🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <20726@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> ARRITT@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (What a waste it is to lose one's mind.) writes:

| My question is: what is involved in replacing the motherboard?  That is,
| can it be done by someone who is mechanically adept, has some knowledge of
| electronics, and has done a little bit of fooling around with computer
| hardware (like installing memory chips or disk drives)?  

  Here's what it takes. Figure 1-2 hours, including getting the system
apart, testing, etc. Open the case and remove all of the cards. If you
don't know for sure what does what, label them (I suggest masking tape,
it comes off). You will probably have to remove some or all of the
drives, since they often cover the m.b. Now disconnect the power
supply.

  The m.b. is now held in place by either screws or pop clips. If it's
clips you squeeze them one at a time and slide the m.b. up over them.
Yes, some will pop back. Clear the room of anyone offended by
rough language before removing a "pop-in" m.b.

  Install the new m.b. with the screws or pop-ins. Connect the power,
and install the disk controller and video. Install the floppy disk
to the controller. *Check for screws, etc, which have dropped into the
box*. One little piece of metal in the wrong place will spoil your day.
Now power it up and see if it runs okay as a floppy system.

  Then install the rest of the boards and the hard disk (if any). Close
the box and power up. I suggest that you burn in the system for 100
hours and then run whatever hardware tests you have handy, just for
peace of mind. This is what I did when I was building systems for other
people. 

|  
| Also, how well do these things match up, physically?  Will a "typical"  
| 286 motherboard fit into a "typical" XT-clone case, without a lot of  
| drilling into metal and so forth? 

  For an XT you want a m.b. designed to go in an XT. These are sometimes
called "baby AT" boards, but check with the vendor before buying. These
things usually line right up and drop in. Check the location of the
power connector on the m.b., you may have to hack a cable. Beware boards
with builtin serial, etc, since they often need a case which fits them,
unless they just connect cables to the m.b.. Be *sure* that any builtin
stuff on the m.b., like disk controllers, serial, video, can be
disabled! If you want to upgrade your m.b., you will probably want to
upgrade you peripherals, too, some time.
-- 
	bill davidsen - sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
davidsen@sixhub.uucp		...!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen

"Getting old is bad, but it beats the hell out of the alternative" -anon