mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (11/20/84)
Every time I insert a board into the Multibus card cage in my Sun 120, I nearly break my fingers trying to push the board in. Usually I finally get it, often by pushing the back of the 120 against a wall for leverage. Today I had a memory board that was even harder than usual - my right thumb is still a bit sore from pushing on it, and I'm not sure it's in all the way now (but it seems to be running OK.) I never had these problems with Unibus boards. Does anybody have a trick or a tool that makes life easier? Mark
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (11/21/84)
I can't help with Multibus boards, but it would appear that there are
worse cases. Fujitsu Eagles come with a special card-pulling tool for
use in getting boards out of their card cages for maintenance. The folks
who installed our Eagles told us, roughly: "Make absodamnlutely sure you
do not lose those card-pulling tools. There is no other way to get those
cards out -- not even with a Vise-Grip!".
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henrybrian@sdcc3.UUCP (Brian Kantor) (11/25/84)
> Every time I insert a board into the Multibus card cage in my > Sun 120, I nearly break my fingers trying to push the board in. > Usually I finally get it, often by pushing the back of the 120 > against a wall for leverage. Today I had a memory board that > was even harder than usual - my right thumb is still a bit sore > from pushing on it, and I'm not sure it's in all the way now > (but it seems to be running OK.) > > I never had these problems with Unibus boards. Does anybody have > a trick or a tool that makes life easier? > > Mark We too have some Sun-120s: :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) To get the board out, I have to lay the damn cabinet on its back and then put on gloves, yank the boards out and practically pick up the whole cabinet in the process. Or find one of the fraternity types to hold the workstation cabinet in place while I do the circuitectomy. :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) Putting a board IN is much easier. I just slide the board into place, wiggle it around until I've compensated for the warp in the board, and then stand on the workstation until the board is seated. The trick is that wiggle. If you don't wiggle the board, it might just crack in half before it goes into the motherboard slots, just out of sheer perversity. Think of it as sun-electronic-foreplay. :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) :*) Brute force works fine every time. I guess its better than having intermittent contacts on the motherboard! What a PAIN! Brian Kantor UC San Diego decvax\ brian@ucsd.arpa akgua >--- sdcsvax --- brian ucbvax/ Kantor@Nosc
geoff@desint.UUCP (Geoff Kuenning) (11/26/84)
In article <509@cbosgd.UUCP> mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) writes: >Every time I insert a board into the Multibus card cage in my >Sun 120, I nearly break my fingers trying to push the board in. >Usually I finally get it, often by pushing the back of the 120 >against a wall for leverage. Today I had a memory board that >was even harder than usual - my right thumb is still a bit sore >from pushing on it, and I'm not sure it's in all the way now >(but it seems to be running OK.) > >I never had these problems with Unibus boards. Does anybody have >a trick or a tool that makes life easier? Sounds to me like Sun (or more likely their board maker) blew it and either made the boards too thick or (less likely) made the connectors too narrow. Multibus boards are certainly hard to get in, but you should not have a sore thumb for more than a minute or two at the absolute most. I have more of a problem getting the boards back out when the board pullers are the short kind. However, in most of the systems I used, the boards were mounted vertically so I was pushing against the floor. I have never seen the inside of the Sun 120, so I do not know the board configuration. From your description, it sounds like the backplane is mounted vertically. If the boards are mounted horizontally, there are a bunch of connector reliability problems due to gravity, which could be partially solved by deliberately making the fit unusually tight. The one horizontally-mounted system I used did not normally have to be pushed against a wall for leverage, but it was remarkably unreliable. -- Geoff Kuenning ...!ihnp4!trwrb!desint!geoff
phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (11/28/84)
> >Every time I insert a board into the Multibus card cage in my > >Sun 120, I nearly break my fingers trying to push the board in. > Sounds to me like Sun (or more likely their board maker) blew it and either > made the boards too thick or (less likely) made the connectors too narrow. Since no one has brought this up yet, I guess I will. I have seen some boards which were too *wide*, as opposed to being too thick. Imagine putting a square stick into a square hole. There are 4 dimensions of interest. Consider the 4 edges of the section of the card which is inserted into the connector. Two of those edges have the gold fingers. The other two edges most people don't think about. Take a good look at them. Do they show signs of rubbing or damage? If so, then the board is too wide. It may help to take a file to those edges. This isn't always the problem but is worth considering. Also many manufacturers use short ejectors. I used to use longer ones which made a big difference in getting cards out. -- If you're rich, I'm single. Phil Ngai (408) 749-5790 UUCP: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd!phil ARPA: amdcad!phil@decwrl.ARPA
agk@ihuxq.UUCP (Andy Kegel) (11/30/84)
> I have seen some > boards which were too *wide*, as opposed to being too thick. > ... > The other two edges most people don't think about. Take a good look at them. > Do they show signs of rubbing or damage? If so, then the board is too wide. > It may help to take a file to those edges. This isn't always the problem > but is worth considering. But be careful with that file! A co-worker once filed down a card for me. Mike was a bit careless for he filed off too much. Much grief followed because the card fingers became mis-aligned with the connector fingers -- card fingers shorted adjacent connector fingers. Mike eventually rebuilt the filed edge with epoxy. I trashed the first board (accidentally, of course :-) when the second board was made available. -andy kegel just another AT&T employee with opinions of his own