IIgs innards (HD, etc...)

[blakespot]

Was moving some things around in my computer area and took the opportunity to photo the interior of my IIgs. It's a ROM 3 IIgs sitting in a mint-condition Limited Edition Woz case (took the mobo from one GS and put it on this case) -- sort of a best of both worlds scenario.

Have a look

That's a SiriusRAM GS, Focus 500MB IDE Hard Card and SoundMesiter Stereo Card from right -> left.



blakespot

 

[blakespot]

I still would not mind a TransWarp GS / ZipGS accelerator for it. I've noticed, oddly, they go cheaper on eBay when they come _in_a_GS_ than alone... The lone cards go for over $200.


blakespot

 

[mc68k]

That's cool, red PCB.

Yeah, I noticed that with any IIgs parts on ebay— they always go for less when they're in a package. If some people parted out their systems, they could double what they get for them. I think that goes for a great deal of computers that sell on ebay.

I remember you mentioning (correct me if I'm wrong) that if you add a lot of RAM that the IIgs goes slower.

And the partitioning scheme? ProDos of HFS?

Would the PS be able to handle the extra watts from the OC'd CPU? Are their any problems with those transwarp cards? They seem to be a rarity on eBay, which is probably why they go for so much. You could probably get a G3/G4 upgrade for a newer comp for less than some of those accelerator cards go for.

 

[blakespot]

Oddly all my cards are red, indeed. Strange.

Yes, I read in InCider mag that the more memory you add to a IIgs the slower it functioned. Not sure to what degree this is noticeable. I have 5.25MB in the IIgs. Seems enough!

I have a number of 32MB (ProDOS ceiling) ProDOS partitions and one large HFS partition. Apparently the HFS code is not rock solid, so one should not put things one values highly on an HFS partition. I use it as scratch.

The power supply should be able to handle the GS accelerators fine. The are a bit of a rarity. But there are folks that use the IIgs as their main machine, it seems. To these folks, a 65C816 accelerator would be of great value. Note that there is now an ethernet board and a TCP/IP stack for GS/OS out there for the II.

Good stuff. I love the old hardware.


blakespot

 

[mc68k]

Originally posted by blakespot
Note that there is now an ethernet board and a TCP/IP stack for GS/OS out there for the II.

Like 10BT for the II? Was this built back in the day or is it being sold/resold right now? I remeber hearing about the stack, it's on many peoples' HD's when they sell 'em, though I forget what it's called right now.

 

[blakespot]

Marinetti is the GS/OS TCP/IP stack.

LANceGS is the ethernet card. It's been in production for about 2 years now, maybe a little less. Definitely the first II ethernet card, and currently the only. It's not cheap.

http://lancegs.a2central.com/specs/

I do not really desire one. I have a LocalTalk network between my G4 and my IIgs. Sadly, I must boot into OS 9 to get it working.



blakespot

 

[mc68k]

Originally posted by blakespot
Marinetti is the GS/OS TCP/IP stack.

LANceGS is the ethernet card. It's been in production for about 2 years now, maybe a little less. Definitely the first II ethernet card, and currently the only. It's not cheap./B]

Who thought owning a humble classic could be so damn expensive! Good parts seem to cost as much or more than current computer parts.

Are there any advantages of Ethernet over Local Talk to justify that cost? I guess you could access your IIgs from around your house, vs. just one comp.

 

[blakespot]

The IIgs serial port will handle a 33.6Kbps modem, but cannot make use of anything faster, but this is asynchronous operation. In synchronous mode (such as that used in LocalTalk) the IIgs can move data at 230Kbps across the serial cable (~29K/sec). Not too shabby.

The slots in the Apple II are 8-bit and run at 1MHz (even on the GS). The maximum possible bandwidth there is 1MB/sec. 10baseT transfers at a max of 10Mbps or 1.25MB/sec. So, the bottleneck there is the II's slot--but I imagine that in reality, data does not move at the max 1MB/sec across those slots--likely notably less swift. And one that data is brought to the II, it must be written to a hard drive (or floppy?!) sitting on that same 1MHz bus--the II's were never known for leading edge hard drive controller speed...

Still...I'd think you'd be able to get 100K/sec via ethernet. That's a good bit better than via LocalTalk--and with ethernet you'd easily be able to hit the internet directly, which you would not with LocalTalk. There is a browser, FTP client, etc. for the GS.


blakespot

 

[Durandal7]

I have a IIgs Woz but it is busted . When I turn it on the HD makes a click noise and the light flickers. It has an internal modem though, which I found interesting.

 

[blakespot]

I have two GS's lying around. If I wasn't lazy, I'd send you one. You can get one one eBay for $5 or so. Why not set one up--fun to play with.

What gets me is that most of my 5.25" games, from back in '85, still work. The data is still good. If I had two 5.25" drives I'd copy the data off and then back onto the disks to lock them down for another 15 years, but I don't... (I guess I should take my own point and spend $1 for a 2nd 5.25" drive...)

GS/OS is fun to play with. I've been using the machine alot lately. Definitely would not mind an accelerator.


blakespot

 

[blakespot]

Originally posted by asurace
I have a IIgs Woz but it is busted . When I turn it on the HD makes a click noise and the light flickers. It has an internal modem though, which I found interesting.

Below is a photo of a box just like the on my first modem, a Prometheus ProModem 1200A came in. It was an internal 1200bps modem. I used it first in my Apple IIe, then in a Laser 128, then in a IIgs. (It was sold at that point). Worked quite well. 1200 was fast back then (got it in '86).


blakespot

 

[blakespot]

Asurace,

Asurace,

Turn on your IIgs w/ internal modem and type PR#2 (if the modem is in slot 2, or just whatever slots # the modem is in). See what happens.




bp