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Author Topic: Problem installing 2.04 ROM in A500  (Read 4251 times)

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Offline banzai

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Re: Problem installing 2.04 ROM in A500
« on: September 05, 2007, 07:51:41 AM »
I just finished installing one on my Rev5. You'll need TWO jumpers, actually.

It all boils down to putting the address lines of the chip to the right spots in the socket. The earlier REV boards (<=5) need two wires, the REV 6 needs one, and later boards (>=6a?) don't need a jumper at all.

The only things you'll need are a soldering kit (Radio Shack has a basic one for about $8-10) and some thin (24-30 gauge) wire, about 6" (18cm) long, cut to a 2" (5cm) section, and a longer 4" (10-12cm) section.

Step 1: Remove ROM from socket. If there's a wire jumpering pins 1-31, then unsolder the wire from pin 1, leaving the connection to pin 31 for the next step.

Step 2: Bend out (or up) pin 31, and solder wire from this to pin 21. (This jumpers the A18 to VCC.)

Step 3: Solder wire to pin 1, making it about 3-4 inches (~9-12cm) in length, to help with the next step (it's tricky!). Leave other end free, but stripped of ~1/4" (6-7mm) insulation.

Step 4: We're done soldering, so you can unplug the thing and let it cool. Now, place the ROM close enough to the socket, as if you were going to insert it. See where pin 31 would've gone in had we not bent it out of the way? That's where the wire from pin 1 is going to go. So, carefully wedge the wire into the socket at pin 31 (this is why we used an extra long jumper). Once in, you can now insert the ROM into place, making sure that the pin 31 of the chip DOES NOT make contact with the wire we just wedged into the socket's pin 31. (This jumpers the ROM's A19 to the socket's A18).

Step 5: Double-check your work. The ONLY pin sticking up is pin 31. The gap in the socket at pin 31 should be used by the wire to pin 1, and the "stuck-up" pin 31 should be wired to pin 21. Once verified, cross your fingers and power it up.

It only took me about ten minutes, including the time to warm up the iron, to do this mod. It worked the first time (after using an unjumpered ROM, the standard jumpered ROM, and finally finding this tutorial for REV 5s).

Good Luck...

banzai
 

Offline banzai

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Re: Problem installing 2.04 ROM in A500
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2007, 09:18:23 AM »
I should also note that pin 31 is the only pin bent out - pins 1 and 21 remain in position for inserting into the socket. In fact, it won't work otherwise.

Yes, ANY wire will do, as long as it's not too large in diameter (I used some scraps of CAT-5 lying around). You want to first "tin" the wire ends by lightly hitting them with the iron tip and a dab of solder, just enough to lightly coat the wire with solder. Then do the same to pins 1, 31, and 21 of the ROM. Now that there's a small coating of solder on each, it'll be a snap to "tack" solder them up, since the solder will seem to melt almost instantly, and will cool just as fast (without damage to the chip, as AmiKit is worried about). Just be sure NOT to let the tip of the iron lay on any chip pin (wires are okay) for more than 3-5 seconds, or you risk heat damage. The soldering kit I mentioned earlier was a 15-20 watt model, and you shouldn't use anything higher than 30 watts for this project.

banzai