masticol@lento.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola) (10/13/90)
Does anyone have a reference (in one of the Mac magazines or books, perhaps) on how to upgrade the memory of a Plus? I need to know both the procedure and what type of SIMMs to buy. Thanks, - Steve (masticol@athos.rutgers.edu)
amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) (10/15/90)
In article <Oct.13.10.38.50.1990.6007@lento.rutgers.edu> masticol@lento.rutger >Does anyone have a reference (in one of the Mac magazines or books, >perhaps) on how to upgrade the memory of a Plus? I need to know both >the procedure and what type of SIMMs to buy. I don't have a ref., but it's pretty easy. Let's assume you have your red devil putty knife out, and can open the case. Let's further assume you know basically how the sims pop in and out. Then we'll assume you are willing to risk (and careful enough not to) cracking your motherboard doing this without experience. It also is possible to break a sims socket, but .... You should find 2 rows of 2 sims. You'll almost certainly find 4 sims that are 256K sims. (adding up to 1 MB). Now you'll need 1 MB sims in even quantities (either 2 or 4). 2 will give you 2 MB, then you can use 2 of the leftover 256K's to get 2.5 Mb total. If you replace all 4 with 1 MB sims, you'll have 4 MB. If you choose NOT to use 4 1 MB sims, you must put the highest density sims in the lowest numbered sockets. This is identified as the sockets clostest to the main cpu in almost all applications. If there's a doubt, you can try pulling 2 sims, the turn the machine on, if it tries to or basically boots, then you have found the HI number sockets, if you get a beep & or a memory error icon/ sad mac, you've found the low sockets. Hope this helps. al -- Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE
ogil@quads.uchicago.edu (Brian W. Ogilvie) (10/15/90)
In article <1990Oct14.171754.5378@rodan.acs.syr.edu> amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) writes: >In article <Oct.13.10.38.50.1990.6007@lento.rutgers.edu> masticol@lento.rutger >>Does anyone have a reference (in one of the Mac magazines or books, >>perhaps) on how to upgrade the memory of a Plus? I need to know both >>the procedure and what type of SIMMs to buy. > > I don't have a ref., but it's pretty easy. [...] Mr. Michielsen left out one important point in his description of how to upgrade the RAM in a Mac Plus. There is a resistor somewhere on the motherboard (if the SIMM sockets are on the bottom, relative to you, it's in the upper left part, I think) labeled "256 KB" which you must cut if you want to upgrade the memory. Otherwise BAD THINGS (TM) will happen. The details of installing SIMMs in all current Apple computers which use them are given in Tech Note #176, "Installing SIMMs." I used to forget to cut this resistor about one in four times when I upgraded Mac Pluses. The result, when there are four 1 Mb SIMMS in the Mac, is that it thinks there are only two. Not as neat as what happens if you install 2 256 Kb and 2 1 Mb SIMMS in the wrong banks, but sort of interesting, especially if a customer is watching you do this to his machine (now wait just a minute, nothing to panic about...) -- Brian W. Ogilvie "Find a need and fool it!" ogil@midway.uchicago.edu --Zippy the Pinhead
alen@crash.cts.com (Alen Shapiro) (10/19/90)
In article <Oct.13.10.38.50.1990.6007@lento.rutgers.edu> masticol@lento.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola) writes: > >Does anyone have a reference (in one of the Mac magazines or books, >perhaps) on how to upgrade the memory of a Plus? I need to know both >the procedure and what type of SIMMs to buy. > >Thanks, >- Steve (masticol@athos.rutgers.edu) I buy 100ns by 8 (or faster) from the chip merchant in San Diego, the plus does not use the parity (9th) bit so *8s should be ok. (tel: 619-268-4774) here's an old posting of mine, reposted in case there are others interested - the only addition I've been advised to put in is a warning to BEWARE OF THE TUBE...try not to break it or to accidentally force a screwdriver into the rubber protection while earthed (boy - some accident :-() 1) buy an earth strap (folklore but who dares go against that!!), a long handled allen-key of the type that will fit into the "star" screws on the mac (apple will sell you a "star" key for about $50 - the allen key can be bought for about $5) and a case cracker (the case cracker can be done without if you dare to face the mac on its screen and shake it as you pull up on the case with ALL 5 (yes 5) screws undone (2 screws under the handle, 2 in plain sight and 1 UNDER the battery flap (crafty apple)). 2) undo screws 3) pry off programmer buttons (they will crease the mother-board protector paper). 4) pull case from rear of machine with screen face down (case cracker comes in useful here) the plastic/foil mother board protector may fall off at this point - take it off anyway and save for reassembly. 5) mother board is the board nearest the base of the machine. Pull off 2 cables attached to mother board (1 = floppy 2 = power - note which way they should go back on (no harm in being careful)) 6) carefully slide out mother board towards the rear of the machine (NOTE if you have an accelerator board you won't want to slide this board anywhere since it will probably scrape off the add-on board (not much clearance)). 7) with the board chips up and the external plugs nearest you (rear of the board), the simms are far away from you mounted at an angle to the horizontal with side-catch fasteners. Remove the 2 simms nearest you (the 2 nearest the center of the board) 8) replace these with new simms (chip side up, board notch same as all the other simms). 9) locate and remove the resistor jumper marked 256kbit which will be towards the right side of the board if the previous orientation (back towards you) is maintained. The jumper is about 1/4 of the board length away from you. 10)All done - slide mother board back in, replace plastic/foil protector, connect 2 leads, slide case back on (careful - no force is necessary here if it seems to stick then find out why and correct), replace screws (you should still have 5!!), replace programmer switch and power-up. NOTES: 1) do not be alarmed if 10-15 secs go by before the grey screen becomes the smiley face - testing 2.5Mbytes take a while 2) simms must be fitted in like pairs - start with 4*256k = 1M, upgrade to 2*1M + 2*256k = 2.5M or 4*1M ( = 4M). I don't believe any other combinations are legal. 3) replacing memory is fun - it'll take 10 mins or less when you've had some practise. 4) if the smiley face is bordered by a black screen then you forgot to remove the resistor jumper (or snipped the wrong one - woops). (the former should not cause any damage, the latter is anyone's guess). 5) I replaced my memory while wearing an earth strap I suggest you do the same just in case the folklore is soundly based. DISCLAIMER - (guess what comes here). Sorry if I got it wrong guys - I don't believe I did - I've done it a load of times now with no problems but I won't be responsible for problems due to following these instructions which are given in good faith etc etc.
soudan@iitmax.IIT.EDU (Bassel Soudan) (10/23/90)
In article <Oct.13.10.38.50.1990.6007@lento.rutgers.edu> you write: > >Does anyone have a reference (in one of the Mac magazines or books, >perhaps) on how to upgrade the memory of a Plus? I need to know both >the procedure and what type of SIMMs to buy. > >Thanks, >- Steve (masticol@athos.rutgers.edu) I just upgraded two Se's and three Plusses. All I needed was exactly five things: 1- The SIMMS (100nSec for the plus is fine) 2- A tourque screw driver (you better buy one from a dealer or a mail order place, they run less than $10.) 3- A pair of wire cutters. 4- An anti-static wrist band (mail order again.) VERY IMPORTANT. 5- A copy of MacWorld from the middle of 1988 (May or June I think). In that issue of MacWorld there is a step by step procedure for upgrading. Actually the first time I went through it I just followed the pictures that were posted next to each of the steps. I highly recommend reading the procedure once ahead of time though. Bassel (sorry no sig) (#include <StandardDisclaimer.h>)
drg@mdaali.cancer.utexas.edu (David Gutierrez) (10/24/90)
In article <4423@iitmax.IIT.EDU> soudan@iitmax.IIT.EDU (Bassel Soudan) writes: > 2- A tourque screw driver (you better buy one from a dealer or a mail > order place, they run less than $10.) A minor correction: That' *Torx* (a trademark, or something) screwdriver. It's got a six-pointed head for weird screws invented by GM, I think, to keep people out places they didn't want them. Anyway, you can get them at any auto parts store. There are at least two head sizes, T-10 and T-15. I think the Mac uses the T-10. One other thing: be sure that the screwdriver's shaft is *at least* 8 inches long, so that you can reach the recessed screws in the Mac's handle. David Gutierrez drg@mdaali.cancer.utexas.edu "Only fools are positive." - Moe Howard
roy@phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) (10/25/90)
drg@mdaali.cancer.utexas.edu (David Gutierrez) writes: > A minor correction: That' *Torx* (a trademark, or something) screwdriver. > It's got a six-pointed head for weird screws invented by GM, I think, to > keep people out places they didn't want them. They weren't invented to keep people out of places, but because they are very good for power-driven screwdrivers. You can transmit a lot more torque (hence the name) with a Torx than with a flat slot or even a phillips, but they self-seat a lot better than plain hex heads. -- Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy "Arcane? Did you say arcane? It wouldn't be Unix if it wasn't arcane!"
davisson@milton.u.washington.edu (Gordon Davisson) (10/27/90)
In article <4232@lib.tmc.edu> drg@mdaali.cancer.utexas.edu (David Gutierrez) discusses the Torx screws that hold compact Macs together: >I think the Mac uses the T-10. One other thing: be sure that the >screwdriver's shaft is *at least* 8 inches long, so that you can reach the >recessed screws in the Mac's handle. Actually, they're T-15's. (Though they did use antitamper variant T-10's to hold peripheral cables on in the security kit -- the screws have a pin in the center, so a normal driver won't fit. But I digress.) -- Gordon Davisson Westwind Computing (206) 632-8141 4518 University Way NE, Suite 311, Seattle WA 98105