Re: RAMFast D problems

[Mitchell Spector <mitch2gs@hotmail.com>]

Rich <nospam@saddam.net> wrote:

>I picked up a RAMFast D on Ebay (in addition to the one I already have).
>
>It appears to be non-functional.  IIGS won't boot with it plugged into 
>the system (even with no SCSI drive).  I get a few low-res blocks of 
>color on the screen.  Remove the RAMFast and the IIGS is back to normal.

    I too have a dead RamFAST rev.D board, but it is just completely 
ignored by the IIgs as if no card is present. I tried replacing the ROM
and the DRAMs (the only socketed parts) but it didn't help. The only
thing I could think of at the time, is one of the 74LSxxx parts having
blown (I resurrected an AE Phasor card that wasn't recognized that
way!) which I think Tony suggested in his post.

>I noticed that the ribbon cable was plugged into the board backwards 
>when I got it (red lead UP instead of DOWN).  I wonder if that might 
>have fried something on the RAMFast board.

    I think I may have inadvertently flipped the ribbon cable a few times,
the card (and SCSI drive) survived. I wouldn't recommend doing it, I
may just have been lucky though.

>Anybody suggest some diagnostics I might try?

    Ahh, that reminds me. I have some custom ROM chips that came
from CV Technologies (who passed them on to TMS Peripherals, 
who in turn passed them on to me when they were dumping all their
remaining Apple II inventory). 

    One ROM is a high speed hardisk copy (ghosting) utility, another 
is a memory tester, but another is labeled "Test program 1.0". Hmm,
I wonder if that can diagnosis the card. All these years later I had
completely forgotten about these! If there's a way to dump these
ROMs I wouldn't mind doing it, I may have the last copies around.

>Any chance a new ROM might fix it?

    I did resurrect one dead RamFAST by swapping the ROM, but
it displayed other behavior (can't quite remember, but it was less
serious than the problem with your card).

Mitchell Spector