Upgrade Your TranswarpGS:
Get the v1.8 EPROM Here!
For those of you interested in
upgrading TranswarpGS accelerator
cache memory, a ShrinkI archive of the v1.8 EPROM
v1.8 code (in binary
file format) is available here for public access and
download. To write an
EPROM you will need an EPROM "prommer"-- i.e. hardware
to write
(or "burn") bytes to an electrially programmable read-only
memory IC.
If you have a way to program
EPROMs, and a compatible EPROM IC,
then here's your chance to make the v1.8 EPROM needed
to upgrade your
TranswarpGS to 32k cache!
Maybe you've got a TranswarpGS
without the cache upgrade and you
are wondering "Why upgrade?". Here is a snip from the
Csa2 Apple II FAQs:
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
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.
His charts 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.
So, once you have the v1.8 EPROM,
how do you upgrade your TWGS
to 32k cache? Here's another snip from the FAQs:
SHH Systeme ( http://www.wbwip.com/shh/
), a German company,
sells the cache upgrade piggyback board in various states of 'do-it-yourself'
readiness. The ready-to-go version is $69 (+ $14 S&H). It includes
three 32K
cache RAMs (62256-15 or equivalent) and can support speed upgrades
to
14MHz or better.
If I want, can I just buy the EPROM from SHH?
Yes. SHH does not automatically include
the firmware ROM with the upgrade
board; but, they will supply the v1.8 EPROM for $12 plus shipping
and handling
costs.
This archive is being made available
as a public service for those
that need it, want it and can put it to use as outline
above.
Cheers,
Tom