Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!ll-xn!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!ANDREW.CMU.EDU!jm7e+ From: jm7e+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU ("Jeremy G. Mereness") Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: GS Slots Message-ID: Date: 22 Mar 88 16:32:39 GMT References: <7509@brl-smoke.ARPA> Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 41 This is a wary subject as far as screaming for more, but as Doug Gwyn puts it... >If Apple provided a SCSI port, the IIGS might as well be slotless for >most people. Consider: > Slot 1 usurped by serial printer port > Slot 2 usurped by modem port > Slot 3 usurped by 80-column firmware > Slot 4 usurped by mouse > Slot 5 usurped by 3.5" drives on SmartPort > Slot 6 usurped by 5.25" drives on SmartPort > Slot 7 available, needed for SCSI hard disk >On mine, I have MDIdeas's SuperSonic Digitizer in slot 2, and have to >toggle back and forth via the control panel. All the other slots are >pretty much dedicated to fixed uses. The GS needs more slots or a method of easily switching between slots and ports. What bothers me is the Smartport and the Mouseport. If Smart port is so smart, why can't it handle ALL the disk drives 3.5 and 5.25? And why must Prodos assign only two drives per slot as in DOS 3.3? That's a bit archaic; and it wouldn't be too hard to work out an emulation scheme for 3.3 to work in such an environment to take care of compatibility.... another thing: the mouse uses the Apple Desktop Port. Is ALL info from the mouse coming from slot 4 anyway? or is this only in 8-bit mode? finally, it sometimes gets annoying how little RAM is assigned to the slots. I don't know how to fix this, but it is possible to add a few more pins to each slot in such a way that old cards fit but larger ones could also work. Big Blue does this, and it, well, it works..... Brainstorm a bit.... a GS would be nice with a few more slots, or atleast Slot 3,4, and 5 open for use instead of bogged down with stuff that ought to be on the motherboard "Nothing is Impossible...." Capt. Albatross