Re: A wishful thought?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Jeff Blakeney writes ...
> 
> On Sat, 04 Dec 1999 22:23:40 GMT, mystix@direct.ca@direct.ca wrote:
>> 
I was wondering about the possibility of someone developing a IIGS on a card,
preferably with a PCI interface that will allow operation on a Mac or PC. For
that matter an external connector for a small box to allow for the usage of
original Apple cards like the Apple Video Overlay card etc. Perhaps even
connections for Apple floppy drives, built in support for the 14MHz chip
would be other features I'd like to see.
<<
> 
> Personally, if I were going to go through the bother of creating a
> hardware IIgs compatible that got around the problems of parts being
> owned solely by Apple, I'd create a new computer completely.  Not only
> would it do everything a real IIgs can do but I'd expand it to give it
> a faster processor, more RAM, more ROM, better sound and video and
> probably make expanded slots (maybe like the 8 bit/16 bit type ISA
> slots in the PC) that can be accessed at more that 1 MHz.
>

     This seems like the best approach for getting a long-term solution for
bottlenecks on Speed, RAM size, Sound, and Video. One difference is that I
would begin with an Expansion Box which could add 'New GS' features to current
machines.

     The New GS Expansion would use the current GS as a front end. This would
allow continuing to run current software while software designed to use the
expansion is developed and old software is converted.

     A high-performance expansion would be easier to develop and produce than a
complete computer-- an Apple II club could do it-- and much cheaper.
Eventually, a new front end could be developed so that it would not be
necessary to depend upon a supply of used GS's.

     One of the main issues in any new design is target performance: How much
improvement is enough? Supposedly, we can get 20MHz 65C816's. Running at full
speed, this upgrade would be twice as fast as current machines using pushed
accelerator cards; and, using 16MB super banks, we could have as much memory as
we want. The biggest improvements would come with having a new chance to add
SVGA video and expanded audio.


 
> This type of thing would work much better as a stand alone computer
> rather than as a card for a PC.
 ....

     A card plugged into a PC could include ports to support Apple II 5.25" and
3.5" drives; so, as with Trackstar, you could have a pretty nice IIgs using the
PC plug-in approach.

     On the other hand, you would need to have a way to take control of the PC
bus to use Video and Sound boards (or Video and Audio would need to be built
onto the GS card).

     Development and production would, certainly, be more difficult than for a
GS expansion box. With no Slots on the GS card, a lot of complicated custom
circuitry would need to be completed 'all at once' along with at least beta
versions of GS and PC firmware/software. It is not a project a group of users
would be likely to tackle and the final price would have to exceed the
expansion box approach.

     Mainly, though, if you're willing to settle for a IIgs in a PC, you might
as well use a IIgs emulator and wait for someone to develop a plug-in to attach
your 5.25" and 3.5" drives.


> 
> I also don't much like having to share the PC with a IIgs whether it
> be emulated in hardware or software.  I much prefer using a separate
> machine.
 ....

     And, really, I do not much like the idea of depending upon PC hardware for
IIgs performance. We may start with 'just' a 20MHz expansion upgrade; but, as
long as hardware development is under our control, we can move up to faster
chips (or RISC) and, eventually, surpass other platforms.




Rubywand