Episode 14: Daniel Kottke, Diving into SOS.DRIVER, Misc., and Etc.

We begin 2016 discussing the “Driv3rs” python script with its author, Mike Whalen, some miscellaneous topics, and a phone interview with Daniel Kottke, from some years ago.

Mike Whalen’s Driv3rs script will take an SOS.DRIVER file and extract information about all of the drivers contained within, and we talk about using the script, finding drivers, the format of drivers within the SOS.DRIVER file, and other related things. Other miscellaneous topics include recapping power supplies, Apple /// prototyping boards, being foiled by copy protection, Monitor /// designs, the TRS-80 Models II and 4P, and probably other things.

Daniel Kottke is surely well known to anyone listening to this podcast, but he was an Apple technician in the very early days, working on the Apple /// project up until about when it shipped (then moving over to the Mac team). Daniel speaks with Mike in a phone interview from several years ago about various interesting features of the Apple /// and its development, and the general atmosphere within Apple before its launch.

Within the episode, various links were promised for the show notes, and they are as follows:

• Driv3rs python script on github
• Ivan Drucker’s cppo script to extract files from disk images. In python, supports DOS 3.3, ProDOS, SOS, DOS-ordered and ProDOS-ordered images, and can extract one file or all of them to the local filesystem.
• Apple /// SOS Device Driver Writer’s Guide
• Apple /// power supply recapping and repair video
• InfoWorld April 2, 1984 Keystroke Database and Report Generator reviews
• InfoWorld May 28, 1984 response to Keystroke review from a reader (not actually from Brock itself)
• Videx Ultraterm Apple /// support notice
• On Three v7n11-12, including ad for Draw On /// with Graphics Tablet support. (On page 5, $20 extra at the end of 1990.)
• Titan /// + //e users guide. Mentions using 65C02 in conjunction with Titan cards on page 4-7.
• Dave Ottalini reports notes from Bob Consorti about using the 65802 in the Apple /// in The Best of Ottalini #8.