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From: rap@peck.ardent.com (Rob Peck)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple,comp.os.cpm
Subject: Re: Ramdisk under CPM
Keywords: apple cpm
Message-ID: <7677@ardent.UUCP>
Date: 1 Aug 89 01:13:06 GMT
References: <752@madnix.UUCP> <1665@sactoh0> <7186@microsoft.UUCP>
Sender: news@ardent.UUCP
Reply-To: rap@peck.ardent.com (Rob Peck)
Organization: Ardent Computer Corp., Sunnyvale, CA
Lines: 39

In article <7186@microsoft.UUCP> brianw@microsoft.UUCP (Brian Willoughby) writes:
> ....
> ....
> ....
>So, depending upon whether the Applicard
>has its own independant memory bus (to remove the video wait states), it
>might not actually be running at a full 6 MHz.  Even if it is, its not 6
>times faster than the Microsoft (or AE) card - more like twice (at best).

I have two of the Applicards, both running at 6 Mhz.  Both have a full
64K of memory and I think both allow a 62K TPA.  Device drivers are
normally written in 6502 and thus allows the best of both worlds, that is,
full utilization of both busses.  One of the two boards has a 128k
memory expansion on it, with a ramdisk driver as one of the driver
devices.  I don't know how any of it is configured.  Terminal screen
update when the Applicard is about twice as fast as ordinarily when
Wordstar is running, but I think this is probably limited just by the
data transfer to the Apple bus (never measured explicitly, just
subjective memory).  Also I have a very slow video card (ALS Smarterm I..
my Smarterm II blew out, TWICE, and it is now being used to support a
sagging table leg.)  If I had some kinda benchmark program for CP/M,
the relative performance of the on-the-board stuff could probably be
checked.  But then, I dont think PCPI is still making/supporting them
so its probably all academic.  We who have em get the performance and
nobody else can get em.

I once responded to someone who posted a message that they wanted to
buy one of 'em from me, and the offer that was returned was "$75, but
only if it includes the 128K ram card and all of the technical documentation
that you have --- oh yeah, and the hard disk driver software too."
Well, I did not sell it after all, ya see, cause it was $200. for
the card, $250 for the extra memory and $150 for the hard disk driver
that somebody wrote, and then there was the two $50. upgrades to PCPI
for versions 1.5 and 2.0 of the system software.  Nah, he could buy a
clone of the Microsoft card with no system software at all from a local swap
meet, or he could add a grand total of $16 to that and get the world.
I think not.

Rob Peck