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TWGS
Might have wrong information. I was aiming at a good Replacement for the
complicated instructions in the *FAQ* Most of this information is
provided in
one way or another already, in other artciles or texts. I drew the ASCII
picture of the TWGS, and Cut and pasted some other information from CSA2.
All of the FAQ articles are in TEXT And that is why I have created this
article. I reccommend the HyperCard Stack about Upgrading the Transwarp,
because it has Alot more information, and a
Graphic picture of the TWGS (instead of TEXT) I TAKE NO CREDIT For the
Following Information. I tried to Include where I got all of the Info.
U U PPPPP GGGG RRRR A DDD IIIIIIIIII N
N GGGG
U U P P G R R A A D D I
NN N G
U U PPPP GGGG RRRR AAA D D I N N N
GGGG
U U P G G R R A A D D
I N N N G G
UUUU P GGGG R R A A DDD IIIIIIIIII
N N GGGG
TTTTTTTT W W W GGGGGGGG SSSSSSSS
TT W WW W GG SS
TT W W W W GGGGGGGG SSSSSSSS
TT W W GG GG
SS
TT W W GGGGGGGG
SSSSSSSS
Instructions on how to Speed up/Information about the TWGS Accelerator card
for the Apple IIgs UPGRADING a Transwarp Cards' speed is EASY. *2* parts
need to be replaced.
______________________________________________________
/ O ::::::::::::::::::::
| GALs | X X |
/ -------- _________________
|______ | X X |
/ |YYYY| | |
|
| |YYYY| | Cache |
_______________ |
| | Piggy Back |
| | |
| _________ |____ |
| GALs | GALs |
|_______|__________|__|______________|___ |_________|______|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
XX = Clock Oscillator, 1/2 size. The speed of the Accelerated
XX = Transwarp IIgs is equal to the Oscillator speed Divided by
4
YYYY = Fast Processor Chip. This is the CPU of the TWGS.
YYYY = It is a 65816 CPU and is Upgradeable to 10-15 MHZ
GALs = Chips you don't have to worry about.
Cache = You need at least ROM version 1.5 to go faster.
Piggy = This board Has the SRAM, and ROM. You can
Back = Upgrade the Cache on this board (32k maximum)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
WHAT YOU NEED TO UPGRADE:
1) Transwarp IIgs with ROM version 1.5 or greater (With the IIGS turned
on, press CONTROL-Apple-ESCAPE And go to the Transwarp CDA)
2) A high speed 65816 chip
3) A 1/2 size Clock Oscillator that is 4X the megahertz you want to your
TWGS to run.
_________________________________________________
| Digikey Part # | Clock Oscillator speed | TWGS speed |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------
-------------|
| CTX175-ND | 40 mhz | 10 mhz
|
| | 48 mhz |
12 mhz |
| | 60 mhz |
15 mhz |
|_____________|_____________________|______________|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can get the 65c816 -14 PLCC chip from the Western Design Center Their
URL is http://www.wdesignc.com/
You can buy 1/2 size Oscillators from Digikey. Their URL is
http://www.digikey.com/
You can also get these Oscillators from many Electronics suppliers.
Information about Upgrading the Cache on your Transwarp is near the end of
this document.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is cut from a post from CSA2 that was made by Scott G
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You really should update the out of date
info in your accelerator FAQ. I invite the original poster
of the question to point their web browser to:
http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple16/Hypermedia/Hypercard/
And download: TWGSupgrade.SHK (or TWGSupgrade.BSQ if you require
7-bit transfer).
Any 65C816 high speed chip manufactured today (and recently [years])
_does not_ require an upgrade to the GALs. Those were only
required with the old "Engineering" chips that WDC used to sell.
I've upgraded a TWGS card by just changing the half-size oscillator
in the corner. No GAL upgrade or ROM upgrade needed. The info
is in my Transwarp GS upgrade stack.
Also, again, your Zip GS upgrade info in the accelerator FAQ is
also in error. Not everyone needs to replace the gates there for
high speed operation. I did not need to for 13.75MHz. Matt
Portune's Zip _would not work_ WITH the replacement gates. And
my stack, ZipUpgrade.SHK and ZipUpgrade.BSQ from ground, also
shows where to get parts for upgrading without soldering the board.
Upgrading both accelerators is easy. Easier than the dated
accelerator FAQ makes it out to be.
-Scott G.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is cut from a post from CSA2 that was made by Rubywand
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes indeed. A 10MHz Transwarp GS I tested matches a 12.5MHz
Zip GS in most tasks.
....
I invite the original poster
of the question to point their web browser to:
http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple16/Hypermedia/Hypercard/
And download: TWGSupgrade.SHK (or TWGSupgrade.BSQ if you require
7-bit transfer).
Any 65C816 high speed chip manufactured today (and recently [years])
_DOES NOT_ require an upgrade to the GALs. Those were only
required with the old "Engineering" chips that WDC used to sell.
I've upgraded a TWGS card by just changing the half-size oscillator
in the corner. No GAL upgrade or ROM upgrade needed. The info
is in my Transwarp GS upgrade stack.
.... Not everyone needs to replace the gates there for
high speed operation. I did not need to for 13.75MHz. Matt
Portune's Zip _would not work_ WITH the replacement gates. And
my stack, ZipUpgrade.SHK and ZipUpgrade.BSQ from ground, also
shows where to get parts for upgrading without soldering the board.
Upgrading both accelerators is easy. ....
<<
Thanks for re-posting this info with the appropriate headlines--
pretty interesting stuff! (I had overlooked the original.) It seems
that Scott is becoming the IIgs Accelerators Guru.
Rubywand
SPEED COMPARISON OF 8K VS 32K CACHE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
The following is cut from an email from Joachim Lange of ///SHH Systeme, who
sells the 8-->32k upgrade board
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
The larger cache size gives you more speed without the need of increasing
the processor's clock frequency. The overall gain in speed is about 20..30
per cent, however the Finder feeling is a lot more "snappy".
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following is cut from a post from CSA2 that was made by Rubywand
---------------------------------------------------------------
John Link charted some comparisons in 1991 involving nine setups:
no-TWGS, and 7, 8, 9, 10mHz boards before and after the 8kB-to-32kB
cache upgrade. He used three benchmarks:
1. time to calculate page breaks in a 218-page Appleworks document
2. time to scroll through a 39-page Awks-GS document
3. time to compile 4800 lines of MD-BASIC source code
The chart shows that a 7mHz TWGS with the 32kB cache performs
slightly better than a 10mHz TWGS with 8kB cache on tests 1 and 3; it is
a bit slower on test 2.
For a 7mHz 8kB TWGS, the speed gain for the 32kB cache upgrade is
roughly 33% to nearly x2.5 plain GS speed.
For a 10mHz 8kB TWGS, the speed gain for the 32kB cache upgrade is
roughly 33% to about x3.25 plain GS speed.
One nice feature of upgrading cache is that you get a good
performance boost without the concerns usually assorted with a
significant increase in clock speed.
The AE cache upgrade kit was priced at $109 in 1991. Now that AE is
gone, the kit may be harder to find than a TWGS with the 32kB upgrade
installed.
As Scott G has noted, SHH Systeme, Germany sells 32kB cache upgrade
materials.
SHH Systeme, Germany ( http://users.ids.net/~kerwood/shh.html email:
jlange@tasha.muc.de )
The catch is that, according to information currently displayed at their
web site, you can get everything you need _except_ the v1.7 or v1.8 ROM.
Here is what they say ...
>>
Another important note
=======================
The TransWarp GS firmware version 1.5 that came with the TransWarp
8K version does not work with 32K cache boards. You absolutely need
v1.7 or v1.8 for 32K cache operation. Since the firmware is
copyrighted material, we cannot supply copies of the firmware. ....
<<
Of course, when it comes to such matters, one never knows for sure what
is available until the seller is contacted.
SHH does list several options ranging from a bare board through one
with everything installed except the v1.7 or v1.8 ROM. The info below is
from their web site:
==================================================================
Option A: Bare boards ("do-it-yourself")
==================================================================
What you get:
--------------
Two-layer piggyback boards for the TransWarp GS with solder resist,
ready for soldering all components. A sheet of paper with short but
reliable instructions how to assemble the board. NOTHING ELSE.
Heavy soldering required!
US $15 per board plus $14 shipping/handling
(six boards minimum, 22 boards maximum for this s/h fee).
==================================================================
Option B: Populated boards, without semiconductors
("dirty-work-done")
==================================================================
Since it is much cheaper to buy expensive semiconductors (such as
cache RAMs) in your own country, you might prefer this version.
What you get:
--------------
A two-layer piggyback board for the TransWarp GS with solder
resist. All non-semiconductor components (sockets, resistors,
capacitors, header connectors) mounted and ready for use. A sheet
of paper with short instructions how to add the components not
included with the board. All board functions verified. No soldering
required.
US $32 plus $14 shipping/handling
(four boards maximum for this s/h fee).
==================================================================
Option C: Fully populated boards, without Firmware EPROM
("almost plug-and-play")
==================================================================
What you get:
--------------
A two-layer piggyback board for the TransWarp GS with solder
resist. All components but the firmware EPROM soldered and ready
for use. The board includes all sockets and three 32K cache RAMs
62256-15 or equivalent (fast enough for processor clock values of
14 MHz and more). A sheet of paper with short instructions how to
add the components not included with the board. All board functions
verified.
US $69 plus $14 shipping/handling
(four boards maximum for this s/h fee).
So, if you can get the v1.7 or v1.8 ROM (or EPROM), your additional
cost for a ready-to-go upgrade is $83. If you have the ROM, then, $83
for a 33% performance increase sounds good, especially since you can
also boost clock speed relatively cheaply and end up with a TWGS running
at x3 or better a non-TWGS IIgs!
If there's a local Apple Club with users interested in souping-up
their TWGS's, option A looks like a good way to go. Cost per board would
be way below $83, 'finding' the needed ROM (or EPROM) could be easier,
and boards could be checked out by a knowledgeable club member.
Rubywand
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: TWGS
- From: "no1inParticular" <compuser@prodigy.net>