Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucla-cs!ucla-seas!JPRICE@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu From: jprice@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware Subject: SIMM installation report Message-ID: <0093365A.5C444140@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu> Date: 9 Mar 90 05:12:09 GMT Sender: news@SEAS.UCLA.EDU Reply-To: jprice@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) Organization: UCLA Particle Physics Research Group Lines: 69 2:00: SIMMS arrive via UPS 2nd day air. Total price, including shipping and the 3% charge for plastic: $278.10. I start drooling. I look at the enclosed instructions. They're not very helpful. They say things like "Cut the resistor shown in the picture" - but there isn't a picture. They recommend the use of the Dove toolkit - perhaps this "picture" is in this kit. However, since I have the instructions used by a friend, I'll just use those. 7:00: I've been waiting for the aforementioned friend to arrive with the aforementioned instructions. He hasn't come yet. I start to shake, and my face breaks out in a cold sweat. I call him at his apartment from my office. He had forgotten to bring it in. So, I go to his place and pick up the instructions. 8:00: I finally begin. After checking five or six times to make sure I'm properly grounded (I'm not sure how important this really is, if they can ship the SIMMS in bubblepak), I take out the screws holding the Mac together. I then carefully break the case apart with the case cracker. Etc., etc. I won't go into all the details, but it amounts to opening up the Mac, removing two cables from the motherboard, pulling the motherboard, replacing the SIMMS - ah, yes. Replacing the SIMMS. Here, the instructions seemed a little vague. I quote: First, notice that each SIMM has a plastic tab on each end. Gently pull the tabs outward to unlock them. Be careful--the tabs break easily if forced. I took this to mean that there was a lever-like thing that I would pull out, and would then lock in an "open" position, and that after I put the SIMMS in, I would return to a "closed" position. This is *not* the case, and I wasted about 15 minutes trying to understand how the SIMMS were installed. Now that I know, it's easy. However, a good close-up picture would have helped tremendously. The instructions, by the way, are from MacWarehouse. Except for this, they are *excellent*. Well done, MacWarehouse. No, they aren't paying me to say that. I didn't even buy the instructions from them. The "plastic tabs" are more like spring loaded clamps (those of you who've done this, help me out in describing this - it's hard to tell what you're doing the first time...). You pull them out enough to let the SIMM free. When you install the new SIMMS, push them in until the tab clicks into place. Remember not to push too hard - you're probably a lot stronger than the Mac... After replacing the SIMMS, clip a resistor that tells the Mac that you're using 256K SIMMS, and reverse the steps to take the Mac apart. Plug it back in, turn it on, and there you go. Note that it will take longer to come on than it used to - there's more memory to check... 9:00: Back up and running. No sweat... :) Anyway, I found it pretty easy. While I must admit that I have had some experience with electronics, I never would have tried it had I not heard so many reports from other people who had done it. Thanks to all of you for giving me the confidence to do it myself. Gee, now I've got these four 256K SIMMS just sitting around... what are they worth? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Price | Internet: jprice@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu 5-145 Knudsen Hall | BITNET: price@uclaph UCLA Dept. of Physics | DECnet: uclapp::jprice Los Angeles, CA 90024-1547 | YellNet: 213-825-2259 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where there is no solution, there is no problem.