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Menus

GSSquared provides a top menu bar appropriate to your platform: a native menu bar on macOS, an in-window menu bar on Windows, Linux and Web.

Saving a machine configuration is done from the config editor (Save / Save As), not from the File menu. To launch a saved .gs2, .gs2pack, or … Settings.txt without editing it, use File → Launch Config… or a System Select tile. A pack is a config plus its disk images; see GS2 Packs.

On Linux, several File items appear only when they apply: Launch Config… and Quit at System Select; Drives, Mount Drivers, Save to Collection, Save Screenshot, and Close Emulation while a machine is running.

File

  • Launch Config… (only when the machine is off)
  • New Disk Image
    • 5.25 Unformatted
    • 5.25 Formatted DOS 3.3
    • 5.25 Formatted ProDOS
    • 3.5 Formatted ProDOS
    • 32M HD Unformatted
    • 32M HD Formatted ProDOS
  • Drives (only when a machine is running)
    • Slot 6, Drive 1 — …
    • Slot 6, Drive 2 — …
    • (one item per mounted or empty drive)
  • Mount Drivers
  • Save to Collection
  • Save Screenshot
  • Close Emulation (when a machine is running)
  • Quit

Launch Config… picks a .gs2, a .gs2pack, or … Settings.txt and boots it immediately (System Select only). See Selecting a System and GS2 Packs.

New Disk Image opens a save dialog and writes a blank image to the chosen path. It does not mount the file — use File → Drives, the Control Panel, or drag-and-drop afterwards. Floppy types copy a shipped .woz template; 32M HD Unformatted creates a 32M file of zeros (.hdv), and 32M HD Formatted ProDOS creates the same file with an empty ProDOS volume already on it. Available whether or not a machine is running. See Blank Disk Images.

Drives is a dynamic per-drive list. Choose a drive to mount or unmount an image the same way as the Control Panel. See Storage.

Mount Drivers is a checkable item that mounts or unmounts the built-in /GS2.DRIVERS volume on BazFast (write-protected). Grayed out when BazFast is not in the current machine. The installer on that disk has options to install Host FST, Marinetti, and Uthernet II. See Host FST and Uthernet II.

Save to Collection rewrites the running .gs2pack and uploads that file to arQyv. It is available only while a Collection title that can be saved is running. The machine keeps running. See Arqyv Integration.

Save Screenshot writes the current display (with borders) to a PNG on your Desktop, named like GS2 Screenshot YYYY-MM-DD HH.MM.SS.png. Shortcut: Shift+PrintScreen. Only one screenshot write can be in progress at a time.

Close Emulation powers off the virtual machine and returns to System Select. On Windows, Quit is grayed out while a machine is running — use Close Emulation first. On macOS and Linux, Quit is available in both states. Dirty floppy images prompt to save or discard unless you launched with --no-quit-confirm.

Quit exits the application.

Edit

  • Copy Screen
  • Paste Text

Copy Screen copies the current display - with borders - into your computer's copy/paste buffer, where you can easily paste it into documents, Slack, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Shortcut: PrintScreen.

Paste Text pastes text from your computer’s clipboard into the emulated Apple, as if you were typing it. Works on II / IIe and on IIgs ADB: characters are injected one per frame so the guest can keep up. Shortcut: Shift+Insert. Reset or a keyboard flush aborts an in-progress paste.

Machine

  • Reset
  • Restart
  • Pause / Resume
  • Capture Mouse

Reset issues a Ctrl-RESET to the Apple. Restart issues a Ctrl-OA-RESET to the Apple (also works on II+, even though a real II+ has no Open-Apple on the game port). Pause / Resume will pause the emulator, and then resume it. Capture Mouse - see Using a Mouse

Settings

  • Speed
    • 1.0 MHz
    • 2.8 MHz
    • 7.1 MHz
    • 14.3 MHz
  • Game Controller
    • Joystick - Gamepad
    • Joystick - Mouse
    • Sirius / Atari Joyport
    • Joyport Controller Select
    • Left
    • Center
    • Right
    • Disconnected When No Gamepad
  • Apple Keys
    • Command = Open Apple
    • Alt = Open Apple
    • Left Option = Open Apple
  • Sleep / Busy Wait
  • Mono Helper
  • Right Mouse Button Accelerate

Speed sets the host CPU throttle. Ludicrous / Unlimited (video still runs at about 1 MHz so speaker, Ensoniq, and disks keep working) is not in this submenu — use F9, the Control Panel speed row, or the hover speed button. See On-Screen Display and Command Line.

Joyport Controller Select emulates the physical Left / Center / Right switch on a Sirius Joyport. Center (default) lets software pick joystick 1 vs 2 with Annunciator 0. The submenu is available only in Joyport mode. See Joysticks.

Disconnected When No Gamepad — when checked, paddle/button lines float as if no joystick were plugged in. When unchecked (default), an absent gamepad still reports a centered stick so software like Total Replay keeps joystick titles visible. See Joysticks.

Apple Keys chooses the host keys for Open Apple and Closed Apple. Available whether or not a machine is running. See Using a Keyboard.

Sleep / Busy Wait — when checked, the emulator sleeps between frames instead of busy-waiting (lower host CPU). Same as the -s flag.

Mono Helper widens Mockingboard stereo (decorrelates the right channel) so it is easier to hear on a mono speaker or mixed-down recording. Available whether or not a machine is running. See Mockingboard.

Right Mouse Button Accelerate — hold the right mouse button to run at a faster CPU speed (same idea as the INS accelerate path). See Using a Mouse.

Drive seek/activity sounds play in stereo (drive 1 toward the left, drive 2 toward the right). On the IIgs, Ensoniq DOC output is stereo when the guest software uses stereo; mono titles play on both speakers. There is no Sound menu and no user master-volume or FX on/off toggle.

Display

  • Monitor
    • Composite
    • GS RGB
    • Monochrome - Green
    • Monochrome - Amber
    • Monochrome - White
  • HUD
    • Stats
    • Drives
  • Full Screen
  • Second Sight Text
  • CRT Shader

HUD → Stats toggles the small performance/stats overlay (off by default).
HUD → Drives toggles the drive-activity strip at the bottom of the screen (on by default).
Both are useful when recording video and you want a clean picture. Preferences are remembered in app settings.

Second Sight Text (IIgs with a Second Sight card) renders Apple II 40/80-column text through the card’s VGA path. Grayed out if the current machine has no Second Sight. See Second Sight and Displays.
CRT Shader applies a GPU CRT effect. Shortcut: F7. Available on macOS, Windows, and Linux. See Displays.

Hover speed and display widgets appear automatically when the mouse is over the window and is not captured. There is no Hover Enable menu item. See On-Screen Display.

Debug

There is no Debug menu on the native menu bar. Open the debugger with F10 or the hover Debug button.

See Using the Debugger for the full guide (panes, monitor commands, breakpoints, video views, and workflows).

  • F10 or the hover Debug button — show/hide the debugger window
  • On exit, the instruction trace is saved automatically as gssquared-trace.bin in your documents folder

Menu items for Save Trace / Load Symbols / Save Symbols are planned; use monitor commands (sload, sclear, slookup) and the automatic trace save on quit for now.

Docs

  • Check For Updates
  • Online Documentation
  • Donate

Check For Updates opens the GitHub Releases page so you can download a newer package. Online Documentation opens the GSSquared user docs in your browser. Donate opens the project donation page.