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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: curtis on June 29, 2015, 09:53:46 PM
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I HATE ZIP RAM!!!!!!
While trying to work on my A2386SX bridgeboard, I decided to upgrade the 1MB RAM to the max of 8MB.
Found a seller on fleabay with a decent price and ordered the chips.
First, the chips came in an anti-static bag, LOOSE!!!
Spent better part of an hour unbending those delicate, TINY legs. Inserted a chip. Pulled it BACK OUT to straighten several bent pins. Try again. ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Back and forth several times!
Finally got them all installed.
What rocket scientist, masochist, engineer decided these would be a good idea for a normal consumer!
Whoever it was should be shot, hung, drawn and quartered, then hung again!!!
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What? You didn't prick your fingers? It belongs to the operation!
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Lost count of how many pokes on my fingers. Not to mention all the scuffing on my hands from holding the board in such a way so I could see if the pins were going in the holes.
Which most of the time they WEREN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What? You didn't prick your fingers? It belongs to the operation!
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When will these guy discover styrofoam.
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Ah, but styrofoam doesn't do much good when you're trying to install!
Also doesn't do much good when shipping static sensitive components.
When will these guy discover styrofoam.
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But it keeps the leads straight and you can always put it in static bag after, they also make the the black static rubber stuff that's is not too costly.
Chris
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I used a thin piece of plywood just long enough to hold nicely in my hands, then bent all the pins so they all lined up on the side of the wood, can do this both sides and in the centre line of the chip pins.
When all straight, popped them into the sockets no problems
Both my A3000's have max ram, one with static column the other page mode.
Until the plywood trick I was in all sorts of trouble inserting zips!
Az
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I don't consider myself an expert chip installer but had no problem installing a whole A3000's worth (16MB.) Maybe I am an expert?
I also did install ZIP sockets and chips to max out an A2630 to 4MB once. That was one of my favorite little projects. I think the space savings the small footprint of the ZIPs provided was worthwhile, back then. Imagine 16MB of DIPs of the same capacity on a motherboard.
But yeah, I guess starting with chips that weren't packed poorly would've been helpful.
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ZIPS were never meant for the average consumer. They were around long before Amiga and used in commercial systems at first. Like a lot of the stuff to reduce the price of Amiga computers and attempt to make them desirable over the IBM and clones they used what they thought was the most cost effective.
Most people when these were new had a shop install them from what I remember. I cant even begin to count off all the times I install stuff for people in the early days at user group meetings in Santa Clara.
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Until the plywood trick I was in all sorts of trouble inserting zips!
Az
I'm thinking a popsicle stick might be the right thickness also.
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Personally i never had a problem with zips either. installing was always easier than pulling them though. I still prefer simms,but zips do work fine. I have installed enough of them in 100's of systems in the last 20 years. They were not the most robust package design,but hey they were what was available at the time.
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I must say I am no a fan of ZIP-rams, either. Too easy to bend a pin, fortunately they seem to manage even a couple straightenings, breaking off one of those tiny pins would be even worse!
And yes, I do keep my extra ZIPs extra-carefully stored now, too :)
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Isn't there a board that allows you to use SIMMs instead of ZIPs?
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Isn't there a board that allows you to use SIMMs instead of ZIPs?
That's for the A3000. OP's trying to update a bridgeboard.
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Zips are pretty easy to install if you are lucky enough to find them brand new. After they have been pulled out and re-installed a time or two the pins get weak and bend slightly. Once that happens they can be very tricky to install. I have a zip to simm adapter for my A2386 so that is possible too.
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That's for the A3000. OP's trying to update a bridgeboard.
Here's one:
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=785918&postcount=4
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Isn't there a board that allows you to use SIMMs instead of ZIPs?
There is also this:http://www.amigaworld.de/hardware/simm-zip-ram-adapter/
Not sure the availability and it is for the 3000 not bridge board. So not sure if it would work with that. Biggest issue with it would certainly be space next to the 386 with the board and SIMS, as well as layout of the Zip sockets
But, of course, if one could be made for the 3000 one could be made for the 386 bridge board. Just a matter of the time, money and expertise I would think
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I have been building my new A3000T-machine, and I was painfully remainded of this thread's topic!
I moved a whole 16 MB of Zip RAM to the new 3000T. Not to mention that I had to insert them TWICE, as there were two chips of a different type amongst the 32 chips (two static column mode TC514402AZ that work with Fast Page Mode chips, but only when they are NOT as the first chip in the 4-chip banks).
All the usual ZIP RAM madness (bent pins that you can't see when you have inserted almost all chips, inserting the chips again and again, straightening the pins one by one) within the bulky case of the 3000T.
The machine is now up and running but I surely wouldn't like to touch any more ZIPs for some time now! :insane: