#
Virtual ][

Copyright © Gerard Putter

### Overview

> Introduction
> About the ROM image file
> Run a demo to test the installation
> Where to find Apple II documentation
> About the evaluation version and licensed versions
> Starting and stopping the application
> Saving and restoring machine snapshots
> General operation

### Devices

> The Apple II keyboard
> Working with disk images
> 5.25" floppy disk drive
> Hard disk and 3.5" floppy disk drive
> Printer
> Serial interface
> Cassette recorder
> 80-column card for the Apple ][ and Apple ][+
> 80-column display on the Apple //e
> AppleMouse
> Real time clock
> Z80 card and CP/M

### Gameplay and other fun stuff

> Joystick and game paddles
> Working with sound
> Recording a movie

### Transferring Apple II diskettes to the Mac

> The A2V2 utility application

### Advanced options

> Working with character sets and international keyboards
> Configuration
> Controlling Virtual ][ with AppleScript
> The Virtual ][ Inspector

### Support

> Getting support
> Release notes

### Other issues

> Specifications of the virtual machine
> Unsupported features
> Why did I create this application?

### Introduction

Virtual ][ is an application that emulates the Apple II computer. Its main purpose is to enjoy, on your Mac, the nostalgic fun of the Apple II.

Key features

- Emulates five different machines:

- The original Apple ][, released in 1977
- Its successor from 1979, the Apple ][+
- The Apple //c, introduced in 1984
- The enhanced Apple //c with 32KB ROM, introduced in 1985
- The enhanced Apple //e, released in 1985; the most versatile

- Supports USB game pad or joystick
- Save and restore snapshots of the virtual machine whenever you want
- Full support for dsk and woz disk images
- Full-screen mode
- The emulated machine can print to a pdf file
- Conversion of original diskettes to disk image files
- Integrated "Spotlight" module allows searching for a specific file on your Apple II disk images

More features

- Run multiple machines simultaneously
- Supports all graphics and text modes
- Emulates the internal speaker
- Mouse ][ emulation
- ProDOS hard disk support
- Thunderclock, "Mountain" AppleClock and no-slot clock
- Cassette tape emulation
- Memory expansion up to 16 MB
- Supports international keyboards and character sets
- Record a QuickTime movie from the emulated Apple II screen
- Intuitive user interface
- Realistic sound effects
- Comprehensive documentation

Advanced features

- Configure your own virtual machines
- Mount a Mac folder as a DOS or ProDOS disk
- Run CP/M on the emulated Z80
- Use real serial devices or Unix named pipes with the emulated Super Serial card
- Paste text to the Apple II keyboard
- Install your own character generator ROMs
- Run the emulation at different speeds
- Debug Apple II programs with the "Inspector"
- Built-in performance monitor
- Can be controlled with AppleScript

Virtual ][ accurately implements the hardware of the original machine in software, so all programs should behave like they did on the real machine.

The application requires macOS 12.0 "Monterey" or better. There are no specific hardware requirements.

Note that, for copyright reasons, the application does not include the original Apple ROM images. To obtain these, read "About the ROM image file".

You can download and try an evaluation version of Virtual ][ for free. If you like the application, you can buy a license and enjoy the full-featured Apple II emulation. Read more about this in "About the evaluation version and licensed version".

### About the ROM image file

#### Installing a ROM image file

The Apple II machines came with built-in software in ROM. This software is not bundled with Virtual ][, but downloadeding and installing it is easy.

#### Step 1: Download the appropriate ROM image file(s)

The easiest way is to download ROMs for all five supported machines in one zip file.

If the above link doesn't work, or if you prefer getting individual ROM files, you can find them on archive sites, or can search for ROM files with DuckDuckGo or Google.

Before installing, unzip any zip file by simply double-clicking it in the Finder.

#### Step 2: Copy the ROM image files to the right location on your system

In Virtual ][, select "Show ROM Folder" from the File menu. This opens a Finder window showing the folder where the ROM files must go. Copy or move the ROM files there.

The file names do not matter much; the only requirement is that they end in ".rom" or ".ROM". Virtual ][ automatically figures out which file to use for which virtual machine, based on the file contents.

#### Step 3: Verify the installation

From the File menu, use "New Machine" to create an instance of the machine you want to emulate. The application will search the ROM folder for a file that matches the selected machine type. If no such ROM can be found, it shows a warning.

#### If you updated from an older version

Before version 8.0, Virtual ][ allowed the ROM files to reside in the same folder as the application. This setup does not work anymore, so move these files to the dedicated ROM folder.

#### Some technical details

In each Apple II, the memory address range from $D000 to $FFFF is occupied by ROM, containing the Basic interpreter (either Integer Basic or Applesoft Basic) and the system monitor. In the Apple //e and //c the memory range $C100 - $CFFF is also used for ROM.
Virtual ][ needs a valid ROM image file to behave like a real Apple II. Because the ROMs are copyrighted by Apple, they are not bundled with Virtual ][. The ROMs must be present as external files containing the exact memory image. To be more precise: Virtual ][ uses the last 12 KB of the designated file (or 16 KB in the case of Apple //e and //c) as the ROM of a newly created virtual machine. The enhanced Apple //c needs a ROM file of exactly 32KB.
If the application does not find a suitable ROM file, it uses a built-in ROM image, which shows a message about the missing ROM (and also hides an easter egg).

If you want to use a non-standard ROM, and know what you are doing, you can override the standard ROM image file search, and specify a ROM image file in the "ROM memory" section of the configuration window.

###

Running a demo to further test the installation

After installing the ROM image files, you can see some examples of what Virtual ][ can do. To that purpose, click on the Applescript menu, and select any of the "example scripts".

You'll see a short explanation of what the demo will do; click the "Run" button to start the demo.

If you want to learn more about using Applescript with Virtual ][, read Controlling Virtual ][ with AppleScript

###

Where to find Apple II documentation

This Help file is about the Virtual ][ application. For example, it tells you how to configure a virtual machine, how to use the emulated printer and how to work with disk images.
It does however not explain how to use the Apple II computer. If you want to refresh your memory on Applesoft Basic, Integer Basic, DOS or ProDOS commands, you might find this web page useful: Apple ][ Programmer's reference. Or, if you want more detailed information, have a look at this site; it contains a large collection of Apple II manuals.

### About the evaluation version and licensed versions

The application runs in one of three license modes:

- Evaluation mode; this is what you have when you first download the application and run it. Most of the functions work, but the application pauses every few minutes.
- Limited license mode: this lifts some of the restrictions of the evaluation mode.
- Full license mode: this unlocks all features of the application.

This table shows the difference between the licenses:

| Evaluation | Limited | Full
"Evaluation Version" watermark in screen | Yes | No | No
Pauses every few minutes | Yes | No | No
Full use of matrix printer emulation (no "Evaluation Version" watermark) | No | Yes | Yes
Make and restore machine snapshots at any time | No | No | Yes
Record a movie of the emulated screen | No | No | Yes
Mount a Mac folder as a ProDOS disk | No | No | Yes
Use Unix named pipes for serial I/O | No | No | Yes
Intelligent power management (as described in Setting the speed) | No | No | Yes
Available amount of emulated memory | 128 KB | 128 KB | 16 MB

You can purchase a license in the online Virtual ][ store, or with "Buy a License" in the application menu. If you purchase a limited license, you can upgrade to the full license later on.

A license gives you the right to run Virtual ][ on one computer at a time. You can install it on multiple computers though.
Right after ordering the license, the online store sends you an e-mail with the license code. Choose "Enter License Code" in the Virtual ][ application menu, and enter (with copy / paste) the information received in the e-mail.
When everything checks out, the application is upgraded to the licensed version immediately. There is no need to stop and restart the application.

###

Starting and stopping the application

#### Starting

There are two ways to start the Virtual ][ application:

- Double-click the application and work with a default configuration, or
- Open a Virtual ][ configuration or snapshot.

In either case, the application requires a ROM image file to boot a virtual machine. This is described in more detail in "About the ROM image file".

#### Stopping

A virtual machine stops (is "switched off") when you close its window (or when you stop the Virtual ][ application). The application presents a sheet asking if it should make a snapshot of the running machine. If you do, you can continue running the same machine later on by simply opening the snapshot file. Also see Saving and restoring machine snapshots.

Note that you can customize the starting and stopping behavior in the application preferences.

###

Saving and restoring machine snapshots

Virtual ][ lets you save and restore machine snapshots at any time (full-license only). This can be useful, for example, if you encounter a critical point in a game, and want to make sure you can return to this point in case your game character doesn't survive.
The "Machine" menu has the items you need to save and load snapshots. The virtual machine automatically pauses while a snapshot is being made.
You can also open a previously saved snaphot with File -> Open, or by double-clicking the snapshot file in the Finder. However, if you run a machine and want to go back to a previously saved snapshot of the same machine, you should use one of the the "Load" items in the Machine menu. Using File -> Open in that situation would fail because it would try to open a second machine using the same disk images.

Be aware that working with snapshots has a few limitations:

- Unsaved print output produced by the matrix printer emulation is not part of the snapshot. See "Using the printer" to learn how to save the print output.
- The state of any mounted Mac folders is not part of the snapshot.
- It is not recommended to make a snapshot while data is being written to a disk (or tape). The data might end up corrupt when the snapshot is restored later on.

###

General operation

The application's main window shows the Apple II screen on the left, and a number of connected devices at the right. These devices depend on the type of machine and any configuration options you may have chosen.

The Apple ][, ][+ and //e allow you to set up different devices by inserting and removing peripheral cards, just like their original counterparts.
The Apple //c machines did not have slots for peripheral cards, and can be configured in a more limited way.

The examples show a monochrome monitor, but the leftmost two buttons in the toolbar make it easy to show a color monitor, or to change "green" to a different color (such as amber).
When a virtual machine is started it waits for a boot diskette. If you want you can skip the diskette boot by pressing Reset (control-F12 or the Reset button in the toolbar).

Each device at the right serves as a button. The way these buttons and the devices work is described in the next chapters.
The smaller buttons at the top of the peripherals section can be used to select or create diskettes and other media.

#### Copying the screen to the Mac clipboard

The contents of the Apple II screen can be copied to the Mac clipboard. This can be done in two ways:

- The regular "Copy" command puts the screen contents on the clipboard as a picture.
- The "Copy as Text" command, also in the Edit menu, puts the screen contents on the clipboard as text. This usually results in exactly 24 lines of text. However, if the screen is in mixed text / graphics mode, only the 4 text lines are copied. The command is unavailable if the screen is in full graphics mode.

#### Temporarily pausing a virtual machine

A virtual machine can temporarily be paused by selecting "Freeze Virtual Machine" from the "Machine" menu, or by clicking the "Freeze" button in the toolbar. You can later on resume with "Resume Virtual Machine" or the same toolbar button. As a shortcut you can also use the F1 key to pause / resume.

#### Setting the speed

Virtual ][ faithfully emulates the speed of the original Apple machines, which ran at a CPU clock speed of 1 MHz. Maintaining this exact speed is essential for programs that display animated graphics or produce sound. There are however situations where it would be nice to have a faster machine: while doing a lengthy calculation for example, or when accessing a floppy disk. To this purpose Virtual ][ has three modes of operation, which you can choose from the Machine menu or using the "Speed" slider in the toolbar.

1. Regular Speed: in this mode, the virtual machine runs exactly at the speed of the original machine. Use this for the genuine Apple II experience.
2. High Speed: if this is selected, the machine runs as fast as it can, but falls back to regular speed when it writes output to the screen or produces sound. This mode is suitable for game play: some things go fast, like loading and initializing the game, but the game play itself runs at regular speed.
3. Maximum Speed: the machine runs as fast as it can, and only switches back to regular speed when it must produce sound. This option is intended for things like printing, disk copying, compilations and so on.

A different way to set the machine speed is in the CPU section of the machine configuration, where you can set the machine speed with steps of 1 MHz.

If you have the full license version of Virtual ][, the high speed and maximum speed settings come with a power management feature: while the Apple II is "idle", in other words if it isn't doing anything useful, the speed is automatically reduced to "regular", to conserve energy.
If you want, you can switch the power management feature off with the menu item "Regular Speed if Apple II is Idle", in the Machine menu.

Note that the highest effective speed that can be obtained depends on your Mac, on the number of simultaneously open virtual machines, and on other applications running at the same time.

You can preserve battery power even further by selecting the option "Pause virtual machines if minimized or hidden" in the "Power" section of the application preferences. The option is switched on by default.

###

The Apple II keyboard

#### Key mapping

The built-in keyboard of the original Apple ][ and ][+ computer has far fewer keys than your Mac keyboard. It even has hardly enough keys to produce the entire supported character set. For example, on the original machine the user had to press shift-M to produce the character "]", and shift-N for "^". The characters "[" and "\" could not be entered at all, although they could be displayed on screen.

These restrictions do not apply to the Virtual ][ emulator. All characters in the Apple ][ character set can be entered by typing the corresponding character on the Mac keyboard. This implies that shift-M just produces a capital M, not a "]".

#### The "soft caps lock" feature

The keyboard of the original Apple ][ and ][+ could not be used to enter lowercase characters.
The Apple //e and //c keyboards were able to enter uppercase and lowercase characters, but many programs still expected uppercase input only.
To emulate flexible keyboard behavior, Virtual ][ has the "soft caps lock" option. When it is on, the A-Z keys produce uppercase characters, as on the original Apple ][ keyboard. When the option is off, these keys produce lowercase letters (or uppercase with the shift key), as on the Apple //e. This option can be toggled with the "Caps" toolbar button.

#### Special keys

The Apple ][ had four special keys that did not produce a character. Here is how they are emulated.

- Left and right arrow: these keys are emulated by the left and right arrow keys on the Mac keyboard. The Apple ][ keyboard did not have a "backspace" key, so the left arrow key is the official way to move the cursor to the left. In Virtual ][ you can also use the Mac backspace key, but you have to activate this feature in the keyboard configuration.
- Repeat key: The Apple ][ keyboard had no auto-repeat feature, but it provided a specific key for this purpose. This key is not implemented in Virtual ][. Instead, it uses the auto-repeat feature of the Mac keyboard.
- Reset key: This is an important key. It resets the 6502 processor and connected devices. On the Apple ][+, it had to be pressed together with the control key, in order to prevent an accidental reset. In Virtual ][, function key F12 acts as the Reset key, and just like on the Apple ][+, must be pressed together with the control key. Another way to emulate the Reset key is to choose "Reset" from the Machine pull-down menu or click the Reset button in the tool bar.
  For reasons of compatibility with previous versions of Virtual ][, ctrl-Backspace also acts as Reset, but this only works for the Apple ][ and Apple ][+, not for the Apple //e.

#### Additional keys on the Apple //e and //c

The Apple //e and //c have a few additional keys.

- The up and down arrow keys are emulated by the same keys on the Mac keyboard.
- The "Delete" key (located at the upper right of the keyboard) is emulated by the Mac backspace key, unless the option "Backspace is left arrow" has been set in the keyboard configuration. In the latter case the Delete key is not available.
- The Solid Apple key is mapped to the Mac "alt" key. Note that there can be a conflict here when you need the alt key to enter a specific character on the Mac keyboard. In that case, no "Solid Apple" will be sent to the virtual machine. For example, on a Mac with a French keyboard you must type alt+` to get the character @ (this goes for any Mac application, not just Virtual ][). So on such a keyboard it is not possible to enter the combination "Solid Apple-@" in the virtual machine. On US and European ISO keyboards this limitation does not exist, because the alt key is never needed to type any of the standard ASCII characters.
- The Open Apple key is mapped to the Mac "Command" key. However, there are some special considerations for entering Command key combinations, such as Command+C. By default these combinations are handled as in any Mac application: they activate a menu shortcut if one is defined or do nothing otherwise.
  If you use an Apple II program that works with Open Apple key combinations, you can tell Virtual ][ to disable its menu shortcuts, and forward all Command-key combinations (as well as control-key combinations) to the virtual machine. To enter this mode, press the F5 key, or use the "Quick settings" menu.
  Note that the option goes for all open virtual machines, even for machines that do not support the Open Apple key.
  Also note that a few Command key combinations are handled by the system, such as Command-Tab. These key combinations cannot be forwarded to the virtual machine.

#### Pasting the Mac clipboard

If the Mac clipboard contains text, it can be pasted into the virtual machine. The effect is as if each individual character were typed on the keyboard. This "typing" occurs as fast as the virtual machine can handle the characters, so no characters are lost in the process. If the Apple II is not reading the keyboard when the text is pasted, the text remains queued. Manual input is disabled as long as a pasted text is being entered into the virtual machine. A "newline" character in the text is converted to the Apple II "Return" key.

###

Working with disk images

#### Overview

A disk image is a representation, in a single Mac file, of an entire floppy disk or hard disk. Apple II disk image files come in several different formats; the next table shows the formats Virtual ][ supports.

Disk image type | File extension | Description
5.25" diskette, 16 sectors per track | .dsk, .do, .po | A regular diskette with 35 to 40 tracks, used with DOS, ProDOS, UCSD Pascal or CP/M. The size of the disk image file is 140 KB for a 35 track disk, up to 160 KB for a 40 track disk.
5.25" diskette, 13 sectors per track | .d13 | A diskette with 35 tracks of 13 sectors each, as used in Apple DOS before version 3.3. This format is not widely used, and Virtuall ][ supports it in a limited way. Any changes made to the mounted disk, such as new or modified files, are lost when the disk is ejected from the drive. It is recommended to use the .woz format if you want full read and write access to 13-sector disk images.
5.25" diskette, exact replica of real diskette | .woz | Stores the data in exactly the same way as a real Disk ][. The format is suitable for both regular and copy-protected disk images. The size of a .woz diskette image is typically between 200 KB and 250 KB. Virtuall ][ supports both version 1 and version 2 of the Woz file format.
Copy protected 5.25" diskette | .nib | A disk in so-called "nibbilized" form. This format supports some copy-protection schemes, but has some serious limitations (unlike the .woz format). The size of a nib image is 232960 bytes for a 35 track disk, up to 266240 bytes for a 40 track disk.
Copy protected 5.25" diskette (proprietary and deprecated) | .v2d | A proprietary format, capable of supporting many features of the Disk ][, including "half-tracks" and tracks of non-standard length. The format is compatible with the "D5NI" format used by one of the first Apple II emulators, "Stop The Madness". You won't find disks with this format on internet. It has been made obsolete by the .woz disk image format.
Compressed 5.25" diskette | .gz, .gzip | Any of the above diskette types, compressed with the gzip utility. Many internet archives offer diskettes in this form, to save space and bandwidth. Such files can directly be used in Virtuall ][, without the need to expand them first.
3.5" diskette | .po | Typically 800KB in size; contains the disk sectors in ascending order. Usually intended for use in ProDOS.
Hard disk or 3.5" diskette | .2mg, .2img | A widely used, universal disk image format.
Hard disk or 3.5" diskette (legacy format) | .hdv | A disk format based on one of the Mac Classic DiskCopy formats, "NDIF R/W". If you have DiskCopy disk images, there is a good chance you can convert them to the .hdv format by selecting "Convert Legacy Disk Images" from the Media menu. This starts a utility application that allows you to select one or more disk image files and then tries to convert them. If successful, the converted disk images are saved with the ".hdv" extension in the same folder as the original. The original disk images remain untouched. Note the conversion works one-way only. For the technically interested: the hdv format is extremely straightforward: it just contains all 512-byte disk blocks in ascending order.

Apart from disk images, Virtual ][ also lets you mount a Macintosh folder as an Apple II floppy disk or a ProDOS hard disk; this provides a way to copy files from one environment to the other.

#### Converting original Apple II diskettes to disk image files

Many disk images with original programs are available on internet, but Virtual ][ can also help you converting your own Apple II diskettes to disk images, using the A2V2 utility application. If you still have an original Apple II with a working disk drive, Virtual ][ can help you converting original diskettes to disk image files. To this purpose, select "Convert Apple II Diskettes" from the "Media" menu. This will start a separate application, named A2V2 (short for Apple II - Virtual ][). Read the application's Help section to learn how to do the conversion. A2V2 can convert in both directions: from diskettes to disk image files and vice versa.

Because the capacity of an Apple II diskette is very small by todays standards (typically 140 KB), you might end up with many diskette image files. Virtual ][ offers several ways to keep track of the diskettes and their contents. These options are discussed below.

#### Organizing your disk image files: create a "favorite disk folder"

One way to organize your disk images is putting them in one folder (with subfolders as necessary), and make this the "favorite disk folder" in the Virtual ][ preferences. You can use the "Disks" button in the toolbar to open the folder in the Finder and drag a disk to an empty Virtual ][ disk drive.

#### Organizing your disk image files: the "search" window

A powerful feature of Virtual ][ is a built-in search window. It lets you find the disk images that contain an Apple II file with a specific name, no matter where these disk images are on your Mac. This works for diskette images as well as hard disk and 3.5" disk image files. This feature relies on Apple's Spotlight technology, so the disk image files must be in folders that are included in the Spotlight search (by default your entire home folder and everything in it).
Note that some copy-protected diskettes may have a non-standard structure, and therefore cannot be searched by Spotlight.

To use the feature, select "Search Apple II Disk Images" from the "Media" menu.

If no disk image files appear at all, or when you feel there should be more disk images than are actualy shown, choose "Import Disk Images in Spotlight" from the Application menu. The search window will be updated while new disk images are found.

Initially, the window shows you all disk images belonging to the selected file systems (DOS, ProDOS, etc.). You can narrow down the displayed collection by typing (part of) an Apple II file name in the search field and pressing return.
For example, suppose you want to find all Apple II files that have the term "adventure" in their name. Open the search menu, type the word you are looking for, and press return. This is what might appear.

Apparently, these disk images all contain one or more files with the requested name. To insert one of the disks in an emulated floppy disk drive, double-click it, or drag it to a disk drive.

Because the search mechanism uses the Spotlight feature, you can also search disk images without starting Virtual ][, by just typing a file name in the system-wide Spotlight search field. Selecting one of the disk images from the Spotlight menu launches Virtual ][ with the selected disk inserted.

Note that when you select a disk image file in the Finder, and open the "Info" window, it shows you the Apple II file system.

#### Searching for disk images on the command line

Advanced users can make command-line Spotlight queries. For example, to list all woz2 disk images on your Mac, open a Terminal window and do:

`

mdfind 'kMDItemFSName == *.woz && * == woz2'

`

You can use the mdls tool to find what other meta data is stored for a specific disk image.

#### Quickly inspecting your disk image files using "Quick Look"

Virtual ][ contains a module for the macOS Quick Look feature. It is installed automatically with Virtual ][, and allows you to quickly inspect the contents of most Apple II diskette and hard disk images. In the Finder, select a disk image and press the space bar.
The quick look shows the diskette with an 1980's style label, and the names of the files on the diskette. It also shows the file system, such as DOS or CP/M.

#### Write-protecting a disk

An Apple II diskette could be write-protected by closing its "write-protect notch" with a piece of tape. In Virtual ][ this can be done by selecting "Set Disk Properties..." from the Media menu. This not only works for diskettes, but also for hard disk images. As with the original Apple II, you can change the write-protect state only while the disk is not inserted in the drive.
Alternatively, you can select the disk image file in the Finder and set its "Locked" property in the Info window.

#### Setting volume numbers of DOS and ProDOS diskette images

In Apple II DOS and ProDOS, diskettes have a volume number, which is assigned when formatting the diskette. Disk images with the .woz extension store this volume number. However, diskettes images with file extension .dsk, .do and .po. do not; they only contain the diskette data. For that reason they are assigned the default volume number 254 when you insert them in a disk drive.
This default volume number works fine most of the time, but sometimes Apple II software requires a specific volume number in order to run. To make this possible, Virtual ][ allows you to set the volume number by selecting "Set Disk Properties..." from the Media menu. You can only change the volume number for diskettes while they are not inserted in the disk drive.
Thechnically, the volume number is stored as a so called "extended attribute" in the Mac file system.

###

Using the floppy disk drives

#### Supported disk image formats

The original Apple Disk ][ accepts 5.25" diskettes with 35 tracks. However, it was possible to move the disk drive arm to track 36, and some copy protection schemes actually relied on this. Furthermore, disk drives existed (not made by Apple) that supported 40 tracks. In order to support a wide range of disk formats, the disk drive emulation of Virtual ][ supports up to 40 tracks.
The 5.25" diskette image formats supported in Virtual ][ are listed here.

Apart from disk images, the disk drive accepts a Macintosh folder to be mounted as a DOS 3.3 diskette. This feature is described in more detail below.

#### Inserting and removing a disk

In order for a disk image to be inserted in a disk drive it must have the appropriate file extension. Inserting a disk can be done in several ways: one is to click the appropriate media button at the top of the peripherals section and then select the disk image and the target drive in the file open panel that appears. The same file open panel appears when selecting "Insert Diskette Image" from the "Media" menu, or the menu that appears when you click an empty disk drive.
In the file open panel you will also see a checkbox to make the disk image a part of the configuration. This means that when you save the configuration and later re-open it, the selected disk image is already inserted in the disk drive. This allows you to make a "turnkey" system, which automatically boots from an already inserted disk.

A different way to insert a disk is to simply drag the disk image file or shared folder from its Finder window (or from the disk search window) to an empty disk drive. An empty disk drive can be recognized by the opened drive door. Using this technique, you can still make the disk part of the configuration by holding down the "alt" key while dropping the file or folder.

The third way to insert a diskette is to double-click its icon in the Finder or the disk search window.
When double-clicking a disk image, Virtual ][ will be started if it isn't already running. The diskette is inserted in the disk drive with the highest slot number and the lowest drive number. This is the disk drive used for booting the machine, so effectively you can boot a DOS session by double-clicking the DOS boot diskette.
If Virtual ][ already runs when you double-click the diskette image, it will be inserted in any free disk drive. When no such drive is available, a new virtual machine will be created.

A disk can be removed by clicking the disk drive or by using "Eject Disk" in the Media menu. Note that a disk can be removed while it is being used for I/O; as you may guess, this is not recommended, as is the case with a real Apple II.
If the disk image or mounted folder is part of the configuration, the application presents a confirmation dialog. Ejecting the disk removes it from the configuration.

#### Creating a new disk image

A new, uninitialized disk can be inserted by clicking the "new disk" media button, or by clicking an empty disk drive and selecting the proper option from the menu that pops up.

A blank disk must be initialized by the Apple II operating system before it can be used.

#### Mounting a Mac folder as a diskette

A Mac folder can be mounted as a DOS 3.3 diskette. This way you can share files between a virtual machine and the Mac environment. When you mount the folder its files are converted to Apple DOS format (if necessary) and stored on a temporary (in-memory) disk image, which is inserted in a disk drive. When you eject the diskette, any modifications are copied back (with conversion as necessary) to the Mac folder.
This approach implies that the mounted Mac folder is limited to what DOS 3.3 allows:

- Combined file size not more than ca. 192 KB;
- No subfolders, just files;
- File names at most 30 characters, starting with a letter, and containing no commas.

Virtual ][ ignores any files that do not meet these requirements.

In Apple DOS every file has a file type, such as A(pplesoft Basic), I(nteger Basic) or B(inary). In order to handle the files correctly, Virtual ][ must be aware of the DOS file type of every shared file. Furthermore, some files need conversion. A text file for example has different representations in Apple DOS and in macOS, so if you want to edit a DOS text file in the macOS environment Virtual ][ can convert it for you.
When you use an Apple DOS program, such as FID, to copy files from a diskette to the mounted folder, Virtual ][ tries to assign the correct file types and conversion rules. If the Mac folder contains files with unknown DOS file types, Virtual ][ presents you with a panel where you can specify the missing types.
You can also open the panel by selecting "Assign Apple DOS Types" from the "Media" menu. This is what it looks like:

The list presents all files and folders in the selected folder. Invalid files are marked with a little red cross, as are folders. Valid files that have already been assigned a DOS type have a green dot. Files that have never been assigned a DOS type appear with the exclamation mark icon, and are assigned type Binary by default.
You can use the popup menus in "Type" and "Macintosh Format" to change the settings. The next table lists your options:

DOS Type | Mac Format | Address
B (Binary) | No Conversion: the file is stored in the Mac folder exactly as it is stored on the DOS diskette, including its 4-byte prefix. | Not applicable
B (Binary) | Strip Prefix: in Apple DOS, binary files have a 4-byte prefix, containing the load address and the length of the file. With this option, the prefix is stripped from the stored Mac file. | This specifies the load address to be used when converting the file from Mac to DOS format. You can enter a decimal number or a hexadecimal number preceded by '$'. So for example $2000 is the same as 8192.
T (Text) | No Conversion: the file is stored in the Mac folder exactly as it is stored on the DOS diskette. | Not applicable
T (Text) | Macintosh Text: in Apple DOS, text files are encoded differently than on Mac. Select this option if you want to be able to edit the text file in the macOS environment. | Not applicable
A (Applesoft Basic) I (Integer Basic) R (Relocatable) S (Undefined) X (Undefined) Y (Undefined) | Always stored without conversion. | Not applicable

Virtual ][ remembers the file types and conversion rules you assign, and it automatically uses these settings the next time the folder is mounted.

Note there are some special considerations when using shared folders:

- While a folder is mounted, you should not use another macOS application to make changes to the corresponding Mac files. If you do, all changes will be lost as soon as the diskette is copied back to the Mac folder.
- It is possible, though not recommended, to re-format a mounted folder diskette with the INIT command. However, this reduces the capacity of the diskette to 140 KB.
- If a DOS file name contains the "/" character, the name cannot be used on macOS. In that case Virtual ][ converts the file name by changing all "/" to "\", and putting another "\" in front of the file name.
- Virtual ][ supports so called "sparse text files". This feature is used in Apple DOS to store random access files in a space-efficient way. A side effect is that such a file can appear to be be much larger in the Mac folder than it is on the DOS diskette.

###

Hard disk and 3.5" floppy disk drive

NOTE: this feature is not available on the original Apple //c, it is available on the Apple //c with 32KB ROM though.

#### General description

Hard disks and 3.5" floppy disks share the same technical characteristics, and Virtual ][ supports both with an imaginary type of emulated disk drive, called "OmniDisk". This device can handle disk images of any size up to 32 MB (the maximum supported by ProDOS), including 400 KB and 800 KB floppy disk images.

The hard disk / 3.5" disk image formats supported by Virtual ][ are listed here.

The OmniDisk also accepts a Mac folder to be mounted as a ProDOS hard disk. This allows for a convenient way to exchange files between the Apple II and Mac environments. Note this feature requires a full license to be fully functional.

#### Setting up hard disk drives

You can connect one or more OmniDisk drives to the virtual machine with the Configuration panel. If the machine has slots, first "insert" a SCSI card, preferably in slot 7 or slot 5. Then connect one or two OmniDisk drives to the SCSI card.
For the Apple //c, which has no slots, the configuration panel has check boxes to select one or two OmniDisk drives.

#### Using the hard disk and 3.5" floppy images

Disk images can be inserted and ejected just like floppy disk images. The only difference is you use the OmniDisk buttons in the devices view.

#### Using a Mac folder as a ProDOS hard disk

A Mac folder can be used as a ProDOS disk by "inserting" it in an OmniDisk drive. You can do this in two ways: either choose "Mount Folder as ProDOS Disk" from the "Media" menu, or simply drag a folder from the Finder to an empty OmniDisk in Virtual ][.

A few restrictions apply to the mounted folder:

- The total folder size must not exceed 32 MB;
- Individual files are limited to 16 MB.

These restrictions are imposed by the ProDOS system. If Virtual ][ detects that these conditions are not met, it will refuse to mount the folder.

While the folder is mounted, it is not accessible from the Finder. You'll notice the icon gets a lock and a "no entry" sign to indicate this.

The restricted access to a mounted folder is lifted when you eject the disk by clicking the OmniDisk icon. From that point you'll have full access to the folder again in the Mac environment.
So what if Virtual ][ crashes while a folder is mounted? In that case the disk wasn't ejected, so the folder is inaccessible, and you won't be able to mount it again. To solve this, Virtual ][ has an option to reset the state of a mounted folder; you'll find it in the "Media" menu as "Reset Mounted ProDOS Folder". Use it in case of emergency only!

To use the mounted folder, you must boot the virtual machine from a ProDOS system disk.

Every file and every folder in the mounted folder will be present on the ProDOS disk; any changes made on the ProDOS disk (like making new files and directories or changing existing files) result in the same change in the Mac folder. Note that a Mac file might have a name that is not allowed in ProDOS; in that case Virtual ][ composes an alternative name for use in ProDOS, but this name will be as close to the original as possible.

The contents of text files are treated in a special way: the Apple II software expects each line to end with a carriage return character (ASCII 13), whereas macOS uses a linefeed character (ASCII 10) for this purpose. Virtual ][ sees to it that these codes are automatically converted between the Mac and ProDOS environments. All non-text files are stored in the Mac folder without any conversion.

If the virtual machine deletes files or directories on the shared folder, the same items are deleted from the Mac folder. However, as you would expect on the Mac, they are not deleted right away, but moved to the trash.

The mounted ProDOS folder disk is practically 100% compatible with a "real" ProDOS disk. You can even install the ProDOS system on it, which will give you a bootable disk. The only thing not supported is making a full disk copy (block-by-block) of any ProDOS disk to a mounted ProDOS folder disk. An attempt to do so will result in an error message.

You can store the state of a virtual machine while a folder is mounted as a ProDOS disk; if you do, the folder will keep its access restrictions, because making any changes to the folder would render the saved state invalid and useless. When you open the saved state later on, the folder is mounted automatically and you can continue where you left off.

Finally, the mounted ProDOS folder feature is only fully functional with a full Virtual ][ license. Without the license you can still mount a Mac folder, and examine the directories in ProDOS, but you cannot read or write any files.

##### ProDOS file types and subtypes - some technical background

The ProDOS "catalog" command shows file types and subtypes.

Although the file type is shown as a 3-character code, it is internally stored as a number between 0 and 255. For example, file type 4 is a text file (ProDOS shows it as "TXT"); file type 252 is a Basic program (.BAS). When mounting a Mac folder as ProDOS disk, this is how Virtual ][ determines each file's type:

- If the Mac file has an extended attribute named "prodos.FileType", its value (one byte) is used as the ProDOS filetype.
- If the Mac file does not have this extended attribute, Virtual ][ checks if the file name ends in an extension that matches a ProDOS file type, such as TXT, BIN or $FE. If so, the extension is used to determine the ProDOS file type, and rest of the Mac file name is used as the ProDOS name.
- In all other cases, the ProDOS file type is 0 (displayed as $00 by ProDOS).

Note that using the "prodos.FileType" extended attribute makes the shared folder compatible with files extracted from a Shrinkit archive by Shrink-Fit X, a utility app to expand shk archives.
If the virtual machine creates a new file on the shared disk, it assigns a file extension based on the ProDOS file type; it does not create the "prodos.FileType" extended attribute.

The ProDOS subtype is a 16-bit integer number. Its meaning depends on the file type. For example, for binary files it indicates the load address; for random-access files it represents the record length. Virtual ][ stores the auxiliary type as extended file attribute "prodos.AuxType" (this is compatible with Shrink-Fit X). If a Mac file does not have this extended attribute, a default value is assumed.

###

Using the printer

#### General description

Virtual ][ supports four different emulated printers:

- Epson FX-80;
- Apple ImageWriter II;
- A simple "text only" printer;
- Printing to the macOS clipboard.

The printer is represented by a "Printer" button in the peripherals section. While the Apple II is printing, the green light on the printer blinks. When you press the button, the printer goes offline and the application shows a print preview. You can also click the button with the "alt" key held down: this just sets the printer offline without showing the preview. Pressing the button a second time sets the printer online again.

#### The Epson FX-80 printer

NOTE: the Epson printer is not available on the Apple //c virtual machines.

The Epson FX-80 was a very popular printer in the 1980's, and is therefore supported by many Apple II programs.
A printer on the Apple II must always be connected via a printer interface card. When you want to use the Epson printer, use the Configuration panel to insert an emulated Grappler+ card, preferably in slot 1. Then connect the Epson printer to it.

The emulation supports most of the functions of the original printer, such as different character pitches, bold, italic and underlined text, margins, tabs, and graphic modes. Actually the only feature not supported is printing proportional characters.
The technology used by the emulator for text rendering is very different from the technology used in the original Epson. As a result, the characters are somewhat different, but the size and general looks of the characters are just like the real thing, as this example shows:

Apart from all Epson built-in character types, the emulation is also able to print graphics. This allows you to run a program like Broderbund's PrintShop. The print shown here was created with the built-in Printshop demo in the Applescript menu of Virtual ][.

Using the Epson printer is straightforward. While the Apple II is printing, the green light on the "Printer" button blinks. When printing has finished, click the Printer button to see a preview.

While the preview is open, the emulated printer is offline, so the Apple II will hold new output. The printer comes back online when the preview sheet is closed.
The preview shows the printed output on one or more pages of fanfold paper. The length of one page can be chosen in the Printer section of the Configuration panel, and is 11 inches by default.
Two blue triangles, on the left and right hand side of the paper, indicate the "current position": this is where the next line of output will appear.
At the bottom of the sheet are a few buttons:

- Tear Off and Delete: this clears the output without saving it and closes the sheet.
- Tear Off and Save: this button saves the print output in a pdf file. It then clears the print output from the preview and closes the sheet. So this is like tearing off the fanfold paper and storing the output in a safe place.
- Close: the preview is closed; the printed output is not affected.

After saving the output to a pdf file you can use Apple's Preview application to view the output or print it on a real printer.

The "Action" menu in the preview sheet contains a number of special options.

- Skip Page is like the "Form Feed" button on the real Epson: it skips to the top of the next page.
- Skip Line moves the paper forward one line, like the Line Feed button on the original printer.
- Auto Linefeed toggles the printer between two modes. When "Auto Linefeed" is "on", every carriage return character also advances the paper one line; when it is "off", carriage return just moves the print head to the left margin. Normally, the printer interface card takes care of generating the appropriate control characters, and therefore the recommended setting is "off". When you find that the Apple II software prints all lines on top of each other, try switching this option on and print again.
- Use 8th Bit is another technical option. When it is activated, all 8 bits of every byte are sent to the printer; when switched off the high order bit of every byte is ignored. This option should normally be off.
- Hex Dump Mode puts the printer in a special state: it prints all received bytes as hexadecimal numbers. It can be used for debugging purposes. On the original Epson printer this mode was activated by holding down the form feed button when turning the printer on. Choosing this option clears the print output and closes the sheet.
- Reset Printer puts the printer in the initial state, as if it were just switched on. It also clears the print output and closes the preview sheet.

The Printer section of the Configuration panel lets you set additional printer options, corresponding with the "DIP switches" in the original printer.
Be aware that some Apple II applications need some tweaking of these settings. For example, the number of bits in the connection (7 or 8) can make a big difference. Most applications only work with 7 bits, but some need 8. The best way to go is experimenting a bit with the settings until the output looks as expected.

#### The ImageWriter II printer

From a user perspective, the ImageWriter II is very much like the Epson FX-80. Both are capable of printing text in different styles, and both can print graphics. From a technical perspective however, the printers are quite different. As a result, some Apple II programs are compatible with just one of these printers. For example the "MousePaint" program, which came with the Apple Mouse, can only print on the ImageWriter, not on the Epson.

The ImageWriter II printer must be connected via a serial interface card. Use the Configuration panel to insert an emulated Serial Printer card, preferably in slot 1. Then connect the printer to it.

The ImageWriter II did have a unique feature, not found in the Epson, namely the ability to print colors when a color ribbon was installed. This feature is fully supported by Virtual ][.
The ImageWriter II allowed the user to select three different print qualities: draft, correspondence, and near letter quality (NLQ). The emulation only supports the "correspondence" setting, which is the most versatile and has less restrictions than the other two. Note that text is printed with the macOS font rendering engine, which in practice gives even better results than NLQ on the original printer.

Operating the ImageWriter in Virtual ][ is identical to operating the Epson priner, so refer to the previous section for details.

#### The simple "text only" printer

NOTE: the text only printer is not available on the Apple //c virtual machines.

This printer can be connected to either the Grappler+ or the serial printer card. It writes all printed output to an ASCII text file. When printing is finished, or even during printing, you can open the file and process it in whatever way is useful. The name of the printer file is of the form "Printer x - slot y.txt". In this name, x is simply a number starting at 1; y is the slot number the printer is connected to. All printer files are created on the desktop; the location cannot be configured. If a printer file with the same name already exists, new printed output is appended to the end of the file, so in effect the printer file is like an infinite supply of fanfold paper. When a virtual machine is closed the corresponding printer files that are still empty are removed, so the desktop will not be cluttered with empty files.

The easiest and safest way to inspect the printed output is by clicking the "Printer" button in the peripherals section. First, this button places the emulated printer in the "offline" state, so the virtual machine will hold new output until the printer goes online again. Next, the corresponding output text file is opened in TextEdit. To continue printing, close the text file and press the "Printer" button to put the printer online again.

#### Printing to the Mac clipboard

You can temporarily override the current printer by selecting "Print to Clipboard" from the Edit menu. While this mode is in effect, all printed characters go to the Mac clipboard, so they can be pasted in a text editor or word processor after printing has finished. Be aware that clipboard printing is only intended for ASCII text output. For example, it can be used to make a text copy of an Applesoft Basic program; first list it to the clipboard printer, then paste it into a Mac text editor. The "print to clipboard" mode is terminated by selecting the same menu option again.

###

The serial interface

NOTE: the serial port is not available in the Apple //c virtual machines.

#### Introduction

In the early 80's, a serial connection was an inexpensive, simple, and therefore popular way to connect the Apple II to another computer. This could either be a local computer, directly connected with a serial cable, or a remote computer, accessible via a modem. There was no such thing as internet back then, but a network of bulletin board systems (BBS's) existed that allowed their members to log on using a modem (typically 1200 baud, sometimes even slower).

#### Serial port emulation

Virtual ][ emulates the Super Serial card (SSC), which was produced by Apple and was the de facto standard for serial communication on the Apple II. This card implemented the universally accepted RS-232 standard.
The SSC emulation can be connected to the "outside world" in two different ways.

- Connect to a real serial port on your Mac. Even though Macs don't come with a built-in serial port, there are still several ways to use this medium. One option is a USB-to-serial adapter; another one is is Bluetooth.
- Send and receive data through Unix named pipes, giving the option to connect to other applications running on the same Mac. Note that this feature requires a full license; it is not available with the limited license of Virtual ][.

The Virtual ][ configuration panel presents you with a pop-up menu that contains all serial devices available on your Mac. Exactly what it shows depends on your hardware configuration, but here is an example of what it could look like.

In this example, the "KeySerial" and the two "USA28X" items belong to a USB-to-serial adpater. The last item in the menu allows using Unix named pipes (in a full-licensed version only), and the other entries are Bluetooth connections.

#### Configuring the serial connection

Configuring the serial communication setup requires some patience, just as with the original Apple II. There are three areas to take into account: the DIP switches on the Super Serial card, the device connected to it, and the Apple II software.

The DIP switches on the SSC control a number of customizable options like the baud rate at power-on. These options can be configured in a separate window, by pressing the "Configure..." button below the picture of the SSC in the main configuration panel.

The DIP switches cannot be manipulated directly with the mouse, but they will move when you select the corresponding options.
Note that many of these settings can also be set by the Apple II software, which is actually more convenient than setting the DIP swiches and restarting the virtual machine.
The options that can not be changed by the Apple II software are communications / printer mode and interrupt mode. When the latter is selected the SSC triggers an interrupt when data is sent or received, in order for the Apple II to deal with that event immediately. Only activate this option if you know the Apple II software supports it!
Note that some of the DIP switches cannot be changed at all; they must have a fixed setting in order for the emulation to work properly. In particular, Virtual ][ does not support the old Apple serial interface modes of the SSC.
Note further that switch 8 is a dummy on both banks; it has no function.

The second area to worry about is the Mac device connected to the SSC emulation. Note you can select this device and the associated options without the need to restart the virtual machine.

These checkboxes correspond to three RS-232 signals the SSC can receive: Data Set Ready, Data Carrier Detect, and Clear To Send. These signals all tell something about the status of the connected device. For example, the DCD signal is generated by a modem when it has a connection over a phone line with another modem. This signal is useful for an Apple II program waiting for an incoming call: when DCD is activated, the program knows someone made a dial-up connection.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of strict standards, some Apple II programs interpret these signals in a different way. For example, the firmware of the SSC only sends a character when it detects that the DCD signal is ON. This effectively prevents the program to send a dial-up command to a modem! With the original Apple II this was solved in hardware, by connecting the DCD pin to another pin, to ensure it was always ON. This same technique is supported by Virtual ][: checking a box in the configuration panel sets the corresponding signal to ON.
Also, not all serial devices generate these signals. Usually the Apple II software will verify the DSR signal, which indicates that the connected device is powered on. However, when the other device does not generate this signal, or when the line is absent from the serial cable, the only option is to force the signal to be ON.
The CTS signal is used for hardware handshake and should usually not be forced ON.
More information on these signals can be found in Wikipedia.

The "asynchronous send" option controls a timing aspect. When the option is turned on (the default), Virtual ][ forwards each outgoing byte to macOS, and immediately allows the Apple II to send the next byte. Meanwhile, macOS sends these bytes whenever it has the opportunity to do so, in other words: asynchronously. As a result, there can be some delay between the Apple II sending the byte and macOS actually delivering it to the device at the other end of the line. Usually this works fine, and this approach results in a throughput that is almost identical to the original Super Serial card.
However, there are circumstances where the asynchronous approach fails. For example, consider a situation in which the Apple II sends characters to a printer, and pauses after each "newline" character, in order to give the printer the opportunity to move the paper. In that case, the asynchronous mode would not work, because the Apple II must pause after the newline character has been received by the printer (and not after the character has just been sent by the Apple II program). The only way to accomplish this, is to use the synchronous mode: the Apple II will not send the next byte until the current byte has been delivered to the other side.
Note that synchronous mode causes overhead and considerably slows down the output stream.

As a last step of your configuration efforts, the Apple II software must be set up to match the selected emulated hardware options. Most applications offer the Super Serial card as one of the standard configuration options.
When you want to use a modem, and the modem you use is not listed in the program's configuration options, the best guess is to configure it as a "Hayes compatible" modem. Also, choose a moderate baud rate; 1200 or 2400 baud are speeds typically used in the Apple II days. When it all works, you can try to increase the speed.

#### Configuring the serial connection for Unix named pipes

If you are familiar with Unix pipes you can connect the super serial card to other applications running on the same Mac, using named pipes.
With this option activated, the super serial card emulation uses two Unix named pipes, one for input and one for output. The pipes have fixed names, "IN" and "OUT" (as seen from the standpoint of the virtual machine), and are located in the directory /tmp/VII-machine-name-slotn. So for example, for a machine in an Untitled window, with the super serial card in slot 2, the two named pipes are /tmp/VII-Untitled-slot2/IN and /tmp/VII-Untitled-slot2/OUT.
Virtual ][ creates these pipes when it starts a virtual machine, replacing any old versions of the same files. In order to use the pipes, both must be connected at the other end as well.

Some points of attention for configuring the super serial card with named pipes:

- Use the SSC in communications mode, not printer mode.
- Baud rate and data bits are taken into account - Virtual ][ will slow down the data transfer and strip high-order bits as necessary.
- Stop bits and parity are ignored.
- The "asynchronous send" option is always on - it cannot be switched off.
- If the other end of the output pipe expects text, set data bits to 7 and activate "Send auto LF after CR".

#### Example of using Unix named pipes

This example demonstrates the serial pipes in operation by connecting to the Terminal application. It is just an example; the feature is intended for connecting to an application that implements an actual communication channel, such as internet.
First configure a Virtual ][ machine with the super serial card in slot 2. Configure the card to use 7 data bits and send a line feed (LF) after each carriage return (CR). Select the Unix named pipes option, and configure as shown below. Note that "force DCD" must be selected because we won't connect to a modem device.

Start the Terminal application, and open two windows. In one window execute the command
cat /tmp/VII-Untitled-slot2/OUT
In the other window execute the command
cat $stdin > /tmp/VII-Untitled-slot2/IN
In the RS-232 monitor of the peripherals section you will now see the DSR and CTS lines become available, which is an indication that the emulation detected that both pipes are now open.

Finally, at the Applesoft prompt in the virtual machine give the command
PR#2:IN#2
In the peripherals section the RS-232 output lines light up, indicating that the super serial card has been activated. All output of Virtual ][ is now also shown in the output terminal window; lines typed in the input terminal window appear in Virtual ][.
Unfortunately the "return" key in the input terminal window is ignored by the Apple II because the terminal sends a linefeed character, whereas the Apple II expects a carriage return character.

#### Monitoring the serial connection

When you have a Super Serial card installed, Virtual ][ shows a status panel in the peripherals section. The panel shows the status of the RS-232 signals, and can be a great help in troubleshooting. The signals are described in this Wikipedia article. When a signal is OFF, it is shown in dark red; when a signal is ON (or "asserted"), it lights up. The signals are presented as seen from the standpoint of the Apple II, so "RD" indicates the Apple II receives data, and "TD" means the Apple II is transmitting data.

The signals on the left are input for the Super Serial card; the signals on the right are output. You can click on the button to get a pop-up menu that gives the same options as the configuration panel: you can force any of the input signals to be ON, and you can select (a)synchronous send mode.

If you are familiar with the RS-232 standard, you might notice that the signal "RI" (Ring Indicator) is missing in the status panel; the Super Serial card does not support it.

###

Using the cassette recorder

NOTE: the cassette interface is not available on the Apple //c virtual machines.

#### General description

The cassette recorder emulation is able to record a file with the sounds produced by the Apple ][ cassette output, and also to read such a file and feed it to the Apple ][ cassette input. Effectively, this provides a fully functional cassette tape emulation. The cassette tape files are actually standard AIFF files. If you are curious how they sound, you can rename a cassette tape file to have the ".aiff" extension, and play it. It is highly recommended to turn down the volume a bit, because the sound is loud and ugly.

It is even possible to sample an original Apple ][ cassette tape and read it in the emulator. Refer to "Format of the cassette tape file" for details.

Remember that the main purpose of the cassette tape support is nostalgia. It is much more practical to store data on an emulated disk, because the cassette files can become pretty big and the I/O is time consuming.

#### Playing a cassette tape

To "play" a cassette tape, it is sufficient to "insert" the cassette tape file in the cassette recorder. This can be done in a similar way as inserting a disk in a disk drive: either click the appropriate media button and select a file, or drag the file from the Finder to the cassette recorder icon in the peripherals section. The cassete recorder icon will show a "Play" symbol, but actually the tape starts playing when the first sample is read by the Apple ][ software. So there is no hurry to start the Apple ][ software that reads the tape, even if the tape is inserted first.

You can try this using the "Welcome tape" distributed with the application. It contains a simple Applesoft program. First make sure you see the Applesoft prompt ("]"), then type "LOAD" and press return. Now insert the tape as described. Reading the tape takes about 30 seconds. When the prompt shows up again you can type "RUN" to run the program just loaded.

To eject the cassette tape click the cassette recorder icon.

#### Recording to a cassette tape

It is not possible to overwrite an existing tape file. To make a recording, create a new tape by clicking the "New cassette tape" icon in the peripherals section and specify the name of the tape in the file save panel that appears. The cassette tape icon shows a "Recording" symbol, and recording starts right away, so the first few seconds of the recording are probably silence. Note however that after the Apple ][ software has produced the last sound sample, no more silence is recorded, so there is no rush to remove the tape after recording has finished; the file won't grow more than necessary.

#### Format of the cassette tape file

Some Apple II archives have tape recordings available for downloading. These files are often in a .wav format, and need to be converted to a format Virtual ][ understands. You may also want to try and sample an actual Apple II cassette tape. In both cases you'll need to know the exact file format.

- The file has to be uncompressed AIFF; no audio compression is supported.
- Sample size can be 8 or 16 bits. However, 16 bits does not provide an advantage over 8 bits, because the Apple ][ accepts only 8 bit samples. When writing a cassette tape, the emulator outputs 8 bits per sample.
- Sample rates up to 64000 Hz are supported. High rates give more reliable results than low rates, but result in a larger file size. When writing a cassette tape, the emulator uses a sample rate of 16000 Hz.

Converting the files to .aiff format can be done with a tool like Audacity. Alternatively, if you are familiar with the Terminal interface, you can use ffmpeg.

`ffmpeg -i inputfile.wav -f aiff -acodec pcm_s8 -ar 16000 outputfile.cass`

When reading a converted or self-sampled file in the virtual machine, you might end up with "ERR" displayed on the screen. If this happens, the emulated software did detect a signal (which is good), but was not able to read all data. In this case, try a few different settings for the playback volume slider. You'll find it in the "Cassette interface" section of the configuration panel.

Note that the entire file is kept in memory as long as the cassette tape is in use.

###

Using the 80-column card with the Apple ][ and Apple ][+

NOTE: this chapter is only applicable to the Apple ][(+). For the Apple //e and //c, see "Using 80-column display on the Apple //e and //c ".

#### Selecting 80-column video or built-in video

The Virtual ][ emulator has the option to present 80-column text video by inserting an emulated 80-column card in slot 3. Note that the card does not work in any other slot! The 80-column card contains its own video generator circuitry, and is connected to the video monitor through a "video soft switch". This switch has two inputs, designated as the "primary" and "secondary" video signals. Virtual ][ has a configuration option to select which video generator is connected to the primary input and which one is connected to the secondary input. You'll find this configuration in the "Quick settings" menu as well as in the machine settings panel. The Quick settings menu is the easiest way to swicth between the two video generators.
The Apple II software selects the primary or secondary video by refering to annunciator #0. POKE -16296,0 selects the primary video (address $C058); POKE -16295,0 selects the secondary video ($C059).

#### Selecting the 80-column card for keyboard input

As the 80-column card is in slot 3, "PR#3" will shift input and output to the card. Or when you start the UCSD Pascal system, it determines the card automatically and switches I/O to it. In all cases it is still necessary to direct the 80-coumn video output to the monitor as described above.

The 80-column card supports the full ASCII character set (upercase and lowercase). In order to work correctly, the "shift key modification" must be applied. You'll find this setting under the keyboard configuration. The "shift key modification" in the original Apple ][ involved connecting pin 2 of the keyboard encoder board to push button 2 (pin 4) of the game I/O connector. This modification allowed the software on the 80-column card to detect whether the shift key was pressed in combination with any of the other keys.
Note that in order to enter lower case letters, "Soft Caps Lock" must be turned off in the "Quick settings" menu.

#### 80-columns card special characters

When the keyboard is correctly configured for use with the 80-column card, all characters can be entered in the normal way, except two: when you enter "^", the 80-column card translates it to "N". Likewise, it translates "@" to "P". This is a result of the original Apple ][ keyboard layout. These two characters must be entered with the "ctrl" key pressed.

Also, the 80-column card has a few interesting special key combinations. The below table summarizes all special key combinations.

ctrl-shift-^ | Enter the character "^"
ctrl-shift-@ | Enter the character "@"
ctrl-shift-E | Inverse mode
ctrl-shift-C | Normal (non-inverse) mode
ctrl-shift-D | Make hardcopy of the screen on the emulated printer.
ctrl-shift-A | Toggles the soft caps lock of the 80-column card. This is basically the same as the soft caps lock of the emulated keyboard (command-shift-A). You can use either option to enter lower case characters.

###

Using 80-columns display on the Apple //e and //c

The Apple //c machines have built-in built-in 80-column text support. The Apple //e supports it if a memory card has been inserted in the auxiliary slot. By default, such a card is present in a newly configured virtual Apple //e.

###

Using the Apple Mouse

The Apple //c machines have built-in mouse support; the other emulated machines need the emulated mouse card to be inserted in one of the slots, preferably slot 4. This allows you to run programs such as MousePaint or GEOS.
Apple II software that uses the mouse first switches it "on". When this happens, the Mac mouse pointer is hidden, and replaced by whatever mouse pointer the Apple II software provides.

The mouse emulation smoothly integrates with the Mac mouse: when the mouse pointer enters the window, it instantly turns into the Apple II mouse, and the Mac mouse pointer is hidden. The reverse happens when the mouse moves out of the window: in that case it becomes a Mac mouse pointer again.

#### Relative mouse mode

Unfortunately, smooth integration with the Mac mouse is not possible for all Apple II programs. It works fine with MousePaint for example, but it cannot work with GEOS. To solve this problem, the mouse emulation supports a special mode of operation: "relative mouse mode". You'll find it in the "Quick settings" menu. When this mode is switched on, programs like GEOS work well, at the expense of Mac mouse integration. Once the mouse has entered the window, it will be captured there, and you must hold down the command key to let it escape.

###

Using the real time clock

The Apple II was not equipped with a built-in real time clock. Several extensions existed to provide a clock, and Virtual ][ emulates three of these.

- The Mountain Computer AppleClock card can be used with DOS in the Apple ][ and Apple ][+ computers. It cannot be used with ProDOS.
- The Thunderclock Plus card can be used on all machines except the Apple //c. After its introduction in 1980 it became the de facto standard for the Apple II computers, and it is well integrated in ProDOS. It is recommended to insert this card when you run ProDOS, because the operating system then automatically uses it to time stamp your files.
- The "no-slot clock" is a clock chip that fits underneath a ROM chip in the Apple //e and Apple //c. It was a popular option, because it provides a real time clock without occupying a slot. To use it, a software driver must be installed on the ProDOS boot disk.

The emulated clocks take the current time and date from the Mac clock. Only the Thunderclock emulation allows adjusting the date and time; the others do not. However, when you reboot the virtual machine, or create a new one, the Thunderclock will always be reset to the macOS system clock. Changing the Thunderclock time does not affect the Mac clock.

###

Using the Z80 card and CP/M

NOTE: Z80 support is not available on the Apple //c machines.

A popular enhancement for the Apple ][ (and //e) computers was the Z80 card. This card contains a Zilog Z80 or Z80A processor, plus hardware to transfer the flow of control from the main 6502 processor to the Z80 and vice versa (only one of the processors can be active at any time). The Z80 card made it possible to run the CP/M operating system, and gave access to popular applications like WordStar, DBase and SuperCalc. It also allowed the use of programming languages like Turbo Pascal, Fortran, and even COBOL.
The Z80 card in Virtual ][ emulates the Z80A processor. You can configure the processor to run at a speed of either 2 MHz or 4 MHz.
To use the card you need a bootable Apple II CP/M disk image. The boot software on this disk searches for the presence of a Z80 card. When it detects one, it switches to the Z80A processor. After booting is complete, the CP/M prompt is presented.

###

Using the joystick / game paddles

The Apple II came with two game paddles. Each paddle provided an "analog" input by turning a knob, and a "one-bit" input by pushing a button. Replacing the two paddles with a single joystick was a popular enhancement.
The Game I/O connector of the Apple II allows for connecting up to 4 analog inputs and 3 one-bit inputs. Virtual ][ emulates all of these connections. The best way to play the old games is using a USB or Bluetooth game controller. Alternatively, you can control the game input with the keyboard and mouse.
Virtual ][ will automatically use the game controller if it detects one.

#### Mapping the gamepad elements to the Virtual ][ game inputs

If Virtual ][ detects a USB or Bluetooth game pad, it automatically maps the available controls to the emulated Apple II game inputs. You can inspect these mappings by selecting "Configure Game Controller" from the "Virtual ][" menu (or by clicking the game pad button in the toolbar).

If you are running macOS 11 (Big Sur) or higher you can use the Gamecontrollers section of the System Settings to assign different buttons and joysticks. You could, for example, switch the left and right joysticks.
If you run macOS older than Big Sur, or use a game controller that cannot be configured at the system level, Virtual ][ presents you with a built-in configuration panel.

##### Example of game controller profile (macOS 11 and up)

##### Example of built-in game controller configuration

#### Testing the game controller

Here is a little Applesoft Basic application to check if your game pad or joystick works correctly. It continuously displays lines with the four game paddle analog values. Move the joysticks on your gamepad to see the values change. They should run from 0 to 255, and have 127 as their neutral value.
To run it, start a standard Apple //e or //c. You don't have to boot from a diskette; just click "Reset" to go to the Applesoft Basic prompt. Now copy the next few lines and paste them in Virtual ][

`10 PRINT PDL (0); TAB( 10); PDL (1); TAB( 20); PDL (2); TAB( 30); PDL (3)
20 GOTO 10
RUN`

Another little Basic program lets you test paddles #0 and #1, which are used for most games. It shows the analog values as well as each paddle's push button.

`10 PRINT PDL (0); TAB( 10); PEEK ( - 16287); TAB( 20); PDL (1); TAB( 30); PEEK ( - 16286)
20 GOTO 10
RUN`

#### Emulating the game paddles with keyboard and mouse

Virtual ][ lets you control the game paddle inputs with the Mac keyboard and mouse, albeit in a limited way. To this purpose, select "Use Arrows as Joystick" from the "Quick settings" menu.
This may work fine for some games, but be aware that it does not give you the same amount of control a real joystick does. A joystick produces values from 0 to 255. With the keyboard arrows, the possible values are limited to only three: 0, 127, and 255.
Also be aware that many Apple II games have a built-in option for keyboard play. This usually gives a better user experience than emulating the joystick with the Mac keyboard!

You can operate the paddles' push buttons with the command and option keys. If you want to use the command key for this purpose, it is recommended to disable the Virtual ][ command key shortcuts using the "Quick settings" menu.

You'll find additional configuration options in the "Game connector" configuration panel of the machine configuration (not available on the Apple //c machines).

###

Working with sound

#### Overview

Sounds played an important role in the Apple II computer. First of all, it had an internal speaker, controlled by the software. It could do more than just produce simple "beep" sounds; many games used it to produce music and sound effects. Secondly, there were the sounds produced by the hardware. Everyone who used an Apple II knows the "clackety-clack" sound of the disk drive when you booted the operating system.
Finally, if the machine supported peripheral cards, you could increase the sound capabilities of the machine with third party hardware; the most popular was the Mockingboard card.
Virtual ][ supports all these options, and allows you to control their behavior.

#### Mockingboard

NOTE: the Mockingboard is not available on the Apple //c virtual machines – these machines have no slots.

The Mockingboard card was able to produce much higher quality sounds than the internal speaker. It came in different flavors; the one supported by Virtual ][ emulates two sound chips that together can produce 6 simultaneous sounds. The Mockingboard card is used in some popular games, such as Ultima V. When the Apple II asks you to identify the card, specify type "A", or "Sound II".

###

Recording a movie

Virtual ][ lets you easily record a QuickTime movie of everything that happens on the emulated Apple II screen. Just select "Make Movie of Apple II Screen" from the File menu. The application will present a standard File Save panel to let you select where the movie must be saved. After that, recording starts, and will continue until you select "Stop Movie Recording" from the File menu. After recording has stopped, the movie will automatically be opened in the QuickTime movie player.

If you pause the virtual machine, movie recording also pauses. It continues when you resume the virtual machine.

During recording, the movie is written to a temporary file on your disk. When you stop recording, the temporary file is moved to the location you selected. This might take a few seconds.

Virtual ][ records at 20 frames per second. The movies typically take 3 to 6 MB of disk space per minute. The feature does not record sound.

Note that the movie recording option is only available in the full license version of the application.

###

Working with character sets and international keyboards

#### About character sets

The computer's "character set" is the collection of all characters that can be displayed on the text screen. In the USA the Apple II computer came with the standard ASCII characters, but international models usually had an alternative character set, with characters for specific languages. For example, the French Apple II supported characters such as à, é, and ç. These characters replaced @, {, and \ respectively, because the character coding space was limited.
Some international Apple II machines came with a switch that allowed the user to instantly switch between character sets. A similar feature is available in Virtual ][. The "Quick settings" pull-down menu contains a list of available character sets.

By selecting a character set, the screen is immediately updated. This example shows how the Apple //e welcome line is shown in the Latin and the Greek character sets.

#### About international keyboards

On the Apple II, international characters were supported on the screen as well as on the keyboard. To that purpose the machines were equipped with a special character generator rom that defined both the international and the standard ASCII characters. For example, the French keyboard has a key labeled é. This key results in an é on the screen, provided the French character set is selected.
Selecting a character set in Virtual ][ not only updates the screen, but also maps the special characters on your Mac keyboard to the equivalent Apple II character code. So for example, if you have a French Mac, and you set Virtual ][ to the French character set, pressing the key labeled é will produce an é on the screen, like on the real machine. However, if you select the "Latin" character set (the standard ASCII characters), pressing the same key will not produce any character on the screen at all.
Because the keyboard behavior obviously depends on the currently selected character set, you'll see a little flag symbol at the top left of the window to remind you what the current setting is.

#### Character sets in Virtual ][

The application comes with a number of predefined character sets, as shown above. The character sets "Latin" and "Latin Uppercase Only" are the ones representing the standard ASCII characters. The "uppercase only" variant was used in the Apple ][ and the Apple ][+, because these machines lacked lowercase character support. The "Latin" set was standard in the Apple //e, and contains the standard ASCII characters plus a number of special characters (the so called "mouse characters", used to draw user interface elements such as window borders).

Note that the Bulgarian character set is based on the Pravetz-82 (Правец-82), a popular Apple ][ clone. The character set works best when you install the Pravetz-82 system ROM.

#### Defining your own character sets

In the Apple II computer the characters were defined in a character generator ROM, which could be replaced by a customized ROM. Virtual ][ offers the same feature. In order to do this, you must provide the application with the following:

- A bitmap file with the character definitions. The format of this file is described below.
- Optionally, a bitmap with a picture of the "flag" symbol to be shown at the top left of the main window when your character set has been selected. If you omit this, no symbol will be shown.
- Optionally, a translation table to map Mac keyboard characters to your character set. If you omit this, no keyboard mapping will take place.

The character definition bitmap should be placed in the directory ~/Library/Application Support/Virtual ][/CharacterSets. The file contains pictures of all symbols in the character set, and must be structured as follows:

- The file must contain a bitmap saved as PNG or TIFF.
- The width of the bitmap must be exactly 128 pixels.
- The height of the bitmap must be at least 64 pixels.
- The bitmap depth must be 1 or 8.
- Each character of the set is defined in a cell of 8 x 8 pixels. This implies that the entire character definition bitmap contains 8 rows of 16 characters each. Note that the rightmost pixel column of each character cell is ignored, because characters on the Apple II computer are only 7 pixels wide.
- A black pixel represents the background; any other value represents "white", and is part of the character.
- The first two character rows of the bitmap define the symbols of the "alternate" character set on the Apple //e computer. Their ASCII values range from 64 to 96, and these characters are shown if the alternate character set has been activated by the Apple II software. These symbols are ignored on the Apple ][ and the Apple ][+.
- The 3rd to 8th rows of the bitmap define the characters with ASCII values 32 to 127.

As an example, here is the definition file of the character set "Latin", used in a standard Apple //e.

The second element of your own character set, the "flag" symbol representing the character set, can be any picture format supported by macOS. It is recommended to use the png format. For best results, make the picture at most 11 pixels high and at most 16 pixels wide. The picture must be stored in the same directory as the character set definition file.

These files are tied together with the keyboard translation table in an XML file with this path: ~/Library/Application Support/Virtual ][/CharacterSets/International.plist.
Such a file can best be created with a property list editor. The file can best be explained with an example.

This example contains two custom character defintions, named "My character set" and "Yet another character set". These names will appear in the Character Set menu. If you choose a name already in use by a built-in set, your definition replaces the built-in one. So if you want to add a new character set, be sure to choose a unique name.
Each character set entry is itself a dictionary with three elements: the file name of the character set definition, the file name of the associated icon (the optional "flag" symbol), and the keyboard translation table.
The keyboard translation table contains two columns: the first is the character typed on the Mac keyboard; the second is the resulting ASCII code (in the range 0 - 127) that will be input in the virtual machine. You can specify the second column value as either a number (the ASCII value) or as a string (the corresponding character). The first column must be one single character, and it must not be in the standard ASCII range. So for example, you cannot translate the character "a" to something else, nor can you translate a control code or a function key. You can, however, translate non-ASCII characters, as shown in the example.

###

Configuration

Virtual ][ comes with a number of pre-configured machines. You can change these, or set up a completely new machine from scratch, with the Configuration panel. After configuring a specific machine, you can save the setup with "Save Configuration As..." in the File menu. Alternatively, you can make it the default configuration with the Machine menu.

The Apple //c allows devices, such as disk drives, to be connected directly to the machine. A mouse and a printer are automatically included.
The other machines have slots for peripheral interface cards, and allow more customization. Therefore Virtual ][ has two different configuration panels, as shown here.

To change the configuration of a virtual machine, choose "Configure..." from the Machine menu, or click the "Setup" button in the toolbar. Note that some configuration changes require a restart of the virtual machine.

Additional options can be found under "Quick settings" in the main menu bar. It provides an easy way to change properties that do not require a restart of the virtual machine.

For expert users the Apple //c configuration has a hidden "advanced" section, which can be shown by opening the panel while holding down the "option" key.

###

Controlling Virtual ][ with AppleScript

#### Overview

Virtual ][ supports Apple's powerful AppleScript technology, which allows you to control the virtual machine using a script. The script can do such things as create and configure virtual machines, type commands on the virtual keyboard, wait until the screen indicates an operation has finished, save printed output, and even insert disk images directly from internet. It allows you to let Virtual ][ perform an automated task, such as starting up your favorite Apple II game. You can also use it to create some nice Apple II demo's.
The application comes with a number of example scripts, which you can find in the AppleScript menu.

When you select one of the example scripts from the menu, you will get the choice to either run the script or open it in the Script Editor. The scripts are hidden inside the Virtual ][ application bundle, so if you want to make changes, it is recommended to save them in a different location.

When you make your own scripts, you can add them to the AppleScript menu by copying them to the Virtual ][ scripts folder. The easiest way to locate that folder is to select "Open Scripts Folder" from the AppleScript menu.

#### A practical example

This example shows some of Applescript's possibilities.

Suppose you often play the game "Little brick out", which was distributed on the original DOS 3.3 master diskette. You always play it on an Apple ][+ with a color screen. When you make a script that starts your favorite game in Virtual ][, you only have to double-click that script to begin your game play.
In its most elementary form this is what such a script looks like.

The script assumes that the disk is called "3.3 master.dsk", and is in the folder you configured as your "favorite disk folder" in the Virtual ][ preferences.
The script first moves Virtual ][ to the foreground (activate) and gets rid of any currently running virtual machines. It then creates an Apple ][+ and makes sure it has a color screen. After that, it inserts the disk image into slot 6, drive 1. While the machine boots, the script types the DOS command to run the game: "RUN LITTLE BRICK OUT". Virtual ][ sees to it that the typed characters are buffered until the Apple ][+ is ready to process them (which is after booting is complete).

Although this script works OK, it can be improved by temporarily switching the virtual machine to a higher speed during booting and loading the game. This dramatically reduces the start-up time; from 25 seconds it takes on a real Apple ][, to just one or two seconds, depending on the speed of your Mac.

The trick is that the script sets the speed of the virtual machine to "maximum", and resets it to "regular" after the game finished loading. The latter is important: you don't want to play the game at top speed! The script must know when to reset the speed; it does this by looking at the screen with intervals of 0.5 seconds. When the last line on the screen displays "PRESS THE SPACE BAR TO BEGIN....", we know the game has been loaded and the speed can be reset.

#### Writing your own scripts

When you want to write a script, a good start is to study the example scripts. Virtual ][ does not support recording a script in the Script Editor, so you'll have to use the editor to type the statements yourself.
However, if you are familiar with the AppleScript language you'll find it easy to write scripts for Virtual ][. The script dictionary is based on a simple object model. At the top of the object hierarchy is the application object, as in any AppleScript dictionary. The application contains one or more machines. When you make a new machine object, you'll get a machine that is configured like the default configuration, just as when you select "New Default Machine" from the File menu. Another way to create a machine object is by making an instance of one of the classes AppleII, AppleIIPlus or AppleIIe. The third way to make a machine is by opening a saved configuration file. You'll find examples of these techniques in the demo scripts.

Referring to a specific machine occurs just like referring to a document in other AppleScript-aware applications: by number or by name. When you have just one virtual machine running, the easiest way is to just say front machine.

A machine object contains a number of devices. You cannot create these device objects with AppleScript; they are automatically created when you create a machine. You refer to the devices by name. For slot devices, the name is derived from the slot it is connected to. For example, a device connected to a card in slot #1 is called "S1". A disk drive, typically connected to a disk card in slot #6, is called either "S6D1" or "S6D2", depending on whether it uses connection 1 or 2 of the disk card. If you are familiar with Applesoft Basic, these device names should look familiar. Devices that are not connected to a slot have fixed names. For example, the cassette recorder device is simply called "cassette recorder".

To find out the device names currently in a machine, execute a script as shown in the example below.

Each device has a property, devicetype, which indicates what it is: an Epson printer, a hard disk, and so on. This example shows the device types of the same virtual machine as the previous example.

You can find out what is on the machine's screen by using the property screen text or screen picture. The screen text gives a collection of all the lines on the screen. You can examine these text objects to see if the running process has produced screen output. Often it is more convenient to use the alternative compact screen text; this one omits empty lines and strips trailing space characters from the remaining lines. Study the example scripts to see how this can be used.

The screen picture property can be used in the same picture command. This powerful command compares (part of) the screen picture with a previously saved file. This allows you to wait until a running process has rendered a specific picture on the graphics screen. Virtual ][ offers a convenient way to save the pictures to compare to: use "Export Screen Picture" in the File menu.

Waiting for some screen output to appear is typically a combination of two things: testing the condition and using the command delay. The latter is part of the standard AppleScript additions. It suspends script execution for a specified time period, while the virtual machine keeps running. This allows you to test the screen at regular intervals (every second or so). The example scripts demonstrate this technique.

Finally, the dictionary supports a way to enter any key on the Apple keyboard with the type command. It has a number of variants, so apart from typing plain characters, you can also enter control-key combinations, open and solid Apple keys, and other special keys like up and down arrows. If the AppleScript type commands are executed faster than the Apple II can process them (which is very likely) the keystrokes are buffered until the Apple II processes them. So eventually all keystrokes will arrive in the virtual machine and none will get lost.

To find out the details of using AppleScript with Virtual ][, use the Script Editor to open the application's dictionary and study the classes, commands and properties.

###

Getting support

Did you encounter technical problems in Virtual ][? Or perhaps you found an Apple II program that doesn't run, or have suggestions for improvements? Tell me about it by e-mail. When reporting a problem, don't forget to mention what versions of macOS and Virtual ][ you use.

You might also want to check if a later version of Virtual ][ is available on the web site.

###

Release notes

#### Version 12.0, October 2024

- Virtual ][ now requires macOS 12.0 (Monterey) or better. Virtual ][ 11.4 remains available for download to run on macOS 10.13 up to 11.0, but is no longer actively supported.
- Generating a movie of the Apple II screen did not work correctly in macOS 15 (Sequoia). This has been fixed.
- The built-in Quick Look viewers for disk images and saved machine state failed in macOS 15 (Sequoia). These modules have been rewritten to fully comply with macOS versions 12.0 and up.
- The app now offers a keyboard shortcut to make snapshots of the virtual machine's screen, and creates a default file name that is based on the previous snapshot plus a sequence number.
- The cassette tape emulation now accepts input files with file extension .aiff or .aif (was .cass only).
- The print preview can now be closed with the esc key.
- Resetting the virtual machine while the Z80 processor is active could hang the application; this did for example happen in CP/M 3.0. This issue has been solved.
- The app crashed when a cassette tape was ejected while being recorded. This has been fixed.
- Solved an issue where the performance monitor graph could appear outside its bounds.
- Corrected the way zero page access is affected when the Apple //e is reset. This improves general compatibility.

#### Version 11.4, June 2023

- Added emulation of the Applied Engineering RamFactor card. This card can be used as a RAM disk, and provides additional memory for compatible programs such as AppleWorks.
- Minor improvement in the "print to clipboard" feature: it now stops when the printed content is pasted anywhere.

#### Version 11.3.1, April 2023

- Solved an issue, introduced in the previous release, that could cause the emulated mouse to stop moving on the Apple //c.

#### Version 11.3, March 2023

- Improved support for game devices, such as the PS5 and Xbox controllers. This improvement is available on macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later.
- Solved an issue that could disable the emulated speaker sound after resetting a virtual machine.
- Fixed an error in Apple //c memory management, improving general compatibility.
- The option to use the Mac backspace key as the virtual machine's "left-arrow" is now part of the Quick settings menu, and thereby available for the Apple //c.
- It is now possible to select a custom ROM image for the Apple //c. Note this is an advanced feature, intended for testing and debugging ROM code.

#### Version 11.2, January 2023

- Created a configuration panel for the Apple //c machines.
- The Apple //c now supports the no-slot clock.
- The standard configuration of the Apple //c with 32KB ROM now has two diskette drives and one OmniDisk drive. A second OmniDisk drive can be configured.
- On a virtual machine with just one floppy disk drive, a crash could occur when the disk stopped spinning. This has been fixed.
- Corrected an error in handling the Language Card switches (memory addresses $D000-$FFFF). This improves general compatibility.
- The previous release used the term "Apple //c Plus" for an Apple //c with a 32KB version 0 ROM. This misnomer has been corrected throughout the application, including the Applescript dictionary.
- Improved the "simple text printer". It used to generate a unique file name on the Desktop; now you have the additional option to specify your own file path.
- Under rare circumstances the Inspector could affect the operation of the virtual machine, even if no breakpoints had been set. This has been solved.
- Clarified some error messages.
- Several minor performance improvements.

#### Version 11.1, September 2022

- Added emulation of the Apple //c with 32KB ROM.
- Clarified the Apple //c (Plus) setup screen.

#### Version 11.0, July 2022

- Added emulation of the Apple //c.
- Simplified the installation by including, in the Help description, download links for the proper ROM files.
- When creating a blank diskette image, you now have the option to initialize it right away as a DOS 3.3 diskette. This can be convenient if, for example, a game asks for a newly formatted disk.
- Movie recording can now be stopped with a keyboard shortcut.
- The Super Serial Card's RS232 interface was always shown in the devices area. It is now hidden, unless the card is linked to a serial Mac device or Unix pipe.
- Sometimes the emulated mouse would jump to an unexpected location until the main window was moved. This has been fixed.
- Corrected several minor issues.

#### Version 10.6.5, February 2022

- From now on the limited license includes full matrix printer emulation. Previously this required the full license.
- If an error occurred when sending bytes on a serial connection, a generic error message was shown, with insufficient information. This has been solved.
- Corrected the timing of instructions that are unsupported by the 65C02 processor. This should (slightly) improve general compatibility.

#### Version 10.6, January 2022

- Improved the unshrink feature. The extracted files are assigned any metadata stored in the archive: ProDOS file type, aux type, file creation date, as well as file modification date.
- Partial support for disk images with 13 sectors per track (file extension .d13). These disk images can be mounted, but any changes are lost when the disk is ejected.
- Fixed a potential crash when working with gzipped disk images.

#### Version 10.5.1, November 2021

- Creating a movie of the Apple II screen failed on a Mac with Apple silicon. This issue has been solved.

#### Version 10.5, November 2021

- The application can now unpack ShrinkIt archives.
- Files inside ShrinkIt archives are automatically indexed for searching in Spotlight, and are shown by the Finder in a QuickLook preview.

#### Version 10.4.1, October 2021

- Dark mode was disabled in the previous release; it now works again as before.

#### Version 10.4, August 2021

- Improved the appearance and behavior of the main window toolbar.
- Created an option to save screen snapshots with an 8-pixel black border.
- Previously, some keys repeated when held down and some didn't. This has been solved: all keys now repeat.
- Fixed a number of bugs and memory leaks.

#### Version 10.3.1, July 2021

- Added a pull down menu to save an Apple II screen as a PNG file. Previously, this function was only available through Applescript.
- If the "shift key modification" has been configured, the initial value of game controller button #2 was incorrect. This has been fixed.
- Improved CPU usage in top-speed mode, which should reduce the occasional "spinning beach ball" cursor.
- Several improvements "under the hood" to stay compatible with future macOS releases.

#### Version 10.3, April 2021

- Fixed several crashes that could occur if a Disk ][ interface card has no connected drives.
- Corrected an error in checking the version number in the WOZ INFO chunk, enhancing compatibility with WOZ disk images available in the public domain.
- Extended the feature to speak lines on the screen; the application can now automatically speak new text lines as they appear.
- Fixed a bug where the "speak new screen lines" menu could result in speaking the entire screen instead.
- The application did not recognize some usb-to-serial adapters. This has been solved, both for the serial card emulation in Virtual ][ and for transmitting disk images with A2V2.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the number of data bits in a serial connection to be affected by the parity setting.
- In the configuration of the Thunderclock card, if the option "Allow setting the time" is switched off, the card's internal time is now (re)set to the Mac system time.
- The shortcut for triggering a non-maskable interrupt (ctrl-command-F11) now also works if the "Command key is Open Apple" mode is active.
- Clarified the Applescript description of the "insert" command to point out that this command cannnot mount a Mac folder in a Disk ][ drive.

#### Version 10.2.2, February 2021

- With some Mac configurations the screen updates showed intermittent delays due to a core image filter ("sharpen"). To mitigate this, the filter has now been made optional. It can be disabled in the View section of the application preferencespreferences.
- The "insert a disk image" sheet worked poorly with files and folders on the iCloud drive. This has been improved.
- Fixed a number of crashes that sometimes occurred when closing a virtual machine window.

#### Version 10.2.1, January 2021

- Fixed an issue that could cause game paddle input values to make large jumps, skipping intermediate values.

#### Version 10.2, January 2021

- Inspector watchpoints can now be defined for a specific memory bank, improving their use for debugging.
- Added keyboard shortcuts for the main Inspector functions break, resume and single step.
- It is now possible to see the full path of a mounted disk, instead of just the disk name. Select this option in the Advanced section of the Preferences.
- Added a menu entry and an Applescript command to trigger an NMI (non-maskable interrupt).
- In the "Media" menu added an entry to flush every loaded diskette to its corresponding disk image file.
- An uninitialized .woz diskette is now saved as a disk image with zero tracks. In previous versions it used to be discarded.
- Double-clicking a .po hard disk image in the Finder resulted in an error message. This has been fixed — the disk is now mounted if a drive is available.
- Corrected an issue that could inadvertently silence the disk drive sound effects.
- The appliation saved some Woz disk images with an incorrect format. As a result, the application crashed when mounting these images again or when opening a virtual machine snapshot containing these disk images.
  Some technical background: this occurred with disk images containing a WRIT or COMP chunk, which Virtual ][ doesn't use and should have ignored. The issue has been solved, but unfortunately the bug has effectively removed these chunks from affected disk images.
- In macOS Catalina and Big Sur the Finder mistakenly showed disk image thumbnails with a dog-ear. This has been solved.
- Fixed a bug that could crash the application when a machine was closed while sound effects were being heard.
- Fixed a potential crash when entering an invalid license code.
- Fixed some minor layout issues.

#### Version 10.1, November 2020

- The application has native support for Intel and Apple Silicon.
- Clicking an empty disk drive now shows a popup menu to insert or search for disk images.
- When creating a blank diskette image the default format is now .woz version 2. You can select .dsk or .woz version 1 manually.
- Solved an issue where the Mountain Clock card could be off by one hour during daylight saving time in a leap year.
- Improved compatibility of the 6502 and 65c02 BCD arithmetic emulation. Invalid (non-BCD) values are now handled in a way consistent with the real hardware.
- Fixed an issue in handling IRQ (interrupt request). This solves a problem when running a2osx, and improves general compatibility.
- The OmniDisk drive, after the disk had been accessed, showed an incorrect picture while ejecting the disk. This has been fixed.
- Solved a number of issues related to macOS 11 "Big Sur".
- Updated the application icon to match the "Big Sur" style.
- Adjusted the behavior of empty slot ROM in the Apple //e, which improves compatibility with some low-level utilities.
- Fixed several typos in the Help file and user interface.

#### Version 10.0.1, July 2020

- Restored compatibility with macOS 10.13 ("High Sierra").

#### Version 10.0, July 2020

- Virtual machine snapshots can now be saved and restored at any time, without the need to close the virtual machine. This feature is available in the full-licensed version only.
- Improved woz disk reading. Some diskette images could not be opened, but now work fine.
- A virtual machine running at maximum speed could negatively affect the responsiveness of the user interface. This issue was most visible in macOS 10.15 (Catalina). This has been fixed by distributing the available CPU power in a better way.
- Reorganized the Scripts menu: it now makes a distinction between example scripts and user scripts. It also updates correctly if scripts are added or removed.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the RAM card to become unintentionally write-enabled.
- Diskette images modified by the Apple II software used to be saved every 30 seconds. Due to the introduction of the snapshot feature this is no longer the case. The diskette contents are part of each snapshot. Writing the contents to the diskette image file only occurs when a disk is ejected, when the virtual machine is closed, or when a snapshot containing the disk is openend.
- Removed the "Save Configuration" menu. A configuration can now only be saved with "Save Configuration As...".
- Did extensive cleanup of the source code. Replaced all deprecated macOS API, and converted to Swift 5. All this makes the application ready for future macOS developments.
- The application now requires macOS 10.14 ("Mojave") or better.

#### Version 9.3.1, May 2020

- Corrected an issue, introduced in version 9.3, that could cause double high resolution screens to be rendered incorrectly.

#### Version 9.3, April 2020

- Added support for the 13-sector Disk ][ card.
- In macOS 10.15 (Catalina) the window position is now correctly restored when starting the application.
- Game controller calibration is now saved between runs of the applications.
- Improved the accuracy of the analog game paddle input values.
- Solved a number of issues of the embedded application A2V2 - it now works again in macOS 10.15 (Catalina).
- Fixed a subtle error in handling the 80Store memory switch in the Apple //e.
- Fixed an issue that caused the arrow keys to produce wrong key codes if "Use Command Key as Open Apple" was active.
- Solved a few layout issues in the Video Inspector and Memory Banks Inspector.
- Solved a number of crashes.

#### Version 9.2, September 2019

- The application is now compatible with (the public beta of) macOS 10.15 Catalina.
- Fixed an issue in the Mockingboard card that could cause the sound quality to degrade after a few minutes of play.
- Corrected a memory-related issue in the SCSI card; this improves general compatibility.
- Note that when starting the app in Catalina, the main window appears with a default size and position. This is a side effect of a work-around necessary to avoid a crash.

#### Version 9.1.4, July 2019

- Fixed an issue that caused characters getting lost when pasting text from the Mac environment into AppleWorks.
- Fixed a bug (introduced in the 64-bit version of teh app) where reading a cassette tape failed if the AIFF file contains an unrecognized chunk.
- Fixed a potential crash when reading an invalid woz disk image.
- Creating a blank woz version 1 disk resulted in an invalid disk image. This now works as it should

#### Version 9.1.3, April 2019

- Solved a crash in the print engine that occurred when saving a pdf file with printed graphics. This problem first appeared after upgrading macOS to version 10.14.4.
- Improved mapping for Swedish keyboards.
- Fixed an oversight in the 6502 emulation; the "B" flag is now handled correctly in a PHP instruction. This improves general compatibility.
- The RS-232 status lights in the serial port item work again.
- Configuring the serial port was not possible in macOS 10.11 (the application crashed). This has been fixed.
- Solved a number of smaller crashes.

#### Version 9.1.2, February 2019

- Fixed an issue, introduced in version 9.1, that could cause accessing a ProDOS diskette to fail; the diskette spun endlessly instead.

#### Version 9.1.1, February 2019

- In macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) the Apple II screen was shown all black or sometimes semi-transparent. This has been fixed.
- Fixed a crash that occurred if the scan lines button was visible in the tool bar.

#### Version 9.1, January 2019

- Disk drives can be configured with a "read only" switch. While the virtual machine runs, just flip the switch to "on" to prevent the disk from being modified.
- The "Make All Drives Read-Only" entry in the Quick settings menu is a shortcut to protect all mounted disks in one go, essentially making the whole virtual machine read-only.
- Added support for quarter-tracks on woz disk images. A game like Frogger (protected with the SpiraDisc copy protection) now runs.
- Improved the woz2 implementation by taking the "optimal bit timing" into account. Disks protected with Infocom's 18-sector format (such as Border Zone) now run as they should.
- For woz diskette images added a new Spotlight key with the woz version number. The information is shown in the Finder's Get Info window, or can be used with the mdfind command-line tool (for example: mdfind virtualii_md_wozversion == woz2).
- Significantly improved the screen update performance, in particular on large high-resolution (retina) screens.
- The built-in QuickLook module now takes care of drawing diskette icons in the Finder. As with the diskette's QuickLook preview, the icons show labels listing the files on the disk image.
- Added DOS 4.x compatiblilty to the Spotlight and Diskette QuickLook modules.
- The application now rejects an attempt to insert a 3.5 inch diskette image (it crashed in the previous version).
- The application silently ignored the (very rare) case where a modified diskette cannot be saved. This oversight has been fixed; the application now shows an error message.
- Improved stability by solving a number of potential crashes.

#### Version 9.0, January 2019

- Introduction of the "peripherals" side bar, combining the contents of the device and performance drawers. Due to Apple deprecating the drawers feature in macOS 10.14, these drawers have been removed.
- Full support for the version 2 woz disk format.
- With the new peripherals side bar, devices and the performance monitor are now available in full-screen as well.
- Showing and hiding devices has been renamed to Show / Hide Peripherals, and can be found in the View menu.
- The device buttons now have retina resolution.
- The Inspector window, when opened from a full-screen main window, now shows up in the same screen space.
- In macOS 10.14, some of the demo Applescripts asked the user for permission to control the Finder, and sometimes refused to run outright, without even asking for this permission. This has been fixed – the Finder is no longer involved in these scripts.
- Repaired the "Customize Toolbar" function (it crashed in the previous version).
- Removed the feature to use the Mac mouse as a game controller. This was still based on the no longer supported "kiosk" full-screen mode.
- Removed the option of resizing the main window to match an exact multiple of Apple II pixels (2x, 3x or 4x). This was a left-over from the early days of the application, when free window resizing was not available for performance reasons.

#### Version 8.6, August 2018

- Added a keyboard shortcut to enter and exit full screen.
- The Inspector's instruction trail now also shows the processor cycle count at the start of each instruction.
- The instruction trail can now be saved as a tab-separated text file.
- Increased the maximum capacity of the instruction trail to 9999999 instructions (a tenfold increase). This is enough to capture roughly 35 to 40 seconds of CPU activity at regular speed. Be aware that saving such a large trail takes some time and results in a big file!
- When ejecting a diskette, the disk image was always saved, even if the disk had not been modified. This bug was introduced recently, and has now been corrected; a disk image is only saved when the disk contents have acually been changed.
- ProDOS disk images with a ".po" filename extension and a size of 800 KB (or larger) can now be mounted as an OmniDisk, and are also processed by the Spotlight importer.
- Disk images with a .nib extension now show up in the disk search window as "custom file system".
- Fixed an issue in the SCSI card emulation that could corrupt the "screenhole" memory locations in auxiliary memory, whereas it should have used main memory. In the revised ROM code the screen hole memory isn't used anymore at all.
- If a USB or Bluetooth game controller is connected, the option to use the keyboard arrows as a joystick is now disabled. It appeared that the latter option could corrupt the values received from the game controller (even without touching the arrow keys).
- Powering up a virtual machine with an OmniDisk resulted in a boot failure if a higher numbered slot contained a card with expansion ROM. This now works as it should.
- Changed built-in web links from http to https (for servers that support https).

#### Version 8.5, July 2018

- Added Dark Mode support for macOS 10.14 (Mojave).
- Woz disk image files are now shown correctly (enabled) in the disk open panel.
- Reading a an empty diskette drive did not trigger an I/O error - the drive just spun endlessly. This now works correctly.
- Writing to a diskette while more than one diskette is mounted could result in a corrupt disk image. This has been fixed.
- On the iMac Pro, game paddle emulation with a USB / Bluetooth game pad did not work correctly. To solve this, and to make the app future-proof again, this part of the app has been fully rewritten using modern API.
- Redesigned the game pad configuration window.
- Fixed an issue that could result in Virtual ][ becoming unresponsive when performing diskette I/O at top speed.
- The app crashed in macOS 10.11 and 10.12 when selecting "Import Disk Images in Spotlight". This has been fixed.
- Changed the way the command key is handled, improving compatibility with some text editors (such as UCSD Pascal 1.2).
- Fixed an issue that caused the ImageWriter configuration window to remain visible after clicking OK or Cancel.
- Solved several crashes.

#### Version 8.4, June 2018

- Improved "woz" disk image compatibility; the application now deals better with several copy-protection schemes.
- If a woz disk's internal write protect property is set, QuickLook now shows the disk without a write-protect notch, to indicate that it cannot be made write-enabled (or at least not without special tools).
- Improved rendering of monochrome high resolution screens; it now shows a "half-pixel" shift where appropriate.
- The game controller configuration now only contains the type of controls that can actually be mapped to the Apple II game I/O: push buttons as well as axis controls such as joysticks and sliders.

#### Version 8.3, May 2018

- Support for the "woz" disk image format. The woz format and implementation guide was created by John Morris in conjunction with his Applesauce project. It allows for disk images that are like a carbon copy of the original disk — even their copy protection checks can't tell the difference.
- The disk search window now allows selecting a "custom" fle system (i.e. none of the well-known file systems). This makes it easy to find copy-protected woz disks, either by disk name or by included meta data.
- Added a pull-down menu, along with keyboard shortcuts, to eject disks from their drives.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the disk recalibration sound to continue playing for too long.
- Cassette tape files (.cass) now show the correct icon / preview in the Finder.
- Updated diskette and cassette tape icons to high resolution (retina) quality.

#### Version 8.2, April 2018

This version fixes a number of issues reported by users, and simplifies ROM file installation.

- Added a menu to open the folder where the ROM files must be installed.
- In the game controller configuration, selecting the action "None" crashed the application. This has been fixed.
- Fixed an issue that caused a disk image file with the "v2d" format to be corrupted when ejecting the disk.
- Enhanced Mockingboard compatibility by increasing its interrupt frequency.

#### Version 8.1, January 2018

This version adds two preference settings, but mainly fixes issues reported for version 8.0.1. Thanks everyone for your feedback!

- Added a preference to use the H.264 codec for making a screen movie, even if the HEVC codec is available.
- Added a preference to suppress the large "Paused" indicator.
- Making a screen movie in macOS 10.11 and 10.12 now works as it should; the application no longer crashes.
- Fixed an issue that crashed the app when unplugging the game controller.
- Double-clicking a disk in the Finder worked only once per run; this has been fixed.
- When saving a configuration, the save dialog incorrectly gave the option to select a file type (such as disk image). This has been fixed.
- The "Current PC" button in the Inspector could result in blank lines in the disassembly. This has been fixed.
- When rebooting a virtual machine, the main window now stays the active window if the Inspector is open.
- If a configured ROM image file cannot be read, the application now presents an error message identifying the path of the missing file. In the previous version the application crashed.
- Fixed numerous (albeit minor) memory leaks.
- Updated the documentation of the A2V2 disk transfer utility.

#### Version 8.0.1, December 2017

This version contains extensive behind-the-scenes updates and rewrites to remain compatible with new versions of macOS, forming a basis for further future development.
For example, the application was still 32-bit; as of this release it is a 64-bit app, making it compatible with modern Mac APIs, improved memory management, etc.

Furthermore:

- A disk image file can now be double-clicked in the Finder to start a virtual machine with that disk inserted.
- Added the feature to speak the text on the Apple II screen, using the Mac voice synthesizer.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a new virtual machine window to appear with a very small size.
- Clarified the section in the Help file on game controller setup.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Inspector's disassembly to show empty lines when scrolled.
- Rewrote the "movie making" feature to use the AVFoundation framework. When running macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later, the movie is written using the HEVC codec. Older system use the H264 codec.
- Removed the option to select a folder where the ROM files are located. This feature often caused confusion, and led to some tricky problems. You can however still select a specific ROM file for a virtual machine. If you don't specify such a file, the app will search for a matching ROM file in one of the standard locations.
- The app now submits crashes or similar app issues to the developer. These reports are fully anonymous, and help improving the app. If you wish you can disable it in the application preferences.

#### Version 7.6.1, March 2017

- Checkboxes did not show up correctly in the Search Disk window; this has been fixed.

#### Version 7.6, March 2017

- This upgrade requires OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) or better.
- Rewrote the full-screen feature; it now works for individual windows, using the familiar green button in the window title.
- The main window can now be resized freely, and is not limited anymore to the small / medium / large sizes.
- Fixed an issue that caused the application to incidentally ignore ROM files in the application folder.
- Closing a virtual machine while the Inspector window is open no longer results in a crash.
- Improved the screen refresh performance; this fixes an issue where the Apple II screen sometimes briefly showed gray areas.

#### Version 7.5.5, January 2017

- Double-clicking a disk image in the Finder didn't result anymore in inserting the disk in a drive. This has been fixed.

#### Version 7.5.4, January 2017

- A new option allows forwarding all Command-key combinations to the virtual machine as "Open Apple" key combinations, instead of being handled by the emulator.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the application to not recognize the appropriate ROM file.
- Removed the "full screen mode" feature.

#### Version 7.5.3, August 2016

- Licenses can be purchased at the FastSpring store.
- The minimum required system version is Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion").

#### Version 7.5.2, January 2015

- Fixed an issue that could cause the virtual procesor to get stuck in an endless loop.

#### Version 7.5.1, January 2015

- The right arrow key did not work correctly when used for game control. This has been fixed.

#### Version 7.5, January 2015

- Support for two Mockingboard cards in one machine, in order to listen to max. 12 channels.
- Corrected an issue with double low resolution colors.
- Added an experimental feature: the super serial card emulation can now work with Unix named pipes (full license only).
- Improved timing of video rendering; the Apple //e cursor now blinks with constant time intervals.
- The RAMWorks card now has a maximum capacity of 16 MB (was 8 MB) (full license only).
- Relaxed the requirements for a custom character set definition: the file can now be either tiff or png, 1-bit or 8-bit.
- The Preferences window now shows the correct tab when opened.
- Simultaneous disk drive and printer sound effects could cause a crash - this has been fixed.
- The print preview now takes the scrollbar preferences into acount.
- Saving the machine state could potentially cause a crash - this has been solved.
- Fixed an issue where "high speed mode" sometimes incorrectly dropped back to regular speed.
- The Quicklook preview for saved state documents works again.
- The preview of saved state documents can now show horizontal scanlines.
- Fixed a Yosemite compatibility issue in the disk transfer application (A2V2).

#### Version 7.4.1, December 2013

- Fixed some issues with the new SCSI card emulation introduced in version 7.4.

#### Version 7.4, December 2013

- The emulated SCSI card previously supported only the ProDOS block interface; it now supports the "SmartPort" interface as well, thereby improving Apple II compatibility.
- When a Mac folder, extracted from a Shrinkit archive with Shrink-Fit X, is mounted as a ProDOS disk, Virtual ][ automatically uses the file types and other metadata provided by Shrink-Fit X.
- When a Mac folder, mounted as a Prodos disk, is ejected from Virtual ][, the Finder now shows the updated file structure correctly.
- Some of the demo Applescripts didn't work correctly because of Mavericks' app nap; this has been fixed.
- Added an Applescript command that makes it easy to have a script pause until the virtual machine displays a specific screen. The script "Mockingboard demo" demonstrates this technique.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the memory of an Apple //e to be incorrectly initialized.

#### Version 7.3, September 2013

- The "No Slot Clock" now reports Monday as weekday no. 1. Previously it reported Sunday as day no. 1, which was incorrect.
- Added Applescript properties for better control of the connected devices.
- The application preferences now offer two color schemes for high resolution rendering.
- The Inspector now retains its window positions when the virtual machine is restarted.
- Fixed several layout and font issues in the Inspector.
- "Set Disk Properties" in the Media menu no longer refuses volume numbers 0 and 255.

#### Version 7.2.1, March 2013

- Fixed an incompatibility of the sound effects with Mac OS X 10.7

#### Version 7.2, March 2013

- Rewrote the Apple II sound emulation. As a result, the application no longer crashes when a headphone is inserted or removed
- Fixed an issue that crashed the application when waking the Mac from sleep
- Fixed a layout issue in the RAMWorks configuration panel

#### Version 7.1, December 2012

- Fixed an issue that could cause Apple II screen pixels to be randomly shown or hidden.
- Improved implementation of the "mounted OS X folder" feature to fix an incompatibility with EDASM.
- Some of the Applescript demos didn't work in version 7.0; this has been fixed.

#### Version 7.0, July 2012

- Updated the program to be fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion).
- Improved accuracy of high resolution colors by adding emulation of NTSC TV color logic.
- Modernized the appearance of the main window.
- The Inspector can now save a memory dump of the virtual machine to a file.
- Added the Bulgarian character set.

#### Version 6.5, February 2012

- Fixed an issue where the Mockingboard card could halt the virtual machine (this happened, for example, in Ultima IV).
- Corrected an issue in the "floating bus" screen rendering, thereby improving compatibility.
- Fixed an issue that could cause stray pixels on the emulated screen when switching from 80-column text to low-resolution graphics.
- Improved screen rendering perfomance by using Apple's Grand Central Dispatch technology.

#### Version 6.4.1, January 2012

Corrected some minor issues that were introduced in version 6.4:

- Double-clicking a disk in the Finder didn't work anymore when Virtual ][ did not run - this has been fixed.
- All pictures in the Inspector Help were missing - this has been corrected.

#### Version 6.4, January 2012

- Dropped support for Mac OS X 10.5 and the PowerPC processor. The program now requires an Intel Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 (Leopard) or better.
- Added a feature to change the write protection and volume number of disk images.
- It is now possible to configure a 65C02 processor in an Apple ][ or ][+ virtual machine.
- When choosing "Copy as Text" from the Edit menu, international characters on the screen are now correctly copied to the Mac clipboard.
- Improved the quality of the QuickLook preview and thumbnail of a saved state file.
- Some custom character sets were not accepted by the virtual machine - this has been fixed.
- Fixed a number of minor issues, thereby improving the overall stability of the program.

#### Version 6.3.7, April 2010

- Fixed an issue that could cause the arrow keys to generate incorrect game paddle values if used in combination with the command key.
- Added a convenience menu in "Quick Settings" to easily invert the direction of the up and down arrows when used as a joystick.
- The Mac OS X Finder now correctly recognizes disk images as Virtual ][ files.

#### Version 6.3.6, February 2010

- The program now accepts "dsk" image files with 41 tracks (the maximum so far was 40).
- A recent Snow Leopard upgrade broke the "Make Movie from Apple II Screen" feature. This has been fixed.
- Cassette tape files now get file name extension "cass" instead of "aif". As a result, the cassette tape icon appears correctly again in Snow Leopard. Old "aif" files can still be read.

#### Version 6.3.5, October 2009

- Improved emulation of Apple II interrupts; as a result, the program "Publish It" version 4 can now be used with the mouse.
- Corrected an error in the emulation of several 65C02 instructions (particularly TSB and TRB). This enhances compatibility with Apple //e applications.
- Relative mouse mode is now correctly restored from a saved state file. This was an omission in previous versions.
- Fixed a few spelling errors in the Inspector and tool tips.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the text color on the Apple II screen to become white after clicking "Cancel" in the the configuration panel.

#### Version 6.3.1, September 2009

- If the preferences were set to skip the "save" question, the application crashed when quitting. This has been fixed.

#### Version 6.3, August 2009

- The program is now fully Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" compatible.
- Fixed an issue, introduced in version 6.2, where the video inspector didn't render the text screen correctly.
- Fixed an issue that caused the "open Apple" key emulation to work poorly in full screen mode (in Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" only).
- In full-screen mode, the I/O activity indicator sometimes remained visible after I/O activity had ended; this has been solved.
- Fixed an issue, introduced in version 6.2, that could cause Applescript execution to crash the program (in Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" only).
- Fixed an issue (in Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" only) that prevented the use of the built-in French character set.
- In the configuration window, the character set preview showed a few stray pixels. This has been solved.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a gzipped disk image to be incorrectly renamed when ejected.

#### Version 6.2, July 2009

- Added power management options to save energy and enhance battery life on a notebook Mac.
- Fixed an issue that caused the game disk "World Karate Championship" to fail while booting.
- The Help menu now contains an item to open an online version of the Help section in a web browser.
- In the Inspector, fixed an issue where two lines in the disassembly could be highlighted at the same time.
- Resuming an original Apple ][ from a saved state file could result in incorrect video settings. This has been solved.
- Clarified some topics in the Help section: printing with a limited license, and joystick emulation with the keyboard.

#### Version 6.1, November 2008

- The Inspector now lets you modify Apple II memory and CPU registers.
- Corrected several issues in the game paddle emulation, thereby improving stability and general compatibility.
- Fixed an issue with the 6502 decimal mode emulation, which caused some UCSD Pascal programs to crash.
- Fixed an issue with the Epson FX80 emulation; in some cases double-width characters were not rendered correctly.
- Clicking an I/O address breakpoint in the Inspector made it invisible; this has been solved.

#### Version 6.0, April 2008

- Added a feature that lets you record the action on the Apple II screen as a QuickTime movie.
- Added a new module: DiskIIViewer. It allows the Mac OS X "Leopard" Finder to present Apple II disk images in QuickLook and Cover Flow.
- Improved the quality of high resolution rendering.
- The "Search Disk Images" window now shows the results while typing, just like Spotlight.
- The "Search Disk Images" window now shows all diskette names with the selected file system (it used to omit empty disks).
- Added an Applescript command to make a snapshot of the Apple II screen and save it as a file.
- Added an Applescript command to dump (part of) the Apple II memory into a file.
- A mounted Mac folder (DOS) can now hold up to 200 KB (was 140 KB).
- The numeric keypad "enter" key of the mid-2007 iMac keyboard is now correctly recognized.
- Fixed an issue in the Spotlight module that could cause hdv disk images to be ignored.
- Fixed an issue that caused the program to crash if multiple virtual machines used the same serial port.
- This version requires OS X 10.4 "Tiger" or OS X 10.5 "Leopard". It does not run on OS X 10.3 "Panther" anymore.

#### Version 5.8.5, November 2007

- Solved an issue (introduced in version 5.8) that caused flickering screen objects in some games (such as Swashbuckler, Bolo and Choplifter).
- Improved the floating bus feature; the intro of the game "Money Munchers" now works as it should.
- The "Search Apple II Disk Images" feature now not only searches for matching Apple II file names, but also for matching disk image file names.
- The Inspector can now show the Apple II screen as it would appear in any graphics mode.
- Substantially improved nibble copy and half-track copy in A2V2, resulting in much more reliable disk images.
- Added a menu to check for newer versions.
- Refined the keyboard mappings to more resemble the Apple II: shift-tab now acts as tab; numeric pad "clear" acts as escape.
- Increased default screen refresh rate from 20 Hz to 30 Hz.
- Fixed an issue that could result in stray pixels all over the screen when switching from text mode to graphics mode.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Saturn memory card to behave like a 16K instead of a 128K memory card.

#### Version 5.8, July 2007

- The A2V2 utility now supports transfer of Apple II disks containing half-tracks.
- Finished the implementation of the "floating bus", and added an example Applescript to demonstrate this feature.
- Optimized graphic rendering, resulting in lower overall CPU load.
- Improved the compatibility of the Epson FX-80 emulation; it now works with the Fontrix application.
- The Inspector now shows the total CPU cycle count of the emulated 6502.
- Added an Applescript command to slow down text input from a script, and used it to make the included demo scripts easier to follow.
- Solved an issue where the text "Paused" could remain on the screen after a restart of the machine.
- Solved an issue that could cause one disk image to be mounted in multiple drives at the same time.

#### Version 5.7.1, March 2007

- Added an feature to convert legacy DiskCopy disk images to a format supported by Virtual ][.
- When a newly created diskette image was ejected, the program crashed. This has been fixed.

#### Version 5.7, February 2007

- Added a "search all disk images" feature to the program that presents all disk images found on the system, and allows fast searching for an Apple II file.
- The emulated diskette drives now allow inserting a diskette image in gzipped form.
- The Spotlight search module now also scans gzipped diskettes.
- Solved an issue that caused the emulated game paddle button #1 to "stick" when controlled with the right mouse button or the alt key.
- The previous version (5.6) had introduced a problem with USB game pads on Intel Macs. This issue has been solved.
- Solved an issue that prevented the use of reset (ctrl-F12) in full-screen mode.
- Solved a ProDOS compatibility issue concerning the Thunderclock card.
- Solved an issue that could cause the Inspector to show a wrong memory bank in the slot 3 memory space on an Apple //e.

#### Version 5.6, November 2006

- Added full implementation of the Super Serial card, allowing an Apple II program to connect to an actual serial device, such as a dial-up modem.
- When the application is started for the first time, it now adapts the window size to best match the computer's main screen.
- Solved an issue that caused ProDOS to fail when formatting a diskette.
- Solved an issue that could cause the program to crash when restarting a virtual machine.
- In very rare circumstances a modified diskette image was not saved when it was ejected. This has been fixed.
- Solved a minor issue with the print preview button; double-clicking while the print preview was open made the presented output invisible.
- In the previous release, one of the ImageWriter pictures was missing, resulting in a blinking icon in the devices bar while printing. This has been corrected.

#### Version 5.5, October 2006

- The arrow keys on the keyboard can now be used as a joystick.
- The "enter" key on the numeric pad can now be used as an alternative "return" key. This is consistent with the numeric key pad of the Apple //e.
- Improved ProDOS compatibility of the Thunderclock emulation.
- Fixed a potential crash when the virtual machine is restarted.
- Fixed yet another issue with license key validation when Japanese is the system default language.
- Reorganized the long list of subjects in the documentation, in order to make it more accessible.

#### Version 5.4, August 2006

- Added emulation of the Thunderclock card, and made it the default clock card for all virtual machine types.
- The old "ProDOS clock card" is now obsolete. It is still supported, but can no longer be selected in a new configuration.
- Added emulation of the the Saturn 128K memory card.
- Improved the support for international keyboards.
- Added additional Apple II character sets: British, French, German, Itialian and Swedish.
- Adjusted the Apple //e character set, to eliminate some minor differences with the characters in the original machine.
- Added an AppleScript property to get the path of the configured favorite disk folder.
- The RAMWorks card can now be configured in increments of 64KB (was 128KB).
- The 16K RAM card can now be inserted in all slots, not only slot 0.
- Fixed an issue that prevented 2img disk images from being recognized on an Intel Mac.
- The "generic printer card", which has been obsolete since version 3.4, is no longer supported. It has been replaced by the Grappler+ card and the serial printer card.

#### Version 5.3, June 2006

- The program can now be controlled with AppleScript.
- Added an AppleScript menu with a number of example scripts; they demonstrate many of Virtual ]['s features.
- Added a menu function to save a snapshot of the emulated screen as a tiff file.

#### Version 5.2, May 2006

- Improved the bundled A2V2 disk-exchange program: it is now also able to transfer "copy-protected" disk images from an Apple II to the Macintosh.
- The Z80 card was not detected on an Intel Mac, and hence didn't work. This has been fixed.
- Fixed an issue with license key validation when Japanese is the system default language.
- Fixed an issue with keyboard emulation: open apple + esc is now correctly forwarded to the Apple //e.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a ProDOS shared folder to report an I/O error when updating file metadata (like the binary load address).
- On the Apple ][ and ][+, the "Show 80 Column Video" menu sometimes failed to update the screen. This has been fixed.

#### Version 5.1, March 2006

- The program now comes as a universal binary, fully compatible with both the Intel and the Power PC Macintoshes.
- Added emulation of the ImageWriter II printer.
- Fixed an issue in the mouse card; as a result the emulation now supports the Apple II program "Blazing Paddles".
- Improved disk drive timing: as a result the Apple II program "Wasteland" now runs from copy-protected (.nib) disk images.
- Changed the Mockingboard card in such a way that the Apple II program "SkyFox" now detects and uses the card.
- Added a configurable option to skip the "save state" dialog when closing a virtual machine.
- Fixed an issue that resulted in wrong game paddle values when the machine ran at high speed.
- Fixed a potential crash in the Inspector when analyzing some types of copy protected disks.
- The "soft caps lock" feature doesn't affect pasted text anymore; it only affects typed characters, as it should.
- Solved an issue in sound handling that could lead to a deadlock when resetting the virtual machine.
- The "relative mouse mode" setting is now stored when saving a configuration file.

#### Version 5.0, January 2006

- Added a major new feature: the "Inspector". It allows to closely watch the behavior of the virtual machine and debug Apple II programs.
- Made the "speed dial" options more accessible by assigning keyboard shortcuts to them.
- Improved compatibility of the simple text printer.
- Solved a bug that caused wrong license key evaluation when Japanese was the system default language.

#### Version 4.3, November 2005

This is a bug-fix release.

- Solved an issue in the built-in Spotlight module, which could cause endless rescanning of hard disk image files.
- The Spotlight module now does a better job in recognizing the file system on diskette image files. It sometimes skipped valid DOS images.
- Improved the compatibility of the A2V2 program, to support more types of USB-to-serial adapters.

#### Version 4.2, October 2005

- Added the option to convert diskettes from and to a real Apple II via a serial cable.
- Added emulation of the "no-slot clock".
- It is now possible to print text to the Macintosh clipboard.
- A configured machine can now be made the default machine in one simple step.
- The Preferences window has an option to open the devices drawer to either the bottom or the right side of the window. Opening it on the right side is particularly useful on small screens.
- When an USB game pad is connected, it is now automatically the preferred choice for game control. It used to be a configurable option, but this could easily lead to a seemingly not-working game pad.
- Improved artwork of the Printer button: it finally looks like a printer.
- Solved problems with the game "Alternate Reality The Dungeon" by improving the emulation of the stepper motor in the diskette drive.

#### Version 4.1, August 2005

- A Mac OS X folder can now be mounted as a ProDOS disk image, making it easy to share files and folders between the Apple II and Mac environments.
- The included Spotlight module now also scans ProDOS disks (OS X 10.4 "Tiger" only).
- The program now suports double low resolution graphics on the Apple //e.
- Solved a diskette compatibiliy problem; as a result the game "Alternate Reality The Dungeon" now runs.
- Solved a cassette port compatibility problem; as a result "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein" now runs.
- Solved a issue that could cause the machine to run too fast in "high speed" mode (it would behave like "maximum speed" instead).

#### Version 4.0, June 2005

- Added a much requested feature: the Mockingboard emulation. This is a free upgrade for all licensed users.
- Changed the configuration of the default machine to include the Mockingboard in slot 4.
- Solved a bug that could cause failure to read a saved state file.

#### Version 3.5.1, June 2005

- Fixed a bug that caused the Epson emulation to render text in a much too small font. This occurred in OS X 10.4 only.
- Made some subtle timing adjustments in disk I/O; as a result the "Apple Cider Spider" game now runs.

#### Version 3.5, May 2005

- The program is now fully OS X 10.4 "Tiger" compatible. The program still runs on Panther, provided the version is 10.3.9. The program does not run on OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" anymore.
- Included a Tiger Spotlight module that allows fast searching for Apple ][ files.
- A diskette image can now be inserted in the virtual machine by double-clicking it in the Finder, or selecting it in Spotlight.
- Improved compatibility of the emulated mouse. As a result, it is now possible to run the "GEOS" program.
- Included a link to the new Virtual ][ Forum in the Help menu.
- The 6502 an Z80 engines now benefit from the additional speed of the G5 processor, if available. The program is still fully compatible with the G3 and G4 processors.
- Fixed a bug that caused some solid apple key combinations (like solid apple-N) to be ignored.
- Fixed some bugs with Macintosh folders mounted as DOS diskettes.
- Fixed some minor problems in the 65C02 implementation, increasing general compatibility.
- Solved a bug in the mouse card firmware; it can now handle interrupt mode and should therefore now work in any Apple ][ program.
- Fixed a bug in Apple IIe memory-bank switching, improving general compatibility

#### Version 3.4.1, March 2005

- Corrected an issue introduced in the 3.4 version, that could cause CP/M to fail during boot.

#### Version 3.4, January 2005

- Added emulation of the Grappler+ printer interface card. The previously used "generic" printer card is now obsolete and can no longer be selected.
- The emulated Epson FX-80 now supports user-defined characters.
- Improved quality of high resolution graphics rendering. In particular text rendered as graphics is now more readable.
- Reviewed and improved handling of the internal ROM on the Apple //e; as a result the overall compatibility has been improved.
- Improved the maximum speed of the emulated processors (both 6502 and Z80A) by about 10%.
- Improved behavior of the analog game inputs when resuming a virtual machine. Effectively, this means a game can be resumed in a more controlled way.
- Changed the "underscore" character on the Apple //e to more closely match the original.
- Solved a bug that could cause a clobbered display when scrolling the print preview.
- Solved a bug in handling graphics printing in the Epson FX-80 emulation.
- Solved a bug in the disk drive that could cause ProDOS to get stuck in an endless loop.

#### Version 3.3, November 2004

- The program now produces the sounds of the disk drives and the matrix printer.
- Solved a bug that could assign the wrong file type to a new diskette image file.
- Solved a bug in the Epson FX-80 configuration window that was likely to crash the program.

#### Version 3.2, October 2004

- Further improved the sound quality of the emulated internal speaker.
- Added the "variable speed" option, to speed up lengthy operations.
- Solved a bug that could cause a valid license code to be rejected.

#### Version 3.1, September 2004

- Improved the rendering of double high resolution graphics; the emulation now accurately emulates an NTSC monitor. Effectively this improves the graphics quality and the readability of text in programs like Dazzle Draw or Apple Desktop.
- Improved accuracy of low-resoution colors and double high resolution colors.
- Improved the efficiency of high resolution rendering by about 25%. As a result, the "Solid Hi-Res" option is now obsolete and has been removed from the program (this was an option to gain efficiency at the expense of accuracy).
- Significantly improved sound quality of the emulated internal speaker.
- Added a toolbar for easier access of common functions.
- The "Screen" menu is now named "View" and has been extended with toolbar-related commands.
- The sound volume can now be changed.
- Added a menu command / toolbar button to open a Finder window with the folder where your disk images are; in combination with Mac OS X "Exposé" this is a comfortable way to quickly select a disk image and drag it to a drive.
- An alias file of a disk image is now accepted when dropped on a drive (the alias file must have the proper extension though).
- The program can now automatically adjust the Mac monitor resolution when going to full-screen mode. This solves perfomance issues on big screens.
- The Apple //e, not the ][+, is now the default machine when the program is first started.
- A "saved state" file gets a custom icon that is a miniature representation of the emulated screen.
- Solved a bug: when the mouse was switched on and off (by the Apple II software) in rapid succession, this could block the Virtual ][ user interface. This occurred in Dazzle Draw for example.
- Solved a bug that prevented full-screen mode to work correctly in a multi-monitor setup.
- Solved a bug that was likely to crash the program when starting with a "default.vii" configuration file.

#### Version 3.0, August 2004

- Added emulation of the Epson FX-80 printer (available in OS X 10.3 "Panther" or better).
- The state of a virtual machine can be saved so it can continue to run later on.
- Included support for the RamWorks card on the Apple //e. This card gives you up to 8 MB of memory, and replaces the "64K / 80 column card", which is now obsolete and no longer supported.
- The program now includes a number of different character sets ROM's and you can add your own character sets as well.
- Simplified the installation procedure for ROM image files. Previously ROM files had to have specific names; now the program automatically searches for a ROM file suitable for the machine to be emulated.
- The "phosphor" color of the monochrome screen can now be changed to any color; it used to be "green only".
- The video refresh rate of the emulated monitor can now be configured.
- When doing a cold restart of the emulated machine (ctrl-command-reset), the disks now stay in the disk drives.
- Improved compatibility of the mouse emulation; software like Apple //e Desktop now runs fine.
- Fixed a bug that made it impossible to remove a diskette image from a configuration.

#### Version 2.6, March 2004

Many of the enhancements are the direct result of feedback I received from users. Thanks every-one!

- A floppy disk image can now be part of the configuration, making it possible to create a turnkey system with a bootable floppy disk image.
- A Macintosh folder can now be mounted as a DOS 3.3 floppy disk.
- Added a quick way to select between 3 different standard machines: Applel ][, Applel ][+ and Apple //e.
- Added the option to define a default configuration, which is used when the program starts.
- Introduced the option to use the Macintosh backspace key as left arrow key.
- Improved support for the Open Apple and Solid Apple key on the Apple //e.
- Added an optional disk I/O indicator light in full screen mode.
- Added the "Media" pull down menu, which contains all commands to insert disks and tapes.
- When a virtual machine window is closed the program now asks for a confirmation.
- The standard window size can now be set as an application-wide preference.
- Improved the efficiency of video rendering by about 30%.
- Solved a bug that prevented the game "Serpentine" to run.
- Solved a bug that corrupted the internal timing of a virtual machine after the Macintosh woke up from sleep mode (solved this in Panther, not in Jaguar).

#### Version 2.5.1, December 2003

- Fixed a Jaguar compatibility issue introduced in version 2.5

#### Version 2.5, December 2003

- Added support for ProDOS hard disk emulation.
- Added support for a USB joystick or game pad.
- Added emulation of a ProDOS compatible clock card.
- Improved the overall efficiency of the emulation engine by about 25%. Effectively, this means the virtual machine consumes less Macintosh processor time.
- Fixed a problem with keyboards that require the use of the "alt" key for some special characters like "@" and "#". These characters can now be entered in the normal way.

#### Version 2.1, September 2003

- Added emulation of the Z80 card, so it is now possible to run CP/M.
- The speed of the 6502 processor can now be configured from 1 to 10 MHz.
- The Apple ][ screen can now be copied to the clipboard, either as graphics or as text.
- Added the possibility to pause / resume a virtual machine.
- Added support for the ".po" disk image format.
- Changes in disk images were only stored when the disk image was ejected. To prevent loss of data, a modified image is now also auto-saved at regular intervals (every 30 seconds).
- Added a number of "Great Apple ][ Links" under the Help menu.
- Changed the Reset key to function key F12 (was F13), because not all Macintosh keyboards have the F13 key.
- Pasting text in the Apple //e 80-column screen could lead to lost characters; fixed this problem.
- Solved an issue that prevented some versions of ProDOS to boot.
- Improved general compatibility of the emulated mouse card.
- Both the mouse and the game controls are operated by the Macintosh mouse. It appeared this caused problems in some Apple ][ programs. Solved this by disabling the game I/O while the Apple ][ mouse is switched on.

#### Version 2.0, August 2003

This release adds much-requested features and a number of other improvements.

- Emulation of the Apple //e, including emulation of the 65C02 processor;
- Emulation of the Apple //e 80-column / 64K RAM card;
- Mouse card emulation;
- Full-screen support and multiple window sizes;
- Full, configurable support for the Game I/O connector;
- Added a configuration option to allow choosing betweeen predefined machine types (Apple ][, Apple ][+ or Apple //e). As a result, made some changes to the way ROM files are found. Existing users might have to change their configuration, as described in the documentation.
- Solved an issue that caused the program to crash when a disk was inserted while no disk drives were configured;
- Improved slot configuration: a card will now only fit in a slot where it will actually work.

#### Version 1.1, June 2003

This release contains numerous new features and improvements.

- Now supports diskettes with up to 40 tracks (was 35).
- Added 80-column card and video soft-switch.
- Added configurable cassette tape playback volume, in order to allow reading a recording of an actual Apple ][ tape.
- File extensions .DSK and .NIB are now recognized as equivalent to .dsk amd .nib.
- Disk image type ".do" (or ".DO") is recognized as equivalent to .dsk. When the disk image is modified, the extension is changed to the more common ".dsk".
- The "View" menu has additional options and has been renamed "Quick settings".
- Push button 1 of the game controller can now be operated with the right mouse button or the alt key.
- Added keyboard shortcuts for frequently used menus, like show / hide devices and insert a disk.
- Improved behavior of empty slots, so software like ProDOS now recognizes them as "empty".
- Improved overall speed of the 6502 engine by about 30%. This does not mean the Apple ][ software runs faster; it means the emulator consumes less Macintosh processor time.
- Improved linefeed handling by the emulated printer; as a result it does not produce superfluous empty lines anymore.
- Added "floating bus" support in the I/O addresses of the video generator. This undocumented feature is used in some games. As a result compatibility has been improved.
- Solved a bug with respect to the "shift key modification". In release 1.0, I had assumed that pressing the shift key "pressed" the game controller button. It appeared the 80-column card expects pressing shift releases the game controller button.
- Solved a bug in handling of expansion ROM (on a card). This improves general compatibility.

#### Version 1.0, April 2003

Initial release

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Specifications of the virtual machine

CPU
  MCS6502 / SY6502, running at 1.023 MHz to 10.230 MHz (configurable). Only the "official" instruction set is supported; all other opcodes are treated as NOP.
  WDC 65C02, running at 1.023 MHz to 10.230 MHz (configurable).
Main board
  Apple II revision 1.
  Apple //e revision B.
Video generator
  Supports text, low resolution graphics and high resolution graphics. Screen refresh rate is configurable at 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 Hz.
  On Apple //e also supports 80-column display and double hires.
Character generator ROM
  Can be configured to display only upper case characters or upper and lower case characters.
  On the Apple //e, contains the regular and alternate character sets.
  Allows installation of a custom character set.
Monitor
  Configurable color or monochrome. Size can be set to 560 x 384 pixels (i.e. 1 Apple ][ pixel is presented as 2 x 2 Macintosh pixels), 840 x 576 (1 pixel is 3 x 3), 1120 x 768 ( 1 pixel is 4 x 4), or full-screen.
  Monochrome "phosphor" color can be configured.
ROM memory
  12 KB configurable from an external file. Memory range $D000 to $FFFF. If the external file contains less than 12K of data, the top part of memory is set up using the file, and the remaining bytes are initialized to 0.
  The Apple //e has 16K of ROM, and uses the last 16K of the ROM file.
RAM memory
  Apple ][(+): configurable in sizes 4K, 8K, 12K, 16K, 20K, 24K, 32K, 36K and 48K.
  Apple //e: 64 KB built-in; can be upgraded up to 16 MB with the RamWorks card.
Sound
  The "speaker toggle" mechanism of the Apple ][ is fully implemented using macOS Core Audio.
Cassette interface
  Using the built-in cassette recorder module, sound produced by the Apple ][ on the cassette output connector can be recorded to an AIFF file, and (uncompressed) AIFF files can be read and fed to the cassette input connector.
Game connector
  All inputs of the game connector can be triggered with mouse and keyboard, or with a USB game device. The output functions (annunciators and C040 strobe) are not available.
Keyboard
  All Apple ][ keys are supported, except "REPT". Can be configured to enter upper case characters only, or upper and lower case characters; on an Apple ][(+) the shift key can be connected to operate button 2 of the game connector (the "shift key modification").
16 K RAM Card
  Implements the Ramex 16 card. Fully compatible with the UCSD Pascal system.
Saturn memory card
  Implements the Saturn Systems 128K memory card.
Apple ][ 80-column card
  Emulates the Term 80 Video Display Interface.
RamWorks III card (for Apple //e only)
  Configurable 64 KB to 8128 KB of RAM, with increments of 64 KB. Allows 80-column and double-hires display.
Parallel printer interface card
  Emulates the Orange Micro Grappler+ card. The DIP switches are pre-configured to support the Epson FX-80 printer.
Serial printer interface card
  Emulates the Apple Super Serial Card, with the DIP switches pre-configured to support the ImageWriter II printer.
Super Serial card
  Emulates the Apple Super Serial Card (SSC). The emulation can work with real serial devices connected to the Mac, or can communicate with other applications via Unix named pipes.
  Note that the SCC was also able to emulate the older "Serial Interface card", but Virtual ][ does not support this option.
Mouse card
  Emulates the AppleMouse // card.
Epson FX-80 printer
  Emulates all Epson FX-80 features except printing proportional characters. The output can be saved to a pdf file for further processing.
ImageWriter II printer
  Emulates all ImageWriter II features except printing proportional characters and selecting print quality. The output can be saved to a pdf file for further processing.
"Text only" printer
  Writes to an ASCII text file in append mode.
AppleClock card
  Emulates the Mountain Computer AppleClock. Is not compatible with the Apple //e.
Thunderclock card
  Emulates the Thunderware Thunderclock Plus.
No-slot clock
  Emulates the Dallas Phantom DS1216 SmartWatch/ROM Real-Time Clock.
SCSI card
  Can only be used with the ProDOS software interface for block devices. Does not actually support the SCSI standard and has no documented I/O addresses. Is designed to work with the OmniDisk emulated drive.
ProDOS disk drive ("OmniDisk")
  Emulates an imaginary disk drive able to work with ProDOS disk images of any size up to 32MB. The disk image formats supported are "hdv" and "2img".
Disk ][ card
  Emulates the Apple Disk ][ card for DOS 3.3 (16 sectors per track).
Disk ][ drive
  Supports up to 80 tracks (including half-tracks). Diskettes are implemented as disk image files or mounted Macintosh folders. Supports sector formats as well as nibble formats. Supports reading, writing and write protection.
Mockingboard card
  Emulates the type "A" (a.k.a. "Sound II") Mockingboard card, which means it contains two sound chips able to produce 6 simultaneous sound channels. It does not support the speech chip.
Z80 card
  Emulates the Zilog Z80A processor at a clock speed of either 2 MHz or 4 MHz (configurable).
Timing
  Timing of all instructions is as specified in the Synertec 6502 Programming Manual. The internal clock runs with an average speed of 1.023 MHz. This means that not every individual instruction is accurately timed; however the average timing is accurate when measured over longer time intervals.

###

Unsupported features

Not all Apple ][ hardware features are supported, and some things work slightly different.

- The Mountain Computer AppleClock emulation does not support setting the current time. It adjusts itself automatically according to the Macintosh system clock.
- The emulated Z80 processor does not implement the IN and OUT instructions, and does not implement interrupt handling. These are not severe limitations, because I/O is memory-mapped on the Apple ][, and because all interrupts generated by the virtual machine are supposed to be handled by the 6502 processor.
- The emulated matrix printers do not support proportional characters.
- The Super Serial card does not support emulation of the P8 and P8A versions of the Apple II Serial Interface card (SIC).
- The C040 strobe on the Game I/O connector is not supported, and will never be. According to Apple's documentation, this 5 volts line can be dropped to zero volts by an application, for the duration of one-half microsecond. Such a short event cannot be accurately emulated.

###

Why did I create this application?

I bought my first computer, an Apple ][ "europlus", in early 1982. It had 48 KB of RAM, a monochrome green monitor, and one Disk ][ drive. It was really expensive, but I never regretted the purchase. On the contrary: during the years I used the machine, from 1982 to 1986, it gave me enormous amounts of fun, and in the end it was worth every penny I paid for it. During that period, I purchased numerous add-on peripheral cards, such as the 16K RAM card, a Z80 card, an 80-column card, clock card, and a PAL TV card. The latter allowed me to finally see, on my TV screen, the colors the Apple ][ produced. I thoroughly enjoyed writing programs for the Apple ][, while discovering how everything worked inside the computer.
In 1986 I bought my first Mac, and soon after the Apple ][ was moved to the basement. Ten years later, around 1996, I discovered that a number of very good Apple ][ emulators were available for the Mac, such as Stop The Madness (STM) and Catakig. One weekend, I got the Apple ][ from the basement, set it up on my desk, and to my surprise everything still worked without a problem. I connected the Apple ][ to the Mac with a serial cable, and wrote software on both machines to convert my collection of floppy disks to disk images on the Mac. Again to my surprise, all disks could be read without a problem despite their ten years in the basement. In the end, I managed to convert all my disks, even the "copy protected" ones, like Bag of Tricks and Visicalc.
The purpose of this was just to enjoy the nostalgia and relive the magical early days of the home computer era.

When I switched to Mac OS X in early 2002, I was a bit disappointed that none of my favorite Apple ][ emulators were available in the new OS, and took the first steps to write one myself. It seemed like a challenging and fun project, and it has been ever since.

While developing Virtual ][, the more than 20 years old Apple ][ again played an important role. I used it for almost all of the pictures in the application, and it was instrumental for comparing the behavior of the emulator with "the real thing".

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