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a2chat OpenAI chat client initial release

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@eositis eositis released this 11 Sep 21:51
· 9 commits to main since this release
a2chat_v1.0
8e35fce

A2CHAT

Native ProDOS 8 chat client for an enhanced Apple IIe or Apple IIc with Uthernet II (WIZnet W5100). It talks HTTP directly to Ollama on the LAN, streams replies in 80-column text, and can save notes or listings onto a ProDOS volume.

Using it on the Apple: see USERGUIDE.md (hardware, disk install, config, commands, saving files, troubleshooting).

This file is the build and developer overview.

Hardware

  • IIe: Uthernet II in any slot. Auto-scan tries slot 3 first, then 1–7. Accelerators often move the card off slot 3 — set SLOT= in config if probe is wrong.
  • IIc / IIc+: requires MegaFlash, which exposes Uthernet II in slot 4. Auto-scan tries 4 first. A stock IIc without MegaFlash cannot run the network path.
  • 65C02, 80-column firmware, ProDOS 8. 128K recommended.

Build

Needs cc65 (cl65 on your PATH) and the local IP65 tree:

IP65=/Users/eositis/Documents/GitHub/ip65

cd a2chat
make

That builds IP65’s ip65_tcp.lib + ip65_apple2_uther2.lib if needed, then a2chat.bin and copies cc65 loader.system to A2CHAT.SYSTEM. HTTP uses the same software TCP path as telnet65 (tcp_connect / ip65_process), not wget65’s W5100 on-chip TCP.

Host-side parser tests (no Apple II required):

make host-test

Copy onto a ProDOS disk (or make disk with Java + AppleCommander):

cd a2chat
make disk

That writes a2chat.po, a bootable 140K ProDOS volume /A2CHAT/ with PRODOS, A2CHAT.SYSTEM (cc65 loader), A2CHAT (BIN at $0803), and A2CHAT.CFG. With no BASIC.SYSTEM, ProDOS starts A2CHAT.SYSTEM on boot.

Manual AppleCommander layout (wget65-style):

  • A2CHAT.SYSTEM — SYS loader
  • A2CHAT — BIN (-as AppleSingle from a2chat.bin)
  • A2CHAT.CFG — TXT

Ollama

Ollama must listen on the LAN, not only localhost:

export OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434

then restart Ollama. HOST= in A2CHAT.CFG is the Mac/PC dotted IPv4 (v1 has no DNS unless AppleWin’s virtual W5100 DNS offload is present). Pull a model, e.g. ollama pull llama3.1.

Config (A2CHAT.CFG)

Key Meaning
HOST Ollama IPv4
PORT default 11434
MODEL model name
SLOT 0 = auto; 4 MegaFlash IIc; 3 typical IIe
IP / GATEWAY / NETMASK empty = DHCP (IP65); filled = static
PREFIX data directory for A2CHAT.BOD / .PAY / .LOG and default for /cat and tools (e.g. /A2.DESKTOP/A2CHAT). Empty = folder the program was launched from.
MAXHIST bytes of log spliced into each POST
MAXREAD / MAXWRITE tool I/O caps
HISTCAP compact A2CHAT.LOG when larger

Disk is slow (~11 KB/s write, ~22 KB/s read on a 32 MB volume). Chat I/O stays under ~10 s; /save and /read of large files may take longer (Saving...).

Emulators

  • AppleWin emulates Uthernet II (used by IP65 wget65).
  • Virtual ][ on macOS can attach Uthernet II.

Use a static IP= on the same subnet as the emulator NIC if DHCP is awkward.

License notes

Link against your local IP65 tree rather than a random snapshot. src/w5100.c / w5100.h are unused copies of Oliver Schmidt’s wget65 HAL (kept for reference).

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