Re: Rom 04 GS

[kauai96765@yahoo.com (The Apple Man)]

I agree paul.  It would also be nice if one of these guys who actually
have on of these machines would share the schematics of the machines
if they have them.

"Paul Grammens" <grammens@svn.net> wrote in message news:<3d67c9ab@news.svn.net>...
> Nice post. This is FAQ material.
> -Paul
> 
> "Mitchell Spector" <a_specto@alcor.concordia.ca> wrote in message
> 3d66d874.4934391@news.videotron.ca">news:3d66d874.4934391@news.videotron.ca...
> > kauai96765@yahoo.com (The Apple Man) wrote:
> >
> > >Does anyone know where to find the technical specs and the details of
> > >the Rom 04 IIgs?
> >
> >     There was a five-page article in a 1996 issue of Shareware Solutions
>  II
> > (Volume 3, issue 1) discussing the story of how 2 or 3 of these prototypes
> > were discovered, followed by an in-depth analysis/observation of the
> > machines. The issue before it actually had a high-quality photo of the
> > motherboard on the back page.
> >
> >     It isn't actually the "ROM 4" (in fact these prototypes used the ROM 3
> > firmware) but had been called the "Mark Twain"--Apple's internal code
> > name for the the new IIgs redesign scheduled for a 1991-92 release.
> >
> >     These machines were _far_ from being finished, and probably would
> > have added more features and capabilities as the project developed.
> > At any rate, the prototypes uncovered had this:
> >
> > - Built-in 1.44MB SuperDrive floppy (slot on case lid)
> > - Built-in SCSI hardrive
> > - Stereo-out jack (back port)
> > - Microphone jack (back port)
> > - Dual 30-pin SIMM sockets
> > - 2 Megabytes RAM built-in
> > - DMA SCSI controller intergrated into motherboard
> > - FDHD floppy controller intergrated into motherboard
> >
> > Obviously the motherboard layout changed. I remember it was a bit wider,
> > things moved around, two regular expansion slots disappeared (plus the
> > 44-pin memory slot as well), it had a smaller yet higher capacity
>  powersupply
> > and a support frame to mount internal drives, and so on.
> >
> > These were so incomplete that they hadn't yet written the new firmware
> > (which, no doubt would have been "ROM version 4") or had the floppy
> > drive properly working (you can't eject disks and they don't recognize
> > high-density floppies). Looking at some of the images of boards, they
> > looked to still be in the alpha stage. Here's a photo of a "ROM 4"
> > board, as well as how it compared to a ROM 00/01 and 3 board:
> >
> > http://persweb.direct.ca/mystix/ROM_MB.htm
> >
> > >I know that several people have them but no one
> > >seems willing to share any of the details.  Any help here?
> >
> >     Several people? I only know of two or three people who have these
> > (Joe Kohn and Tony Diaz) and from what I've heard, only about 20 of
> > these were every produced, with most of them destroyed by Apple.
> >
> >     Interestingly, back in 1991, a friend of mine was a close friend
> > of a software developer here in Montreal (who worked for an
> > internationally known company). He claimed to have seen a sneak
> > peak at a new Apple IIGS the company was given on loan, and
> > described in near perfect detail, the Mark Twain above--with the
> > addition of a few more features.
> >
> >     He later claimed to have made the whole thing up, but I always had
> > my doubts (I suppose his friend wasn't too pleased for leaking out what
> > he shouldn't have even been shown). The details he gave me were so
> > close in fact, I remember Joe Kohn writing me to compare his Mark Twain
> > with the prototypes I talked about on comp.sys.apple2 back in the early
> > 90's. :)
> >
> >     It's obvious other IIgs prototypes were built and shelved at
> > Apple over the years (inCider even reported about one in the
> > August 1988 issue) though I've always wondered if there weren't
> > further developed versions of the IIgs Mark Twain built and lost,
> > like the one my friend described. I suppose we'll hear about it one
> > day in the future from ex or retired Apple employees if they did
> > exist. I even learned about the project code name"Mark Twain"
> > (long before most people knew what it related to) by talking to one.
> > I've also heard other interesting stories about Apple II prototypes
> > that never-were from people who've worked at Apple.
> >
> > Mitchell Spector
> > a_specto@alcor.concordia.ca
> >