guessed franklin ace, do you have one? A 1000 by any chance?

François