granvold@tymix.UUCP (Tom Granvold) (02/01/84)
-
I would think that the way the MAC would have its memory expanded, would
be to have the existing 64k bit chips replaced by 256K bit chips (once they
are commonaly available). This would increase tha amount of memory by four
times without doing something weird (and probably inefficent) like adding
memory on an external bus.
Tom Granvold
Tymshare
Cupertino, Calif.
decvax!ucbvax!oliveb!tymix!granvoldporter@inuxd.UUCP (J Porter) (02/20/84)
Soldered in RAMs are a sore subject with me and Hewlitt/Packard. Look who is calling the kettle black. I have an HP9816 computer at work which developed a memory failure after five months of ownership. (The warrantee is for only 3 months!!!!!!) The computer started beeping and came up with some diagnostic messages on the screen as to what address was failing on power-up test. My initial reaction: no problem, I'll just lookup in the manual which memory chip corresponds to that address and slip in a new chip. WRONG!!! The sucker was soldered in!!!! I decided to call my local HP rep and talk to the service department. They informed me that I was going to have to pay a large sum of money (about $500) as a standard service charge on the CPU board. I tried to explain to them that it was only a memory chip that went bad, but I had no choice. I was caught between a rock and a hard place. So I gave in. Then they tried to send my computer to Rolling Meadows to have it serviced, 'cause that was the official procedure. I about had a fit. To make a long story short, they did replace the CPU board in Indy (they had a spare laying around - I wonder why????) and I was on my way. I hope someone at HP is listening. Jeff Porter (inuxd!porter) AT&T Consumer Products Indianapolis (317) 845-6214
phil@amd70.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (02/22/84)
So what's the big deal? I remove soldered in ICs from 6 layer boards all
the time without hurting either the IC or the board. It helps to have the
right tools, of course.
--
Phil Ngai (408) 988-7777 {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd70!philglen@intelca.UUCP (Glen Shires) (02/23/84)
;-) (winking)
For those who want a quick & dirty way to replace soldered-in chips:
Take a wire-cutters and cut all the leads off the DIP. Remove the old chip
and solder the new one to the old leads. Sure it looks ugly, but you
don't have to worry about damaging that expensive multi-layer PC board.
^ ^ Glen Shires, Intel, Santa Clara, Ca.
O O {pur-ee,hplabs,ucbvax!amd70}!intelca!glen
>
\-/ --- stay mellowphil@amd70.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (02/29/84)
> From: byard%minet-obl-em@sri-unix.UUCP > > So what are the right tools (and techniques)? I want to buy some. Thanks. > Larry In our building we have the following tools: Weller DS500 Pace PPS-8A Pacs PPS-100A They all work well. Some require shop air, others generate their own vacuum. The essential concept is to apply vacuum while you move the lead around in the hole, allowing all the solder to be removed. They are fairly pricey. Phil -- Phil Ngai (408) 988-7777 {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd70!phil
jed@mb2c.UUCP (John E. Duncan III) (03/01/84)
You may be disappointed after you spend your hard-earned bucks on those hard-to-get 256K drams for your Mac. Apple learned a lesson with the II when they were charging $320/16KB when the machine first came out and those same chips were available for half that from any number of sources. I doubt that they sold very many "Official" upgrade kits. Even the authorized Apple dealers were selling cheap upgrade chip sets. When Apple brought out the III it originally came with only 96KB. In order to upgrade to 128K you had to get the Apple upgrade kit because the Maximum Memory Size was *BURNED INTO THE ROM*. You could add the chips, but without the ROM, SOS would only talk to 96K. I don't have a Mac and don't know the situation with upgrades. If anyone out there does know how it works, how about letting the rest of us in on it. John Duncan (mb2c!jed) Michigan Bell (313) 424-0178
stevel@dartvax.UUCP (Steve Ligett) (03/03/84)
John Duncan (mb2c!jed) says: - You may be disappointed after you spend your hard-earned bucks on those - hard-to-get 256K drams for your Mac... - - When Apple brought out the III it originally came with only 96KB. In order - to upgrade to 128K you had to get the Apple upgrade kit because the - Maximum Memory Size was *BURNED INTO THE ROM*. You could add the chips, but - without the ROM, SOS would only talk to 96K.... Apple has told me that all that must be done to upgrade to 512k is to replace the memory chips. The hardware and software are designed to take advantage of the 512k if it is there. They've also said that hardware documentation for the Mac will be out May 1st. So, I'd rather just wait and see... Steve (decvac or linus)!dartvax!stevel ps - They show a great movie (short feature) 'The Making of "1984"' at their "software developers seminar" - try to attend.