Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!haven!adm!smoke!gwyn From: gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: FPE Compatibility... Message-ID: <14542@smoke.brl.mil> Date: 20 Nov 90 22:41:35 GMT References: Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, APG, MD. Lines: 49 In article gt0t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Gregory Ross Thompson) writes: > I've got a few questions about the Innovative Systems FPE. Ok, I have one and it NOW works great; read on for the problems.. > #1) Is it fully DMA compatible? Will it cause problems with my DMA >SCSI? So far as I can tell there is no adverse interaction between the FPE and the Apple High-Speed (DMA) SCSI Card. I don't know about the RAMFast, but I would be somewhat surprised if there were a problem there. > #2) Does it have problems with accellerators? TWGS and/or ZIP GSX Until I finally obtained the TWGS PAL upgrade that resolved the TWGS/ SCSI DMA conflict, I couldn't get the FPE to work with my TWGS at all, even without the SCSI card installed. The FPE did work with the original 65816 chip but not with the TWGS. There is a mod required on the TWGS (lift pin 1 of U22) before it will work right with the FPE, AE said, but even after making that mod (you should let AE do it unless you are really skilled), I still couldn't get the FPE to work with the TWGS. As I said, only after I upgraded my TWGS PAL to fix the SCSI DMA problem did the FPE start working with the TWGS. I don't know whether or not pin 1 of U22 still needs to be lifted, but it's working this way and I don't want to mess with it any more. > #3) Is Innovative Systems still supporting it? ie: fixing compat. >problems, etc... The only FPE upgrade I'm aware of has been to the software that comes with the card (diagnostics, patch for BASIC to use the card, INIT for GS/OS to get SANE to use the card, benchmark sources, macros, etc.). IS is a small company, but they were most responsive to my requests for advice when I was still having compatibility problems, even offering to let me haul my equipment to their location and work with them to track down the problem (fortunately I don't have to do that now). > #4) How much are they and where can I get one for a decent price? I got mine through ByteWorks (the ORCA company). I think it was around $150 but I might be mistaken. > #5) What kind of tools does it come with for programming it? See the description in my response to #3. ORCA/C and ORCA/Pascal can generate code to directly access the FPE registers on the Apple II bus, which is much faster than going through even the FPE-using SANE tools.