Re: Mouse card --- Can EPROM go Bad?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Supertimer writes ...
> 
> Patrick Schaefer <pa.schaefer@fz-juelich.de> wrote:
> 
> >Usually EPROMs lose their information after 10..12 years.
> 
> That's just terrible.  I think the RamFAST uses an EPROM, so
> that would mean a RamFAST will be useless in 10-12 years.
> 
> Considering the longevity of the Apple II, the IIGS (which
> itself started life 10 years after the 8-bit Apple II) will still
> be around when the first RamFASTs start to die.  Then what?
> 
> I'm glad that the Apple High Speed SCSI card (I think)
> uses real ROMs.

     Yes, but, I'm fairly sure that some of these ROMs are no-window
versions of PROMs. Supposedly, they are programmed in the same way and
can forget, too. Other kinds of ROMs have more durable programming.

     It seems like a good idea to start archiving ROMs and PROMs used on
the Apple II motherboards and cards like RamFAST. (A prommer can read
the contents which can be stored on disk.)  When ROMs start to crater,
users could get a PROM replacement without a lot of hassle.


Rubywand