Re: IIgs newbie question(s)

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

jruschme@exit109.com (John Ruschmeyer) wrote:

>>     If yours will fit, then, yes, if you put it in Slot 4 and set the Slot
to
>>"Your Card" you give up the mouse as long as the card is in use. Also, it
seems
>>that you would need to set IIgs Speed to "Normal" (slow) speed.
>
>Okay. Out of curiousity, where does one usually put a coprocessor card in a 
>IIgs (i.e., what slot?)?

They can go into any slot except slot 3 and the memory
expansion slot.  The PC Transporter (provides an IBM XT
processor at "Turbo XT" speed for a hardware/software
IBM XT emulator) for example I've used in several different
slots.

>Do we all keep turning slots on and off, depending
>on what we're running at the time?

No.  Some cards, especially IIGS specific cards, do
not require that you switch a slot to "Your Card."  This
means that for these cards, you get to use your slot
and keep your built in function.  Sound cards and
accelerator cards work this way as do most video
cards.  The Second Sight card for example.  You
can plug a Second Sight into any slot on a ROM 3
IIGS and you do not have to set the slot to "Your
Card."  Same thing with the Visionary GS frame
grabber card.

On the flip side, it is often possible to switch a slot
to "Your Card" and still keep the built in function.
On a ROM 3 IIGS, you can plug a card into slot 4,
set the slot to "Your Card" and keep using your
mouse.

Under both a ROM 01 and a ROM 3, you can plug a
card into slot 2 and set that slot to "Your Card"
without losing the modem port in most terminal
programs (ProTERM 3.1, for example).

Finally, under System 6.0.1, you can have a card in
slot 5, set that slot to "Your Card" and still keep your
built in slot 5 RAM disk.

>Okay, I admit it, I'm confused. Any good tutorials on the use of slots in
>a IIgs?

Nothing to be confused about.  The following rules are
all you need to know:

1.  For IIGS cards that say they don't need the slot set
to "Your Card" (Second Sight, sound cards, accelerator
cards, Visionary GS card come to mind), just plug in
the card and DO NOT set the slot to "Your Card."  You
do not lose the built in function associated with the slot.

2.  For IIe cards, you plug the card into a slot, set the
slot to "Your Card" and usually lose the built in function
associated with the slot.  The exceptions are as follows.
You usually never lose the modem port even with the
slot set to "Your Card" because most IIGS aware comm
software such as ProTERM 3.1 will access the modem
port regardless of the slot setting.  On a ROM 3 IIGS,
you do not lose the mouse if slot 4 is set to "Your Card."
Under System 6.0.1, you do not lose the RAM disk if
slot 5 is set to "Your Card."

So, if you have a choice between IIe card and IIGS card
(for example, a IIe Phasor sound card versus a IIGS
Sonic Blaster sound card), choose the IIGS one
because it works without the slot set to "Your Card" so
that you'll never have to give up the built in function of
the slot.  If you must use a IIe card, the first choice is
slot 2 because most software can still see the modem
port with slot 2 set to "Your Card" so you keep the
built in function.  If you have System 6.0.1, slot 5 is
the second choice, especially if the card you are
plugging in is an enhanced 3.5 disk controller (Blue
Disk or SuperDrive card) because you keep the RAM
disk.  However, if you have a ROM 3, slot 4 suddenly
is the first slot you'd choose because you don't lose
the mouse if you set this slot to "Your Card."