Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!hamblin.math.byu.edu!news From: smithw@hamblin.math.byu.edu (Dr. William V. Smith) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: 4 MBytes Simms Message-ID: Date: 29 Oct 90 12:55:32 GMT References: <9010290610.AA01815@mcs-server.gac.edu> Sender: news@hamblin.math.byu.edu (Usenet News) Organization: Brigham Young University Lines: 141 In-Reply-To: scott@NIC.GAC.EDU's message of 29 Oct 90 06:10:54 GMT In <9010290610.AA01815@mcs-server.gac.edu> scott@NIC.GAC.EDU writes: >Hmm. I've also heard that once you're past the little ribs, or whatever, >at the back of the cube, there aren't any problems. So, basically, >you sort of force stuff . . . Hmm. I don't want to do that. You can easily use the "taller" 4 MB SIMMS, without "forcing stuff". You cannot get the full 64 MB with the taller SIMMS. But, you can buy a few of the shorter variety, if you want to and fill out all the SIMM banks with 4 MB SIMMS to get the 64 MB. I have 40 MB ram now in my cube (8 1 MB SIMMS and 8 4 MB SIMMS), all of the taller variety with "getting my machine out of spec" as someone said. No cutting traces or bending boards or bending the drive case. Its a very simple procedure and a somewhat cheaper alternative to the shorter SIMMS. Since I keep getting asked "how do you do it?" Here is a message I sent several people about the procedure, so listen up and get it straight ok? Ready? Here goes, take good notes now: To install 4 MB SIMMS in a cube, assuming they are the sort with chips mounted horizontally (these are somewhat taller than the 1 MB SIMMS as you must know),you must have 4 or 8, or 12 of them (it is rather more work to install 16 of them). Pull out the motherboard. If you have 16 1 MB SIMMS, you will have to remove the ones starting with socket 15 (sockets are numbered 0 to 15). Socket 15 is the one closest to the end of the board with the external connections on it (ethernet T connector, etc.). If you don't have 16 1 MB SIMMS installed, you should remove enough to use up whatever amount of 4 MB SIMMS you have available up to 12 sockets. Once you have your SIMMS installed, the board should have 1 MB SIMMS in sockets 0-3 at least (perhaps 0-7, etc.). Now looking at the open back of the cube, you will see two screws at the bottom holding in the drive/power supply case. Remove these two screws and carefully pull the drive case out of the cube. If you have never done this before, it could be a bit stiff but should slide right out after the initial pull. You probably have some kind of hard drive installed so you will need to remove one of the mounting screws for the hard drive (not the optical). The screw you must remove is the one (facing the back of the cube) on the right side closest to the back(i.e., closest to the back cover which you have removed to do this!)- be sure to check the other drive mounting screws to see that they are tight. The remaining three screws will provide sufficient support for the drive (I have a big WREN in my cube and things work fine). Now start the drive case back in to the cube about 1/4 of the way and then start the motherboard back in to the cube, connecting the drive cables back to the motherboard while the motherboard is a few inches further out than the drive case. Now slide the motherboard 1/4 the way into the cube until it is even with the drive case, then SLIDE THEM INTO THE CUBE TOGETHER. The fit is snug but there is a VERY small amount of space between the SIMMS and drive case when every thing is back together. If you are nervous about having your hard drive mounted with only 3 screws you can go out and buy a flat head screw to replace the standard round head you removed. Press both the motherboard and the drive case firmly into their connectors at the front of the cube. Reconnect the fan cable to the fan and without screwing in the backplate screws, hook up the monitor cable to the motherboard, plug in the power cord and start the machine . It does seem to be somewhat common to get bad 4 MB memorySIMMS so watch the boot on the ROM monitor. If you get error messages about memory, or the monitor doesn't light up, or something else is weird, it is probable that you have one or more bad SIMMS. Sometimes at boot the ROM monitor will tell you which sockets have bad memory, and sometimes it won't. Bad memory can also lead to strange things happening with apps dying unexpectedly or the windowserver dying, etc. If nothing is wrong with the boot (you may get a message about different size memory being installed in various blocks-this is ok, the ROM will keep track of this and you won't get a second message on another boot). Watch the boot process a couple of times and if every thing is ok, turn off the machine and tighten the screws on the backplate, hook up the rest of your stuff (printer, ethernet, etc.) and you've got more memory. I have 8 1 MB SIMMS and 8 4 MB SIMMS in my cube. Works like a champ, except one of the 4 MB SIMMS went bad oncea couple of months ago and the machine would hang all time. Watched a boot and the monitor told me I had a bad SIMM in socket 14. Replaced it and have never had any more trouble. My big jobs don't use much swap space now and things generally work much faster. Also, you can reinstall the same way on your upgrade board if you decide to go that route. NOW DOES EVERYONE HAVE THIS DOWN??? No strange mods necessary. This does not effect the warranty. If you do have a hardware problem, and you are worried about someone "seeing I have 'tall' 4 meg SIMMS in my cube", just take them out the same way. REMEMBER, the key is that the drive case and board must GO IN and OUT together. This is starting to sound like a marriage manual. I think I'll quit. -BILL- -- __________________Prof. William V. Smith____________________ EMail: smithw@hamblin.math.byu.edu or uunet!hamblin.math.byu.edu!smithw SMail: Math Dept. -- 314 TMCB; BYU; Provo, UT 84602 (USA) Phone: +1 801 378 2061 FAX: +1 801 378 2800