JFORREST@simtel20.arpa (Jim Forrest) (11/27/85)
A friend has an IBM compatible with 256K and wants help upgrading to 640K. The specs say it can be upgraded by adding 256K DRAM chips to the multi function board. Not being hardware oriented beyond great screwdriver ability, it appears to me that you would pull 18 chips from the board (which has 36) and plug in 18 256K DRAMS in place of the 18 64K chips. Is this what is required? If this is done, will the software he has been using run okay? Is anything else required? What precautions are required to prevent damage from static? Less than a novice in this area but got to learn sometime. Help is much preferred to flames. Jim -------
mdf@osu-eddie.UUCP (Mark D. Freeman) (12/04/85)
As long as the manual to the multifunction board in the PC-clone swears that it knows how to deal with 256 RAM chips, then you may do exactly as you supposed, and software won't know the difference. If the PC Clone runs at the standard 4.77 MHz, you can get away with using 200 mS RAM chips. If you are running faster than that, make sure that you are buying 150 mS chips. I haven't found static to be much of a problem when installing RAM chips.
johnl@ima.UUCP (12/07/85)
/* Written 2:13 pm Dec 4, 1985 by mdf@osu-eddie in ima:net.micro */
>I haven't found static to be much of a problem when installing RAM chips.
256K chips are much more static sensitive than are 64K RAM chips, and
at least here in the frost belt, there is a lot more static in the winter.
An easy way to avoid static problems is to unroll several feet of aluminum
foil on your work table and to ground yourself to it by leaning your elbow
on it while you work, and setting your card and chips on it. Your 256K
chips might well be OK anyway, but it makes sense to spend 4 cents on
aluminum foil to protect $50 worth of chips.
John Levine, ima!johnl