Re: A few (more) IIgs questions.

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Labelas Enoreth writes ...
> 
> Ok, let's see...
> Just got a Transwarp GS. Worked fine in the disgustingly dirty IIgs I
> pulled it from, but when placed in my IIgs, (along with a few other
> cards), nothing. I get that sort of staggery checkerboard screen. (CPU
> problem?)
> Cards are
> Slot 4:PCT (inactive)
> Slot 5:TWGS
> Slot 7:Apple HS SCSI
> Mem: GS-RAM III (also from dirty IIgs)
 ....

     You have a fairly loaded system. The "staggery checkerboard screen" sounds
like low voltage at the motherboard possibly combined with voltage spikes.
Either condition could lead to this sort of crash.

     The Buggy Power Supply suggested by Supertimer has a good reputation for
curing such problems. An alternative is to beef up your current power supply's
leads. Especially on a ROM-01 IIgs, you may also need to add power jumpers for
a couple Slots on the bottom side to the motherboard.

     For more about the jumpers and power supply mods see
http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2POWER.html .

 
 
> GS-RAM vs GS-RAM III. GS-RAM is bigger and more...special, looking...but
> GS-RAM III has more memory in it? I can't tell for sure because it uses
> those wierd SIP chips. Has...4mb of ram? or is that mB? But it's so
> tiny....?

     Yes, it is. When reviewing the board for Computist I checked around and
discovered that even other 4MB card makers regarded it very highly. (As
Supertimer mentions, it places a relatively light load on your power supply.) 
Of course, it was also pretty pricey.

     If you get the board with all 4MB installed (i.e. do not have to hunt for
the RAM chips), the AE GS-RAM III is probably the best IIgs 4MB expansion
memory card ever produced.

 ....
> 
> ECHO Commander. What is the DIN...uh, 5...plug for?

     Don't know. If it is the _only_ connector, it is likely to be for speaker
or hi-fi output. If there are other connectors to handle sound output, the
5-pin socket may be a serial I/O for connecting to a modem.

     One clue would be the numbers on the major IC's on the board.



Rubywand