Re: Just wondering...

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <1996Apr23.154531.1@scvax2.shepherd.wvnet.edu>,
mArK <sh340001@scvax2.shepherd.wvnet.edu> wrote:
> A couple questions...  first off, what exactly is this ROM 4 gs I'm reading
> about?  Something new?

The so-called "ROM 4" IIgs was an aborted attempt by Apple to upgrade
the IIgs.  It only exists as a very small number of pre-release
machines, some of which managed to get into the hands of people outside
Apple.  I believe there are differences between the individual machines.

The machine is not in a finished form.  As it stands, it is a ROM 3
IIgs with SIMM sockets instead of a memory expansion slot (with 2MB
built in), a built-in Apple High-Speed SCSI card (physically replacing
one of the slots, and with its own ROM: the card is basically grafted
into the motherboard) and a built-in SuperDrive controller.  The case
is larger (similar to a Mac IIcx), and there is an internal SuperDrive
and support for an internal SCSI hard drive.  There is no firmware to
support the SuperDrive, so it acts just like an Apple 3.5 Drive unless
you boot GS/OS.

If this machine had been developed further, it would have been
released in a somewhat more refined form, incorporating the SuperDrive
and SCSI support into the main ROM, tidying up the slot allocations,
and improving the options for memory expansion (I expect it would have
had 2 MB built in, with provision for six further 1MB SIMMs, with DMA
support to 8 MB).  It might have even had a faster processor.

> Also, when exactly is this "GS-X" supposed to appear?

It is just wild speculation, as far as I can tell.

> And finally, if the creators of the zip chip are still out there, how can
> I get in touch with them?

They should still be around.  They changed their name to "MCTA", and I
believe they are now known as "REMCorp".  The current contact numbers
I have are 714-843-9819 (phone) and 714-843-0099 (fax).  (I got these
numbers from an article posted on comp.sys.apple2, and have never
tried them myself.)

When they were known as "ZIP Technology" and "MCTA", their address was:

5601 W. Slauson Ave (suite #190 most recently)
Culver City, CA 90230

They might have moved now.

Their previous telephone number (as "MCTA") was 310-568-2002.


I haven't been in touch with them since I bought my ZIP GS in 1991
(they were still "ZIP Technology" back then).
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand