From: hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu)
Subject: Re: TOS upgrade?
Organization: SAR Systems Development & Processing, JPL
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 06:02:51 GMT

In article <1992Oct2.233034.10925@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu) writes:
>In article <1992Oct2.045720.3272@ultb.isc.rit.edu> jad2433@ritvax.isc.rit.edu writes:
>>What is a good TOS upgrade for a Mega ST?
>>I currently have Tos 1.4, and a 1.44 meg Floppy
>>I have plans to go beyond the 4 meg Barrier with the MegaST with some help
>>from FastTech. I dont know what Jim is going to do to do it, but I would
>>like to have a TOS capable of handeling it.
>>
>>Has anyone had any experience upgrading their TOS beyond 1.4?
>
Lemme amend my previous posting. I mentioned that you wouldn't have to worry
about TOS upgrade with the TurboRAM board; that's not true. The TurboRAM
board requires TOS 2.06, and doesn't come with a TOS upgrade option itself.

I'm posting the info I have now to head off any further emailed questions...

TurboRAM board fits Mega STs and all STe's, comes with 0, 2, or 8 MB RAM, so
you can upgrade to a full 12 MB. Cost is $199 with no RAM, $359 with 8 MB.
The board uses page-mode DRAMs and is supposed to have a "back door" to allow
accelerators to get faster access. The flyer I have doesn't specify the
actual speed of the DRAMs being used.

Ok, so you need TOS 2.06 to use the TurboRAM board, and it only fits in Megas
or STEs. If you've got the right machine, you have at least 4 different ways
to get TOS 2.06 into your system. If you have an STe, you just need to buy the
chips for $60 and drop 'em in. Or, you can buy the TEC that Codehead sells, or
you can buy the BEST board (sorry, the name still escapes me and I don't have
the phone number for Best handy). Or, you can buy a Turbo20 board from Fast
Technology - this says "allows easy use of TOS 2.06" which implies to me that
you have to buy the chips somewhere else. Or you can buy a Tiny Turbo 030,
which comes with TOS 2.06 onboard. For review - a Turbo20 is a 16MHz 68000
running at 20 or 25MHz clock speed. The 25MHz board is $349, I don't have a
price for the 20 MHz board. These boards are supposed to work in all STs, the
STe version costs $49 more. The Tiny Turbo 030 is a 40 or 50MHz 68030 with
optional 60 MHz 68882. This goes for $599 at 40 MHz, or $699 for 50 MHz, and
another $299 for the 68882.

I was on the verge of buying a pair of Turbo20's at the Glendale Fair, but
decided that since I already have 16MHz 68000s in both my STs, any further
upgrade I did would have to be to 68030 at least. The Tiny Turbo 030 is
rather attractively priced, considering, but I feel it's a little hampered
since it must use ST RAM, and you can't add any 32 bit RAM to it. They weren't
advertising their full 68030 board at the Glendale Fair, only the 3 products
I've mentioned here.

If you want more info, call Fast Technologies at 508-475-3810 in the US.
You can also order in Canada thru ISD Marketing at 416-479-1880.

PS - I am not affiliated with Fast Technology in any way, I'm just passing on
info from an ad I picked up at the Glendale Fair. Also, the TurboRAM board
wasn't ready for sale yet at Fair time, I don't know if it really exists yet
now, either.

If you want info on the TEC board, contact Codehead Technologies at
213-386-5735. I'm not affiliated with them, either.
-- 
  -- Howard Chu @ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

California, land of dreams. For many, moving out to CA is their first step
toward fulfilling their dreams. For most of them, it's also their last.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st