Re: Transwarp upgrades

[NoSpam@Prodigy.Net (Andy)]

On 18 May 2001 02:45:30 GMT, Ben Zotto <zotto.NO@SPAM.fas.harvard.edu>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>For those that may recall my trials with my TWGS, the upshot is that
>it now works, in a new motherboard.  Go figure. (Thanks to all for the
>help).
>
>So NOW, I'd like to
>get it going a little speedier than it is.  Currently, the oscillator
>is at 25Mhz, which is nice but only doubles or so the overall GS speed.
>
>I don't have access to an EPROM burner so doing a homegrown firmware
>upgrade to v1.8 is impractical (and thus disallows Tony Diaz' 64kb
>cache upgrade which would be nice, but...)
>
>So I'd like to do something with it, and it seems a straight speed
>upgrade is best.  (Opinions on this welcome).  I figure without
>getting a new chip from WDC I can probably try a 32Mhz oscillator
>or even a 36Mhz one?  Can anyone offer an opinion on this, or
>tell me where a good place to find such oscillators is?  My local
>Radio Shack doesn't carry them, and most places online seem to
>sell them in bulk.
>
>Thanks!
>Ben

Hello Ben, I have a Transwarp GS with a 28.32Mhz crystal with the new
Western Digital chip and that's about as fast as I can get it to go.
I have played around with a couple TWGS and ZipGS boards (all with the
new WD chip) and it looks like the cache RAM speed is the limiting
factor.  I have tried 32Mhz and 50Mhz crystal oscillators in all the
boards with no luck.  I was rather dissapointed after I purchased the
WD chips and still couldn't get it to go faster (your mileage may
vary).  Next on my list is to build an Eprom programmer and try the
TWGS cache upgrade.  If you are interested, plans for a DIY programmer
can be found at..."http://home.quicknet.com.au/andrewm/eprom1/";
designed by Andrew J McCubbin (no relation), but it looks like it
would work.  Also,  you can purchase Crystal Oscillators from JDR
Microdevices, Jameco or Digi-Key (they have the best selection).  Go
to Rubywand's site for the addresses...
"http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs3VENDORS.html";
Make sure you read the CSA2 FAQs before you order crystals to get the
right size crystal oscillator.

Good luck!

>>> Andy