conner@carina.unm.edu (Steven Conner) (08/11/90)
I would like to hear from anyone who has had experience upgrading an XT clone by swapping in a 286 motherboard. What do you know now that you wish you had known before starting the job? What advice would you give to someone attempting it for the first time? Thanks in advance. Steven conner@carina.unm.edu
readdm@walt.cc.utexas.edu (David M. Read) (08/13/90)
In article [abridged] conner@carina.unm.edu (Steven Conner) writes: >I would like to hear from anyone who has had experience upgrading an XT clone >by swapping in a 286 motherboard. > >What do you know now that you wish you had known before starting the job? > >What advice would you give to someone attempting it for the first time? > I recently did this, knowing very little when I started, and now think I have a handle on the likely pitfalls... 1) Find out what kind of warrantee is available from the motherboard manu- facturor, and from the sales house. Often they give you cheesy warrantees\ and service... 2) Find out the FCC rating of the motherboard!!! I bought one without checking this, and the ^*&% Class-A rated beastie destroys TV reception for about twenty feet... 3) Make sure you have power supply heft enough to handle the requirements of the new board/cards... 4) Check out how many 8-bit slots are on the new board; you may want to use some or all of your old cards, and most '286 boards have only two or three 8-bit slots! 5) Get some static-protection devices, like wrist straps.If you can't find any, always be sure to touch the power supply casing before you pick up *anything* (the PS should be plugged in & grounded, but not turned on) There are books available on the subject. Go to your local bookstore & buy one, like the one written by Aubrey Pilgrim. Good luck! -Dave | LAMPF and UT don't believe that Dave Read: read@lampf.lanl.gov | their people have opinions. Who read@physics.utexas.edu | am I to disillusion them? readdm@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | #include <cutepicture.h>
drp@vpnet.chi.il.us (Douglas Pokorny) (08/14/90)
Dave Read: I am puzzled by you point #4, which stated something along the lines of "Make sure that the board has enough 8 bit sockets", "Most only have two of three". Why may I ask you anyone want more than 2 8-bit sockets? If you have more tha n 2 8-bit cards, simply plug them into 16-bit sockets. That is why 16-bit sockets are broken into an 8-bit part and the 16-bit extension. IMHO, I'd prefer to see ISA bus systems with NO 8-bit sockets, I have yet to come across and 8-bit card which had physical restrictions that prevented from being plugged into a 16-bit slot. -Douglas Pokorny (drp@vpnet.chi.il.us) +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How do icons work? | | What is an address bus? | | How does a mouse let me move the cursor around the screen? | | Answers to all this and more in Time/Life's new series.... | +-----------------+---------------------+------------------------------------+ | Douglas Pokorny | drp@vpnet.chi.il.us | Just say no... to 8088's and 286's | +-----------------+---------------------+------------------------------------+
ianj@ijpc.UUCP (Ian Justman) (08/19/90)
drp@vpnet.chi.il.us (Douglas Pokorny) writes: > IMHO, I'd prefer to see ISA bus systems with NO 8-bit sockets, I have > yet to come across and 8-bit card which had physical restrictions > that prevented from being plugged into a 16-bit slot. > Believe me, they DO exist. I have such a card, and it's an internal modem. I agree that cards shouldn't be made that way, but in order for some folks to up- grade or get cards they want that cannot go into 16-bit slots due to circuit board design, all manufacturers put at least two 8-bit slots into their system. Now, how would you feel if you had an EISA-based computer and you wanted to use your old 16-bit ISA boards with an overhang in PC board so that it wouldn't fit into an EISA bus? Think about that for a moment. If you must flame, do so with all speed, but in mail.