Re: Possible new hardware project

[Phoenyx <quazar@dcnet2000.com>]

Something like this might be possible with the mentioned Flash
ram. I have a laptop which supports a pcmcia Flash ram card of
either 4mb or 10mb. I never found out if there were larger ones.
These memory cards were also used in many of the earlier PC
portable cameras. The ram is designed to write for a limited
number of times (in the hundreds but I forget the exact number)
and read many. The laptop would use it as a DOS ramdisk and the
Flash would hold the image with only a small drain on the battery.
I'm trying to write this from memory (mine) :-) so I may be wrong
about the battery use but I remember it kept the disk image for
quite some time.

I would certainly be interested in an Apple card which could work
with this type of Flash Ram card. While the benefits of a ROM disk
are undeniable, I would rather have a hybrid  so I could create my
own boot system to match the computer.

This could also be useful for some of us with a IIe who need some
type of mass media but don't want to purchase a Focus drive or
deal with the hassles of SCSI. This would offer a reasonable size
for holding the ProDos 8 system and other utility programs they
feel might be needed.

I don't know how hard this would be in reality, as the laptop had
a few layers of software it had to load and the 'ram/rom' disk was
not used to boot from, at least on my setup.

If this method were possible, it would free the maker from having
to write ROM disks as he is doing now and concentrate on creating
the cards. The user could be responsible for supplying their own
Flash memory cards, thus reducing the cost of creating the rom
cards and hopefully making the whole project profitable. These
Flash ram cards should still be easy to find as they were pretty
abundant a few years ago.

Anyhow, a little food for thought.

-- 

Phoenyx

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