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IIGS Setups

krishnadraws

Well-known member
I thought it might be fun to see how many Apple IIGS users lurk on this forum. I'm sharing my setup, which consists of:

Woz edition Apple IIGS (purchased new in the fall of 1987), upgraded to ROM 1

2 working 3.5" floppy drives (800K) and one faux floppy (case only - on top)

TurboIDE card (hard drive using SD card)

ZipGS 8MHz 32K cache (side note: Where can I buy more cache to bump it up to 64K?)

VidHD video card

Uthernet II card 

4MB RAM (Garrett's Workshop)

Two USB fans keep the computer cool (my SystemSaver IIGS died after 30+ years of stalwart service)

Additionally, I have an old 80MB Power drive (shown in photo) which powers on but the drive appears to be gummed up. :(

The IIGS is hooked up to an HP display. The IIGS on the bottom was purchased secondhand and I've added my SecondSight VGA card (which works) to run it on occasion.

I'm running GS/OS 6.0.4 with custom system icons and fonts, courtesy of fatdog. My FloppyEMU has come in handy for transferring files over from .2MG format. I primarily use my Apple IIGS for playing games and playing audio files (Soundsmith). I'd love to be able to connect it to my classic Macs via Appletalk but not sure what extensions / additions I'll need on the IIGS side to make that happen. 

IMG_2248.jpg

 

superjer2000

Well-known member
@krishnadraws - I saw this post a while ago and had meant to come back and comment...  I'm also a IIgs user.  I never had one growing up (from a IIe to a Mac) but bought one a number of year ago and didn't really do much with it.  A couple of years ago I set it up and started playing with it and I have to say I was blown away at just how cool it is.  I've now got two IIgs systems but only one is in regular use.  They are both ROM 01 systems (one was upgraded from a ROM 00) with 4MB RAM cards.  My main system has an Uthernet II and a MicroDriveTurbo and the second system has a Booti card.  I run my video through a Scart to HDMI converter.  Both systems are running 6.0.4.  I really would like a Transwarp GS and am debating between waiting for the 2.0 version from ReactiveMicro, or just jumping on the current version 1.1.  My main unit has a ReactiveMicro power supply and my backup unit has a recapped power supply (and logic board).

There is a program called AFPBridge that will allow you to mount AppleTalk shares over TCP/IP.  It can be used to connect to AppleTalk servers over the Internet, or locally.  I have a Debian VM on one of my machines that runs a netatalk server which both my Macs and my IIgs connect to.  There is also a need program called Treehugger that, along with Harmonie allows you to print to TCP/IP printers that support HP's PCL (most networked laser printers do) so you can print from your IIgs over Uthernet to modern printers.  There is a pretty active IIgs community on Captain's Quarter's BBS (cqbbs.ddns.net:6502).

I did laugh about the Hard Drives International PowerDrive though- The first hard disk I bought (80MB PowerDrive) died just after the one year warranty and I learned that Hard Drives International had given me a refurbished mechanism.  They wouldn't do anything for me to make it right so to this day whenever I see a PowerDrive I see a bit of rage.

 
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joethezombie

Well-known member
I love the IIgs. I still have the original my family purchased back when I were just a wee lad.  Sadly, my son blew out the VGC by hot swapping disk drives.  :(   I was able to get a ROM3 mainboard for cheap off ebay a few years ago and drop it in as a fix, but I'm still looking for a replacement VGC to repair my original board.  But the ROM3 is nice.  My current setup has an Uthernet II, TransWarpGS running at 14MHz, the CFFA3000, a VidHD, DarkSound Stero card, and a 4MB RAM card by Briel.  I also put a replacement power supply by ReactiveMicro to keep everything running.  It's such a fun machine to jump on.  Man, the deals with the devil I would have made to have these upgrades as a kid... :evil: .

I'm curious about those fans, I have one on the power supply cage, which brings hot air from the slots area and up through the top of the IIgs case, but I keep the lid on.

 

Torbar

Well-known member
I have a GS I got...at some point that I don't remember?(In a lot of Macs or something I think), but haven't done much with it besides remove the battery.  It does have a SCSI interface card in it, so I should pull it out and start playing with it

 

Byte Knight

Well-known member
I originally got a IIgs as a high school graduation present and used it up until I got a SE/30.  I don't have my original IIgs, but I've got two now, one of which runs my BBS, so I get to use it to play with it every day!  The GS that runs my BBS is equipped with a CFFA3000, ReActiveMicro Transwarp GS v1.1, and Uthernet II card.  I also run GS/OS 6.0.4, and have the same HD image running in Sweet16 on my MacBook Pro, so getting files to and from my GS is a breeze.

 

JRL

Well-known member
Two years ago I got a mint boxed IIGS setup (ROM 3 with monitor/1x of each drive) with a large amount of boxed software for $250 (IIc system was included as well). I've been incredibly lazy about setting it up properly unfortunately, so it's still rather stock (High Speed SCSI card and the basic RAM expansion)  :(  But I'm picking up a Booti card when they become available!

 
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superjer2000

Well-known member
I love the IIgs. I still have the original my family purchased back when I were just a wee lad.  Sadly, my son blew out the VGC by hot swapping disk drives.  :(   I was able to get a ROM3 mainboard for cheap off ebay a few years ago and drop it in as a fix, but I'm still looking for a replacement VGC to repair my original board.  But the ROM3 is nice.  My current setup has an Uthernet II, TransWarpGS running at 14MHz, the CFFA3000, a VidHD, DarkSound Stero card, and a 4MB RAM card by Briel.  I also put a replacement power supply by ReactiveMicro to keep everything running.  It's such a fun machine to jump on.  Man, the deals with the devil I would have made to have these upgrades as a kid... :evil: .

I'm curious about those fans, I have one on the power supply cage, which brings hot air from the slots area and up through the top of the IIgs case, but I keep the lid on.
Hi Joe. What use do you get out of the sound card?  Any issues with the VidHD?  Lastly is the TWGS an original or an RM on?

 

bikeguychicago

New member
I have a ROM 1 IIgs that I picked up for free a few years back via a FB Marketplace post. It had the stock 1MB upgrade card, modem card, one 3 1/2", two 5 1/4" floppies, the Kensington System Saver, and the RGB monitor. I've since upgraded it to 4MB and added a CFFA 3000 (got in on the last run of the card). Still pining for a Transwarp at a decent price.
 

krishnadraws

Well-known member
Nice score! Those Transwarp GS cards go for a crazy amount online. Hoping we'll see a modern accelerator solution for the IIGS... given the interest in retro computing, it seems possible.
 

lisa2

Well-known member
My understanding is that the next batch of clone TWGS's will ship by the end of the year. At $450 USD each, not sure if you concider that "reasonable" or not.
 

bibilit

Well-known member
Well i sold an original one for $ 700 USD a couple of years ago, so can be considered a reasonable price..
 

Byrd

Well-known member
My understanding is that the next batch of clone TWGS's will ship by the end of the year. At $450 USD each, not sure if you concider that "reasonable" or not.

For such a niche item with many custom chips, it's probably a reasonable price compared to higher volume Amiga accelerators being pushed out for so much more. The CFFA3000 is $225 USD; I reckon that's pretty rich with much cheaper competitors out there now.
 

Unknown_K

Well-known member
How many did they make in the first batch? Ebay only had 2 in the previously sold category and they were pricey.
 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
For such a niche item with many custom chips, it's probably a reasonable price compared to higher volume Amiga accelerators being pushed out for so much more. The CFFA3000 is $225 USD; I reckon that's pretty rich with much cheaper competitors out there now.
The TWGS uses mostly off the shelf parts for its logic, with an ancient CPLD thrown in for good measure. It's expensive to clone due to the number of parts it uses. The ZipGSX would have been cheaper to produce, but nobody has reverse engineered it's ASIC. Going forward, cheapening the TWGS with condensing all the logic to CPLDs would be be logical.

As for IIgs setups, here is a old rambling video about mine:

and the extra stuff I got for it:
 
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