TMPLee@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL (08/19/89)
Perhaps all the fuss could be settled by answering one question: does the new ROM 3 provide anything that isn't either in SysDisk 5 or could be provided by RAM "patches" to the existing ROM-based tools? In short, I'm only guessing, but I suspect 90% of its value is that what it does contain doesn't need to be loaded from disk or harddrive, but if you added the extra 128K to your RAM memory you'd have some chance of it staying resident anyway.
delaneyg@wnre.aecl.CDN ("H. Grant Delaney") (09/10/89)
Now that the flames over whether or not their should have been a GS upgrade
here is the list of revisions that were made to ROM3. This technical note
also include Rom 0 to 1 revisions which I have removed to shorten the note.
Have a look and decide for your self
==================
Apple IIGS
#26: ROM Revision Summary
Revised by: Matt Deatherage September 1989
Written by: Rilla Reynolds October 1987
This Technical Note summarizes revisions to the Apple IIGS ROM.
Changes since November 1988: Revised to cover ROM 3.
ROM 3 is 256K (double the size of ROM 1) and contains several tools which do
not exist in ROM 1. The patch file TS3 fixes known bugs in ROM 3 which were
discovered after it was frozen. ROM 3 tools are basically System Software 5.0
tools, and the System Software 5.0 documentation covers these tools in detail.
This Note only documents non-tool changes.
AppleDisk 3.5 and SmartPort
o Use new routines for all block reads to fast RAM to eliminate
double buffering.
o The extended DIB status call returns the device subtype byte $C1.
o Fixed anomalies described in SmartPort Technical Note #6, Apple
IIGS SmartPort Errata.
o Fixed a ROM 1 bug that caused Write Protected to be returned with
higher priority than Device Offline for the ProDOS STATUS call.
AppleTalk
o AppleTalk moved to slots 1 and 2 from slot 7.
Control Panel CDA
o The original Options menu is now the Keyboard menu and does not
contain mouse parameters.
o A new Mouse menu is present. The new keyboard microcontroller
allows finer control of mouse tracking, so a selection procedure
better than yes or no is present. Parameters are also available
to set the keyboard mouse feature, which allows the numeric keypad
to emulate a mouse.
o Added an option to resize the RAM disk on the next reset in the
RAM Disk menu. This option resets to No after one reboot and
resizing so the RAM disk is not accidently reformatted on every
boot thereafter.
o If slot 7 is set to AppleTalk, the Control Panel displays a
warning if neither slot 1 nor slot 2 is similarly set.
o The Printer Port and Modem Port menus now display only those
parameters that may be changed if AppleTalk is the selection for
those ports.
o The RAM disk no longer has minimum and maximum settings, but
rather one RAM disk size setting.
Monitor
o Enhanced memory searching commands to automatically cross bank
boundaries.
o Added Step and Trace debugging functions.
o Now provide vectors for the same functionality as the GS/OS System
Service calls MEMORY_MOVER, DYN_SLOT_ARBITER and SET_SYS_SPEED in
bank $E1.
o Now resize the RAM disk when the system is rebooted with the
Control-Open Apple-Shift-Reset key combination.
o Handle text page 2 shadowing and power-up bits in the new CYA
chip.
o Flash the border if the sound volume is set to zero and a beep is
necessary.
o In ROM 1 and earlier, the Miscellaneous Tools mouse firmware
called the 8-bit mouse routines in the $C400 space to do the work.
In ROM 3, the 8-bit routines call the 16-bit routines to read the
hardware. This change effectively means those programs which use
16-bit mouse calls (including desktop applications through the
Event Manager) may use the mouse when slot 4 is set to Your Card.
o Slots 1 and 2 may now be set to Printer, Modem, AppleTalk, or Your
Card. With System Software 5.0, slot 7 does not need to be set to
AppleTalk to use an AppleTalk network, although one can do it for
compatibility. There is no transparent printing firmware in slot 7.
o The Alternate Display Mode CDA no longer sets the system to fast
speed when normal speed is selected in the Control Panel.
o Added a new command, {val}=V, to set the video screen display I/O
switches when resuming a program.
o Control-T command now works as a toggle--executing it once changes
to text mode, but now executing it again switches back to the
previous video mode You may change this saved video mode with
the =V command.
o Battery RAM value $59 now controls the presence of the Visit
Monitor and Memory Peeker CDAs. If this byte has the high bit set
at boot time, the CDAs are automatically installed.
o The Monitor and Memory Peeker both allow the use of Control-X to
terminate a long display (i.e., a handle list or memory dump).
Serial I/O
o XON and XOFF are no longer sent with the high bit set when
buffering is enabled.
o Terminal mode cursor is more consistent with the rest of the
system.
o Extended Interface calls now return errors in the carry and the
accumulator.
Toolbox
The following tools are now in ROM:
o Window Manager
o Menu Manager
o Control Manager
o Line Edit
o Dialog Manager
o Scrap Manager
o Font Manager
o List Managerlmb7421@ultb.UUCP (L.M. Barstow) (09/13/89)
Thank you for posting the Tech Note on the new ROM.... Now, the question is, what's going on with it? *IS* there an upgrade? If so, where can I get it...if not, why not...those are mighty big improvements...I could handle the extra space in memory...(I mean, all those tool sets in ROM, that means faster and more space...) Please enlighten me (via mail if necessary...) Les Barstow -- Les Barstow |Bitnet: LMB7421@RITVAX "What about the R.O.U.S's?" |UUCP: ...rutgers!rochester!ritcv!ultb!lmb7421 "The Rodents Of Unusual Size? |ARPA: lmb7421@ultb.isc.rit.edu I don't believe they exist!" - Buttercup and Wesley, _The Princess Bride_