timbur@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Tim Burnett) (04/26/91)
During an interesting conversation with a fellow NeXTer, he brought out the fact that when he opened his slab to add more memory, he noticed that the 68040 was a "sample" chip. He had ordered his slab about a week after mine (November of 1990), so I figured I might have the same thing. Sure enough, my 68040 is a "sample" chip. What does this mean? I'm not sure. People with more technical background than mine might know. I have heard that the 68040 "sample" does not have the same mask as the final. I can't comment on what differences that makes. The one thing that really bothers me is that someone at NeXT took a marker and tried to hide that it was a sample chip back marking over the sample label. This seems to me to show an intent to defraud, IMHO. You can tell if your machine is a "sample" by looking for that label at the top of the chip. You should be able to see "sample" through the dark ink. Also I believe that only the "sample" chips have the yellow lines on three sides. If the "sample" chip is no different than the final chip, then I have no real problem. If however, this chip has faults that were fixed at a later date, then I feel that I have been defrauded. Any comments?
masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Masaru Sugai) (04/26/91)
In article <47940@ut-emx.uucp> timbur@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Tim Burnett) writes: >During an interesting conversation with a fellow NeXTer, he brought out the >fact that when he opened his slab to add more memory, he noticed that >the 68040 was a "sample" chip. He had ordered his slab about a week after >mine (November of 1990), so I figured I might have the same thing. Sure >enough, my 68040 is a "sample" chip. I ordered in mid-October and got one on February 8. I opened up my slab that day to see if it carried a special 040 on it, and found a hand-written black letter 'S' by a huge heat sink. Also I didn't know the manufacturer of 400MB HD until I run into the log file, as it is armored with dark green plastic cover. >What does this mean? I'm not sure. People with more technical background >than mine might know. I have heard that the 68040 "sample" does not have >the same mask as the final. I can't comment on what differences that makes. I'm not sure NeXT use the sample editons in the recently shipped NeXTs, but I'm also curious about their technical changes including motherboard. >If the "sample" chip is no different than the final chip, then I have no real >problem. If however, this chip has faults that were fixed at a later date, >then I feel that I have been defrauded. I had had a deep concern when 'atan' bug was discussed a few month ago :( I don't care if NeXT uses samples as long as their defects show up within the warranty term. That accounts for most of the reason I never turn off my slab. To be fair, there has been NO hardware problem over four months. But I would be relieved to have a special warranty if the said samples had inherent defects just in case. (I believe most manufactures have such policy similar to 'recall') -- -- Masaru Sugai:Use disclaimer. CIS 72050,2141:NeXT + A3000 = money-eater NEC Corporation:sugai@ccs.mt.nec.co.jp DORMANT:hardwired logic,machine language MIT R.Affiliate:masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu: "Silicon on Sapphire" by CLASH