Re: AppleWorks 3 + RamFactor + RamWorks 3 = what?

[amanita_tessera@yahoo.com]

On Oct 6, 1:02 am, gids...@sasktel.net wrote:
> On Oct 5, 4:14 pm, Warren Ernst <wer...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Oct 3, 10:28 pm, gids...@sasktel.net wrote:
>
> > > On Oct 3, 10:24 pm, applework...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > > On the note of copying AppleWorks to a RAM disk,  I have 4 Ramfactor
> > > cards on different computers that I would like to get the Ramkeeper
> > > power pack for them.  Does anyone have a Ramkeeper for sale or at
> > > least can give me the voltages for the pinouts?
>
> > There was a RamCharger/RamKeeper for sale on Ebay about a month or two
> > ago, and it was the first one I'd seen in years. Someone snatched it
> > up with BuyItNow for about $85 as I recall (but it might have been
> > $125 - I don't recall exactly.) I might have picked it up for $40, but
> > not at that price.
>
> > This device would have really made life easier for me back in school,
> > but recent times have gotten me thinking: a generic AC/DC "wall wart"
> > transformer should be able to supply whatever voltages the RamFactor
> > needs to keep it going, so you could at least keep a RamFactor filled
> > up after powering down a computer. You could then plug the Wall Wart
> > into a UPS so its battery could probably keep a RamFactor filled up
> > for at least an hour or two.
>
> > The connector doesn't look that exotic on the RamFactor, so what we'd
> > really need is the voltages for that connector. I guess I can look in
> > my RamFactor book, but I don't recall ever seeing the voltages on it.
> > Maybe someone else has...
>
> > -Warr
>
> Thanks Warren
>
> I just came across a great Apple II hardware website  www.gse-reactive.com
> who are trying to duplicate the Ramkeeper as well as other popular
> devices like a Ramfast SCSI.
>
> I got a  reply from support stating that the outside 2 pins are +5
> volts and inside ones are ground.  I have a lot of little AA power
> packs that hold 4 batteries.  Rechargeable batteries are usually 1.2V
> times 4 batteries equals 4.8V, should be close enough to power the
> Ramfactor card.  For how long, is another story.
>
> Rob

I used to work for AE in tech support.
As best as I can recall........
Two pins provided Vcc and ground to power the card when the computer
was turned off.
One pin was a sense line (tied to peripheral card slot +5V) so that
the Ramcharger could detect the falling +5 volts on the computer when
power was turned off.
One pin was used to signal ramfactor to provide low power ram refresh.
The circuitry inside ramcharger was really simple.
A  charger for a lead acid battery and regulated power supply.
A  low voltage reference, comparator and 555 timer ic "watched" the 5v
line and pulled the NOT PWR OK line high, within so many milliseconds
of falling peripheral card slot 5 volt line to tell the card to switch
from using motherboard ram refresh to on card lo power refresh.
I could be persuaded to cobble a ramcharger together if there really
is demand for it still, but would need to be provided a IIe and
ramfactor card so I could work out the connector pinout and the
threshold and timing. These things have faded from memory. I still
have SC Macro Assembler laying around, but I am not sure I even have a
Prodos disk anymore.
Back in the day, it was really impressive to have a bootable ramdisk.
I kept all my personal info on Appleworks and it was ready to use
within a second of turning on the power. Prodos loaded, Appleworks
loaded and my default database.
Maybe someone can find Steve Malechek and convince him to make a
repeat performance of a battery backed Ramdisk design for the PCs PCI
bus. It would be nice to see Windows apps running as fast after power
on as IIe apps used to...