I finally got the prototype 2513 Text ROM board set done and ordered. It will be interesting to test, as it should upgrade the text capability of pre rev 7 motherboards to the same as rev 7. This means I can use the exact same flash contents as the ROM X 2316B SPCL replacement - you'll get the same 16 fonts available and selectable from ROM X.

This is a two board set as I have to tap into a few different signals on the motherboard to pull it off. No motherboard mods required - just plug the boards into the sockets of the IC's they replace.

The 2513 board grabs a couple of signals off the A3 chip alongside - rather than reusing that chip I'm replacing it with an SMD version.

And then there is the U board - grabs signals from the chips at locations B9 and B11 - works around B10 - hence the U shape! Again rather than reuse the chips I'm replacing them with SMD versions. Note that these boards both sit under the keyboard and are not seen.

So the 2513 has the ROM-Link interface that leads off to the ROM X board, but also a U-Link interface to the U-Board.

I'll let you know how they work out when I get them back in a week or two. I have an Apple II (my precious) with a rev 4 board in it, so can (cautiously) test on that :-)

I believe the first batch of ROM X boards should now have been delivered to everyone - we're keen to hear what you think. Hopefully the documentation is clear.

Jeff has a new firmware release coming soon that has DOS functionality built right in - load ROM images direct from disk within the firmware - no need to boot into DOS. Nice!