Path: news1.icaen!news.uiowa.edu!news1.chicago.iagnet.net!qual.net!iagnet.net!feed2.news.erols.com!howland.erols.net!newscon04!prodigy.com!not-for-mail From: "no1inParticular" Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: TWGS Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 13:17:10 -0800 Organization: Prodigy Services Corp Lines: 295 Message-ID: <6c7m59$6lc$1@newssvr07-int.news.prodigy.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: slip-32-100-154-213.ca.us.ibm.net X-Post-Time: 15 Feb 1998 21:19:37 GMT X-Auth-User: 002489759/61834314d6447871 X-Problems-To: abuse@prodigy.com X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 Xref: news1.icaen comp.sys.apple2:130231 Might have wrong information. I was aiming at a good Replacement for the complicated instructions in the *FAQ* Most of this information is provided in one way or another already, in other artciles or texts. I drew the ASCII picture of the TWGS, and Cut and pasted some other information from CSA2. All of the FAQ articles are in TEXT And that is why I have created this article. I reccommend the HyperCard Stack about Upgrading the Transwarp, because it has Alot more information, and a Graphic picture of the TWGS (instead of TEXT) I TAKE NO CREDIT For the Following Information. I tried to Include where I got all of the Info. U U PPPPP GGGG RRRR A DDD IIIIIIIIII N N GGGG U U P P G R R A A D D I NN N G U U PPPP GGGG RRRR AAA D D I N N N GGGG U U P G G R R A A D D I N N N G G UUUU P GGGG R R A A DDD IIIIIIIIII N N GGGG TTTTTTTT W W W GGGGGGGG SSSSSSSS TT W WW W GG SS TT W W W W GGGGGGGG SSSSSSSS TT W W GG GG SS TT W W GGGGGGGG SSSSSSSS Instructions on how to Speed up/Information about the TWGS Accelerator card for the Apple IIgs UPGRADING a Transwarp Cards' speed is EASY. *2* parts need to be replaced. ______________________________________________________ / O :::::::::::::::::::: | GALs | X X | / -------- _________________ |______ | X X | / |YYYY| | | | | |YYYY| | Cache | _______________ | | | Piggy Back | | | | | _________ |____ | | GALs | GALs | |_______|__________|__|______________|___ |_________|______| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| XX = Clock Oscillator, 1/2 size. The speed of the Accelerated XX = Transwarp IIgs is equal to the Oscillator speed Divided by 4 YYYY = Fast Processor Chip. This is the CPU of the TWGS. YYYY = It is a 65816 CPU and is Upgradeable to 10-15 MHZ GALs = Chips you don't have to worry about. Cache = You need at least ROM version 1.5 to go faster. Piggy = This board Has the SRAM, and ROM. You can Back = Upgrade the Cache on this board (32k maximum) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ WHAT YOU NEED TO UPGRADE: 1) Transwarp IIgs with ROM version 1.5 or greater (With the IIGS turned on, press CONTROL-Apple-ESCAPE And go to the Transwarp CDA) 2) A high speed 65816 chip 3) A 1/2 size Clock Oscillator that is 4X the megahertz you want to your TWGS to run. _________________________________________________ | Digikey Part # | Clock Oscillator speed | TWGS speed | |-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------- -------------| | CTX175-ND | 40 mhz | 10 mhz | | | 48 mhz | 12 mhz | | | 60 mhz | 15 mhz | |_____________|_____________________|______________| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can get the 65c816 -14 PLCC chip from the Western Design Center Their URL is http://www.wdesignc.com/ You can buy 1/2 size Oscillators from Digikey. Their URL is http://www.digikey.com/ You can also get these Oscillators from many Electronics suppliers. Information about Upgrading the Cache on your Transwarp is near the end of this document. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is cut from a post from CSA2 that was made by Scott G ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You really should update the out of date info in your accelerator FAQ. I invite the original poster of the question to point their web browser to: http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple16/Hypermedia/Hypercard/ And download: TWGSupgrade.SHK (or TWGSupgrade.BSQ if you require 7-bit transfer). Any 65C816 high speed chip manufactured today (and recently [years]) _does not_ require an upgrade to the GALs. Those were only required with the old "Engineering" chips that WDC used to sell. I've upgraded a TWGS card by just changing the half-size oscillator in the corner. No GAL upgrade or ROM upgrade needed. The info is in my Transwarp GS upgrade stack. Also, again, your Zip GS upgrade info in the accelerator FAQ is also in error. Not everyone needs to replace the gates there for high speed operation. I did not need to for 13.75MHz. Matt Portune's Zip _would not work_ WITH the replacement gates. And my stack, ZipUpgrade.SHK and ZipUpgrade.BSQ from ground, also shows where to get parts for upgrading without soldering the board. Upgrading both accelerators is easy. Easier than the dated accelerator FAQ makes it out to be. -Scott G. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is cut from a post from CSA2 that was made by Rubywand ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes indeed. A 10MHz Transwarp GS I tested matches a 12.5MHz Zip GS in most tasks. ..... I invite the original poster of the question to point their web browser to: http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple16/Hypermedia/Hypercard/ And download: TWGSupgrade.SHK (or TWGSupgrade.BSQ if you require 7-bit transfer). Any 65C816 high speed chip manufactured today (and recently [years]) _DOES NOT_ require an upgrade to the GALs. Those were only required with the old "Engineering" chips that WDC used to sell. I've upgraded a TWGS card by just changing the half-size oscillator in the corner. No GAL upgrade or ROM upgrade needed. The info is in my Transwarp GS upgrade stack. ..... Not everyone needs to replace the gates there for high speed operation. I did not need to for 13.75MHz. Matt Portune's Zip _would not work_ WITH the replacement gates. And my stack, ZipUpgrade.SHK and ZipUpgrade.BSQ from ground, also shows where to get parts for upgrading without soldering the board. Upgrading both accelerators is easy. .... << Thanks for re-posting this info with the appropriate headlines-- pretty interesting stuff! (I had overlooked the original.) It seems that Scott is becoming the IIgs Accelerators Guru. Rubywand SPEED COMPARISON OF 8K VS 32K CACHE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- The following is cut from an email from Joachim Lange of ///SHH Systeme, who sells the 8-->32k upgrade board ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- The larger cache size gives you more speed without the need of increasing the processor's clock frequency. The overall gain in speed is about 20..30 per cent, however the Finder feeling is a lot more "snappy". ---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is cut from a post from CSA2 that was made by Rubywand --------------------------------------------------------------- John Link charted some comparisons in 1991 involving nine setups: no-TWGS, and 7, 8, 9, 10mHz boards before and after the 8kB-to-32kB cache upgrade. He used three benchmarks: 1. time to calculate page breaks in a 218-page Appleworks document 2. time to scroll through a 39-page Awks-GS document 3. time to compile 4800 lines of MD-BASIC source code The chart shows that a 7mHz TWGS with the 32kB cache performs slightly better than a 10mHz TWGS with 8kB cache on tests 1 and 3; it is a bit slower on test 2. For a 7mHz 8kB TWGS, the speed gain for the 32kB cache upgrade is roughly 33% to nearly x2.5 plain GS speed. For a 10mHz 8kB TWGS, the speed gain for the 32kB cache upgrade is roughly 33% to about x3.25 plain GS speed. One nice feature of upgrading cache is that you get a good performance boost without the concerns usually assorted with a significant increase in clock speed. The AE cache upgrade kit was priced at $109 in 1991. Now that AE is gone, the kit may be harder to find than a TWGS with the 32kB upgrade installed. As Scott G has noted, SHH Systeme, Germany sells 32kB cache upgrade materials. SHH Systeme, Germany ( http://users.ids.net/~kerwood/shh.html email: jlange@tasha.muc.de ) The catch is that, according to information currently displayed at their web site, you can get everything you need _except_ the v1.7 or v1.8 ROM. Here is what they say ... >> Another important note ======================= The TransWarp GS firmware version 1.5 that came with the TransWarp 8K version does not work with 32K cache boards. You absolutely need v1.7 or v1.8 for 32K cache operation. Since the firmware is copyrighted material, we cannot supply copies of the firmware. .... << Of course, when it comes to such matters, one never knows for sure what is available until the seller is contacted. SHH does list several options ranging from a bare board through one with everything installed except the v1.7 or v1.8 ROM. The info below is from their web site: ================================================================== Option A: Bare boards ("do-it-yourself") ================================================================== What you get: -------------- Two-layer piggyback boards for the TransWarp GS with solder resist, ready for soldering all components. A sheet of paper with short but reliable instructions how to assemble the board. NOTHING ELSE. Heavy soldering required! US $15 per board plus $14 shipping/handling (six boards minimum, 22 boards maximum for this s/h fee). ================================================================== Option B: Populated boards, without semiconductors ("dirty-work-done") ================================================================== Since it is much cheaper to buy expensive semiconductors (such as cache RAMs) in your own country, you might prefer this version. What you get: -------------- A two-layer piggyback board for the TransWarp GS with solder resist. All non-semiconductor components (sockets, resistors, capacitors, header connectors) mounted and ready for use. A sheet of paper with short instructions how to add the components not included with the board. All board functions verified. No soldering required. US $32 plus $14 shipping/handling (four boards maximum for this s/h fee). ================================================================== Option C: Fully populated boards, without Firmware EPROM ("almost plug-and-play") ================================================================== What you get: -------------- A two-layer piggyback board for the TransWarp GS with solder resist. All components but the firmware EPROM soldered and ready for use. The board includes all sockets and three 32K cache RAMs 62256-15 or equivalent (fast enough for processor clock values of 14 MHz and more). A sheet of paper with short instructions how to add the components not included with the board. All board functions verified. US $69 plus $14 shipping/handling (four boards maximum for this s/h fee). So, if you can get the v1.7 or v1.8 ROM (or EPROM), your additional cost for a ready-to-go upgrade is $83. If you have the ROM, then, $83 for a 33% performance increase sounds good, especially since you can also boost clock speed relatively cheaply and end up with a TWGS running at x3 or better a non-TWGS IIgs! If there's a local Apple Club with users interested in souping-up their TWGS's, option A looks like a good way to go. Cost per board would be way below $83, 'finding' the needed ROM (or EPROM) could be easier, and boards could be checked out by a knowledgeable club member. Rubywand