Two panels. Your Apple II. Start with 48 KB.
Select on one side. Copy to the other.
From the essentials of DOS3.3 to a complete ProDOS workspace.
An Apple II+, 48 KB and two Disk II drives. One panel for each side of the job: choose a file, tag a few more, then copy them across and let A2FileCmd verify the result. Read text, inspect bytes, view a hi-res picture or edit a small note. Rename, lock and delete are a key away.
DOS3.3 is the product distilled: 40 columns, pure 6502 assembly, no ProDOS, 80-column card or plugins. Fresh POM2 capture of the 0.9.2 preparation build, also used on the manual's cover.
Copies refuse existing destination names, keep the source and read back what was written. The bottom bar shows the main keys; ? opens help. You do not need to learn the larger ProDOS toolbox to get started.
The same source-and-destination idea opens up in 80 columns. On an Apple IIe, //c or IIgs with 128 KB, browse folders, tag batches and keep your files beside the tools that work on them.
ProDOS XL, captured from the 0.9.2 preparation build in POM2. Capture details.
| You want to… | ProDOS gives you… |
|---|---|
| Organize a disk | Copy and move directory trees, tags, sorting, attributes, file comparison and a text editor. |
| Open old files | Text, hex, BASIC listings, AppleWorks documents and sheets; extract ShrinkIt, Binary II and other classic archives. |
| Browse a collection | HGR/DHGR and specialist picture viewers, fonts and shapes. Arrow through an album without returning to the panels. |
| Listen | Mockingboard MB1/PT3 playback, including Mockingboard 4c on //c; Electric Duet also plays through the speaker. |
| Work with disks | Browse images as folders, extract files, create/convert images, transfer DOS files, compare, format and check volumes. |
! opens tools by category. 800K and XL include the full toolbox; the 140K edition keeps essential file operations on one 5¼-inch disk. Mouse support is optional in the 65C02-enhanced-mouse XL edition. See the guide for supported formats and each tool's limits.
0.9.3 is the published release. No build is needed to use the release downloads.
| Your setup | Download from 0.9.3 |
|---|---|
| Apple II+ · 48 KB · two Disk II drives | DOS3.3 — standalone 40-column edition |
| ProDOS · one 5¼-inch program disk | 140K — essentials, 6502 |
| ProDOS · all tools without sample media | 800K — complete, 6502 |
| ProDOS · hard disk or emulator | XL — complete with demonstrations, 6502 |
| ProDOS · 65C02 and enhanced ROM | XL — enhanced 65C02, optional mouse |
All ProDOS editions require 128 KB and 80 columns. The 6502 editions also work on enhanced machines. Choose enhanced XL only when both the CPU and ROM qualify; a 65C02 upgrade alone is not enough. Mouse and Mockingboard hardware are optional. Each disk is self-contained: there are no category disks to juggle. DOS3.3 remains a separate program with its own commands.
- Boot the matching image. DOS3.3 can also start with
BRUN A2FC; ProDOS starts withA2FILE.SYSTEMfrom a selector. - Try the shared basics: TAB switches panels, arrows select, Return opens, Space tags, C copies and ? shows the edition's help.
- Use a spare disk for a first copy. In DOS3.3,
/selects the active panel's drive. In ProDOS,/lists volumes; open the destination opposite. - On XL, explore DEMO. Read
SAMPLE, open an HGR/DHGR picture, browseTINY.PO, or playCANON.EDthrough the speaker. Advanced tools are in !.
DOS3.3 and 140K are DOS-order .dsk; 800K is ProDOS-order .po; XL is .2mg.
Changing the extension does not convert a disk. To install ProDOS elsewhere,
keep A2FILE.SYSTEM and its complete A2FILE/ folder side by side, from the
same build. Copy the root RECOVER guide as well.
Check a downloaded image
Get SHA256SUMS-<version>.txt from the same release. Compare the output of
shasum -a 256 <image> on macOS with its entry. With every release image and
the PDF together, Linux can check the whole set:
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS-<version>.txtA2FileCmd checks copies, preserves originals during supported replacements, and names files left for recovery when an operation cannot finish. Read the result before retrying or removing a disk. Verification cannot make a physical metadata write atomic through a power cut.
Some ProDOS tools need auxiliary memory and can clear all files in /RAM. They ask before using it; save those files elsewhere first. Music playback preserves /RAM. DOS3.3 has no auxiliary-memory requirement; once a disk write starts, its keyboard cannot interrupt it.
The guide includes a practical incident recovery procedure: identify the temporary or backup, preserve a disk image, and recover from a duplicate to a fresh destination. Data-safety details explain the protections and remaining limits.
- Use it: manual, printable PDF, changes and roadmap.
- Explore DOS3.3: developer guide and measurements.
- Add a ProDOS tool: plugin SDK, with an example and build script.
- Test it: emulator benches and real-hardware checklist.
- Report a problem: open an issue with version, machine/emulator, disk format, exact message and reproduction steps.
With the cc65 toolchain installed:
make mini # standalone DOS3.3 binary
make # ProDOS program and overlays
make disk # all five distribution images
make test # host checksPrevious versions have been tried on real //c, enhanced and unenhanced IIe machines by the maintainer and testers, and in Virtual II and POM2. Current-release qualification is tracked separately; emulator results are not a physical-drive guarantee. Contributors must follow AGENTS.md: preserving data comes first.
Created by Arnaud Verhille (@habib256), under GNU GPL v3.
Inspired by A2Command, Ammonoid by Colin Leroy and Norton Commander.
Full attributions and reference links identify reused code,
formats and test material, including cc65, Hyper-FORMAT, Electric Duet,
CiderPress II and the PT3 player work.
ProDOS images include ProDOS 8 2.4.3; 800K and XL supply BASIC.SYSTEM, Apple software distributed for the community by John Brooks, and INTBASIC.SYSTEM by Joshua Bell. Generated demonstrations and third-party samples are distinguished in their source notices. The companion emulator POM2 is a separate project by the same author.