Re: New motherboard for IIGS case

["Don Pattee \(MSFT\)" <t-donpat@microsoft.com>]

Actually, since it has a USB port, you could very well use your GS keyboard
and mouse. There is a USB->ADB adaptor called the iMate by Griffin
Technologies. It was designed to let iMacs use Apple Extended Keyboard and
dongles and trackpads, etc.... I am using it to use my compact GS keyboard
on an old powermac that I use for a gateway, but more appropriate to this
line of talk... I am using another one to connect an old Apple Adjustable
Keyboard (the hinged butterfly keyboard) on a Windows 2000 system!

Don Pattee


"Rubywand" <rubywand@swbell.net> wrote in message
392AF2C7.7AF60E31@swbell.net">news:392AF2C7.7AF60E31@swbell.net...
> Supertimer writes ...
> >
> > Diehard IIGS hardware fans stick to the hardware because
> > they want the real IIGS unit and access to their Apple
> > format hard drives and components.  Emulator fans feel
> > that since there is no new motherboard in the making,
> > emulation is the way to go.
>
>      Don't know whether or not there is a new motherboard "in the making";
but,
> there is some work being done on planning-- e.g. checking IC's which might
be
> used, basic system sketching, etc..
>
>
> > But what if you combine both?
> >
> > http://www.friendtech.com/ FriendTech has an interesting
> > ISA card called the Renaissance AT.  Plug this card into
> > a PC, even as lowly as an IBM XT, and it instantly will
> > transform that old computer into a K6-2 550 or K6-III 550
> > depending on the CPU installed.  The secret?  This card
> > is really a motherboard in the formfactor of an ISA card.
> > You actually disconnect the power supply, drive, front
> > panel LED, input, printer, video, and sound connectors
> > from the old motherboard and plug them into this card.
> > The old motherboard will then be nothing but a holder for
> > the Renaissance AT.
> >
> > So what does this have to do with the Apple IIGS?  Two
> > things.  According to the documentation of the
> > Renaissance AT card, you do not actually need to
> > mount it in an ISA slot.  In fact, you can mount it
> > anywhere.  Unlike most PC motherboards, this ISA card
> > will easily fit in a IIGS case.  Second, a 550Mhz K6-2
> > (or K6-III) provides a hefty dose of emulation power.
> > The K6-III is preferable because, especially with an
> > emulator, the 256k of full speed (550Mhz on a 550Mhz
> > chip) L2 cache would speed up everything, but the
> > card itself does have 512k of pipeline-burst cache
> > on a 100Mhz bus if the K6-2 is used instead.
> >
> > The Renaissance AT card provides two USB ports for
> > expansion purposes and here too is a great opportunity
> > to make this card a new IIGS motherboard because
> > there are USB to SCSI interfaces available so you
> > can literally move your IIGS hard drive to this card and
> > access them through an emulator.
> >
> > Wait a minute, access a ProDOS/HFS hard drive
> > through a PC based IIGS emulator?  How, you ask?
> > Simple.  Step away from Windows for a moment and
> > look to Linux or BeOS.  Both KEGS (for Linux) and
> > Bernie (for BeOS) IIGS emulators provide hard access
> > to storage devices so you can literally plug in your
> > IIGS SCSI hard drive and go.
> >
> > USB also lets you use the new Apple keyboards and
> > mice with your new IIGS so the entire new computer
> > will maintain the Apple look.  One of those iMac USB
> > floppy drives will complete the look.  Since KEGS
> > and Bernie can both format 1.44MB ProDOS and HFS
> > disks through GS/OS, you can exchange floppies
> > with high density capable IIGS users.
> >
> > The card has some other nice features like AGP 3D
> > accelerated graphics and 3D sound.  It takes
> > standard PC100 memory.  With 64MB on board and
> > a 550Mhz processor, you can even emulate a 68k
> > Mac and run MacOS using the notebook version of
> > the Gemulator program.  Think of it as the link Apple
> > never provided.
> >
> > The beauty of this setup is that you can mount the
> > ports with the ribbon cables included in the package
> > in the cutouts at the rear of the IIGS case and wire
> > the IIGS power supply to power the card.  Because
> > the Renaissance AT does not have slots of its own,
> > the IIGS power supply (at least the ROM 3 version)
> > should be enough for the card.
>  ....
>
>      A K6? Not likely. You would have to connect one of Steve Buggie's
surplus
> PC power supplies.
>
>
> >
> > Where else can you find a motherboard with these
> > features and this formfactor capable of fitting into
> > a genuine IIGS case and connecting to genuine
> > Apple keyboards, mice, and IIGS SCSI hard drives?
>
>      You are not using an Apple IIgs keyboard and mouse; and, you can not
plug
> in Apple II diskette drives. Stuffing the board into a IIgs case does not
> change very much. Basically, you have a PC running a IIgs emulator.
>
>      If there were a sanely priced K6 PC card designed to emulate a IIgs--
i.e.
> with 65C816 emu in firmware plus an A2 disk drive port to handle 5.25" and
3.5"
> drives and SVGA video output-- then, needing to use a PC KB, mouse,
joystick,
> power supply, and monitor would be no problem.
>
>
>
> Rubywand