Re: Transwarp IIgs question

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article itsme <quantum@telis.org> writes...

>I have a transwarp gs.
>
>The piggyback board  (is this the cache??)  is labled 1989  5w85

    Yep, the little daughterboard holds the cache and ROM firmware,
it's removable if you want to upgrade either.

>The main card is copyright 1989
>
>A chip on the main board has label TwGS 2b-I

    The 2B-I GAL was for the DMA fix, other GALs were updated too if
you wanted to achieve higher speeds at one time, but are probably not
necessary with the latest 14 MHz 65C816 WDC sells (non-experimental).

>So, What speed is my Transwarp?

    Look at the little silver-colored tin oscillator in the corner,
it should have a megahertz rating marked on it. Divide that number by
four and that is the speed your TWGS is running at (i.e. 32/4 = 8 MHz,
25/4 = 6.25 MHz).

    Early boards ran at 6 MHz, later ones came as 7 or 8 MHz. Anything
beyond that is a user upgrade, I don't think AE ever sold boards faster
than 8 MHz.

>I don't have the Docs or software.

    You don't need software, the ROM firmware automatically installs a
CDA based control panel for configuring the TWGS. Just press access the
Classic Desk Accessory menu (Apple-Control-Esc) and it will be there.
You can disable/enable the board, AppleTalk IRQ's and that little sound
and animation fanfare when you flip-on the GS.

>How big is the Cache?

    There were two sizes: 8K and 32K. Go into the TWGS CDA I mention
above, it will report the cache size and speed. If you don't have it
installed yet, examine the daughterboard. If the chips are facing the
card (so all you see is the back of the PCB, and those scratchy bits)
then you have the 32K version. If you can see the chips and the ROM,
then you have the 8K version.

>Can this one be upgraded to the largest cache size,

    Upgrading the cache can be done to any TWGS, the hard part if finding
the daughterboard update. SHH Systems in Germany will build you one, but
the cost is kind of pricey.

    Speed depends on your particular board, some cards will reach high
speeds, others will not. My card doesn't even want to go beyond 6 MHz,
though it could be I need a faster 65C816 (I dropped in a 6 MHz rated
chip which I know runs fine at 8 MHz on a Zip GS). It reported an error
message and displayed a splash screen saying I should contact AE. :)

>and 20 mhz like I have read in the FAQ's???

    No Apple IIgs is running at 20 MHz, your thinking of that Commdore 64
accelerator that is 65C816 based. The fastest the TWGS speed I've heard
of is 14 MHz, though some people may have gotten theirs a megahertz or
two higher.

    My own Apple IIgs is running at 15 MHz with a Zip GS, and I know of a
few people who've managed to get theirs running at 16 MHz (the fastest a
IIgs has ever been run, as far as I know). The point still remains that
anything beyond 10-12 MHz will show little or no noticable difference, 
due to the GS's slow bus speed which bottlenecks acceleration.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca