In 1977 Mike Markkula, like many users, was unhappy with the time it took to load data from the cassette interface. He made it a company goal to develop a disk system for the Apple II. After studying the Shugart documentation Woz found that he could avoid much of the complex circuitry needed to control a disk head by doing more work in software. In addition, by doing the board layout himself, Woz was able to reduce chip count even further. »
Here is a video demoing Mike Willegal’s Brain Board. In the demo I load Blackjack for the Apple 1 from cassette. »
When I first restored my Rev 0 Apple II, I used DRAM chips from an Apple II plus. While this worked fine, I wanted something a little more authentic to the machine. I was looking at Geoff Harrison’s Apple II #97 and noticed some nice NEC uPD416’s so I pick up a set and put them in. »
This week I received a beta Brain Board from Mike Willegal. This board came with the Wozanium pack which will cause an Apple II to function like an Apple 1. This a great way to get the Apple 1 experience without having to build a replica. The assembly took me about 40 minutes and it works great! »
I’ve added a ROM card to my Apple II containing Applesoft ROMs. Thanks a bunch to Mike Willegal for suppling the card. »