🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan28.163750.20631@comp.lancs.ac.uk> arb@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Andrew Brooks) writes:
>In article <1993Jan27.094704.9118@cs.nott.ac.uk> rsxdp@unicorn.nott.ac.uk (D.Pead) writes:

>>I understand the dud serial port on the early A310 is a "known problem" and
>>can be fixed - can anybody tell me what this involves?

>According to the field change order I have (FCO 2003) IC9 (a CMDG65SC51) is
>the problem.  It should be replaced with one that has a date code later than
>8801 (1988, week 1).

>I've got one from 1987, week 29 but it is soldered in :-(  Does anybody feel
>handy with a soldering iron?

Yes, but unfortunately we're a little too far apart to make it
practical.  (-:

Seriously, when you replace any part on the Archimedes motherboard,
do make sure that you use a GOOD desoldering tool - one of these
solder-sucker things is usually not good enough unless you are very
expert at using it.  Failure to do the job properly will probably
leave you with a damaged motherboard which could be costly to fix.

A good desolderer can probably be borrowed from the electronics
department at the local university or polytechnic - you may even
find that one of the techinicians will do the job for the cost of a
pint or two (and an indemnity).

When doing this sort of repair, it is always worth the extra few
pence to fit the new chip in a socket.  Should you ever need to
replace the chip again, you won't have all this hassle.  A prime
candidate for a socket is the serial buffer chip (26LS32 from
memory?) which I have known to be very prone to failure:  at one
point the company I was working for gave instructions that all new
Archimedes were to have this chip fitted in a socket as soon after
delivery as possible simply to save on downtime later - we used to
use the serial ports quite a lot and in time-critical environments
(TV studios at #10000/hour downtime!)  so it was worth the 30
minutes (at #10/hour) to fit the socket before the chip died "at an
awkward moment".

Good luck with the chip replacement,

-- 
Mike Ellis, Darwin College, The University, Canterbury, Kent, England, CT2 7NY.

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