I have a mono Turbo slab running NS3.3 and ROM 3.0. Would programming a new EPROM with a newer ROM revision give me any appreciable benefits?
Not that I've checked whether I could find a suitable EPROM, but I'd like to know if I should bother looking. I'm not going to mess with the current ROM that's in there.
Thanks!
I think the only appreciable difference would be the ability to use your choice of ADB/Non-ADB peripherals.
From an old comp.sys.next.hardware (
http://groups.google.ca/group/comp.sys.next.hardware/browse_thread/thread/b399971a468322b5/a26ec5cae3c184c3?hide_quotes=no#msg_a26ec5cae3c184c3)
Quote
Here's the details from the NeXT FAQ:
>5.36 How to convert a Turbo system to use ADB?
> If ADB equipment are used with older NeXT systems they won't work
> properly. Here are the ADB requirements:
> * A Turbo computer.
> * CPU eprom version 74.
> * New revision computer to soundbox/monitor cable.
> The part number is molded at both ends of the connector:
> Cable NEW OLD (Non ADB)
> NeXTcube 4534 150
> NeXTstation 4535 1532
> NeXTstation color 4536 2286
> * New revision monitor which uses a vertical scan rate of 72hz
> instead of 68hz, except on NeXTdimension systems color monitor
> stays 68hz.
> Monitor NEW (72hz) OLD (68hz)
> 17" mono ACX (N4000b) AAA (N4000a \& N4000)
> 17" color ADF (N4006) ABG (N4001)
> 21" color ADB (N4005a) ABH (N4005)
> * ADB soundbox for color systems. S/N prefix ADD instead of ABN.
Another may be the ability to use RAM with faster timing, but I'm guessing there.
Quote from: "leitec"I have a mono Turbo slab running NS3.3 and ROM 3.0. Would programming a new EPROM with a newer ROM revision give me any appreciable benefits?
Not that I've checked whether I could find a suitable EPROM, but I'd like to know if I should bother looking. I'm not going to mess with the current ROM that's in there.
Thanks!
The latest v74 ROM will also give you the ability to boot directly off of the NEXTSTEP 3.3 CD. I have a Turbo Color Slab with an updated v74 EPROM that I burned and it's been working for a few years now. I purchased a handful of replacement EPROM's from Futurlec. The part number is 27C010, and pretty much anything 200ns or faster should work.
http://www.futurlec.com/cgi-bin/search/qty_price.cgi?part_no=27C010-150The v74 ROM code is available here:
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/ROM_Files/68040_Turbo_Chipset/ You can use the code as-is, but it would be best to modify the code with your original MAC address per these instructions:
http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11Hope that helps.