Re: zipgsx question

[a_specto@alcor.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

thomas@pathlink.com (thomas) wrote:

>hi - I've been reading about a utility for the zipgsx card but havn't
>been able to track it down for a download - what I'd like to do is to
>determine 'how' fast my zipgsx card is (if it's been modified/etc.)
>and how much cache it has - will this CDA/CDev/whatever give me that
>info?

    The utility disk that shipped with the ZipGS did this and more.
It included a CDA, a Control Panel and stand alone program. I 
always preferred Todd Whitesel's "Zippy" (came in two forms)
or better yet, my favorite, FTA's Super Zip graphical CDA. The
latter two can be found and downloaded online...

    Even without a utility, visually determining the speed of your
ZipGS is fairly trivial. Just look at the oscillator (a small silver
box) on the left corner of the board and take note of the mega-
hertz rating. Divide that number by 4, and that's the card's speed.
(i.e. a "32 MHz" oscillator would indicate 8 MHz operation).

    For cache if all four Tag/Data SRAM sockets are filled, you 
have either 16K or 64K. If only two are filled, then you have
either 8K or 32K. You'd have to examine the DIP settings or
read the chip part numbers to figure out which.

>also will it allow me to modify the settings on the card without
>setting any jumpers (for experimenting) - I read somewhere that you
>had to set up a jumper to improve appletalk performance.

    Yes, the card is configurable through software. The DIP switches
merely provide default settings (which the ZipGS checks) when you
power up the system. In otherwords software adjustments will be
forgotten after you power down the machine.

    There are 16 adjustable speed settings, 7 slot settings (fast or
slow), and 7 other adjustments which can be toggled on or off,
(including temporarily disabling the card) all through software. 
The DIP switches provide most of the same options (minus
teaked speed settings), plus a pair of switches for telling the 
card how much SRAM is installed.

Mitchell Spector
a_specto@alcor.concordia.ca