Re: AE Ramfactor and Ramworks

[salfter@salfter.dyndns.org (Scott Alfter)]

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In article <3f47e6cc$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au>, Eric <lonewolf@hotmail.com> wrote:
>What is the difference between AE's Ramfactor and Ramworks (or Ramworks
>III)?

RamWorks cards go in the auxiliary slot (so they only work in a IIe).  They
provide one or (usually) more 64K banks of auxiliary memory that can be
switched in.  You could also get an RGB output adapter and a 65816 add-on
that worked with the RamWorks.  The card supported 1-4 banks of 64K or 256K
each; more could be added (up to another 2 megs) with an add-on card. 
ProDOS will set up a ~64K (probably a little less) /RAM like it does with an
extended 80-column card, but third-party software (supplied with the card)
is needed for a larger RAM disk.

RamFactor cards go in regular expansion slots (so they'll work in any II
with slots).  They're functionally equivalent to the Apple II Memory
Expansion Card, but had some memory add-ons to give them greater capacity
than the Apple cards.  There was also a battery backup option...useful with
a RAM disk to store data while the computer was shut off.  Access to memory
was through four bytes in the expansion-slot I/O space...three bytes to set
the address and one to read/write the byte at that address (after which the
address was auto-incremented, IIRC).  Apple cards, I think, had SmartPort
firmware to enable them to run as RAM disks; the RamFactor most likely had
something similar.

  _/_   Scott Alfter
 / v \  salfter@salfter.dyndns.org
(IIGS(  http://alfter.us            Top-posting!
 \_^_/  pkill -9 /bin/laden         >What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

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