New to Apple II gaming. Need help getting started

[Reic-3]

Hello everyone, 

I just dug out my Apple II.  (Plain old II, nothing else)

got the floppy drives hooked up and got one game running from an old disk, so the system does work.  But I’m trying to get it to load cassette games from the online Apple II game site.  

I hooked my phone to the audio jack, typed ‘load’ and hit return.  I played the file with my volume cranked up all the way and got ‘errerr’

I tried all 4 sound file options but no luck.  

I’m a complete newbie at this and really want to get this running. 

Is there some compatibility issue?  I know most people use a IIe which I do not have.  

Any help is appreciated. 

Thank you 

 

[olePigeon]

I use a //e, but I've only ever used floppies.  Never used a plain old ][.  There're couple of people on here I'm sure who can help.

One thing you could try to do to troubleshoot would be to use ADTPro see if you can bootstrap your Apple II over the cassette port.  That would at least eliminate whether or not your Apple II's cassette port is working.

 

[olePigeon]

Also, I assume you're using a website like this one:  http://asciiexpress.net/gameserver/

If not that one specifically, you could give it a go.  It has different fidelities for the game tracks.  Try fiddling with those options.

 

[olePigeon]

Also, the ADTPro website has a lot of good troubleshooting tips for loading over cassette.

It says in regards to your error: 

Note: If instead the Apple says "ERR" or never returns you to a prompt, either the Apple isn't hearing anything at all (check the audio cable) or it isn't hearing things loudly enough. Make sure your sound volume is set at 50% of maximum and try again. Hit Ctrl-Reset on the Apple to regain control and start again at step 4 above.

 

[bibilit]

Worked once for me:





Have tested again a couple of times, but didn't worked properly, only could get "ERR"

When it worked, i used the Lofi file, not the Hifi, volume cranked at 90 %.

I am using the Nishida SDidk II whenever required, far easier to use than anything else.
 

 

[Gorgonops]

I don't use the direct game server but I've had pretty good luck using the A2 Disk Server audio files with my Apple II Plus, which is (essentially) the same computer as an original II. (Has your II been upgraded with a language card and Applesoft, or is it still a literal II with 48k and Integer Basic only? An Apple II with those upgrades is for all practical purposes a Plus other than *probably* having an older mainboard revision.) My only observation is at least with my machine the volume really does matter. Creating disks generally works fine when I played the audio from a Samsung phone but I remember it *not* working well trying to do it from a MacBook. (I had similar problems trying to use the MacBook to play cassette audio into a Tandy Color Computer, actually.) It might be worth trying from a different device.

 

[Dog Cow]

I hooked my phone to the audio jack, typed ‘load’ and hit return.  I played the file with my volume cranked up all the way and got ‘errerr’

It's the volume which needs to be adjusted. It can be difficult to load cassettes even from a real tape player until you finally discover the perfect setting for volume. It's a trial and error process.

 

[Reic-3]

I’ve tried different games and different volume settings. Got nothing.  I’m getting a little frustrated.  

Thats a picture of my Apple II.  It does have the language card.  

 

[Dog Cow]

I’ve tried different games and different volume settings. Got nothing.  I’m getting a little frustrated.  

It is frustrating, I can tell you! Which is why everyone was so happy to switch over to floppy disks in 1978 and they never went back to cassettes!

 

[Gorgonops]

Have you tried a different device to play the audio through? It's possible the phone you've been trying with just doesn't go loud enough or doesn't have a clean enough signal.

 

[olePigeon]

@Gorgonops@Reic-3 That's why I suggested using ADTPro over cassette.  You have better control over the audio on the computer.  It would rule out a bad cassette input on the Apple ][.

Edit:  Or rule out bad audio cable.  Easier to troubleshoot.