From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 3:45:22 -0400
I guess if there ever was a place to find out what prefernces PCI Mac users
have in this matter, this list is the place. How about it gang: do we hack off
the resistor or do we leave it on ? There is nothing in the Sonnet manual to
suggest that this alteration is necessary and sufficient to get the 1 Meg cache
on the G4 card recognised. I've been running my Daystar with resister intact
and the Sonnet G4 800 since theweek when they first came out and I ordered
one of the very first cards shipped to Canada. Is chewing off that resister a
good idea or does it just seem like a good idea ?
I have no recommendation on whether it is a *good idea*. I am simply putting the possibility out there. It seemed like the discussion had overlooked the hardware solutions.
While I have a few 9500 and 9600 boards on hand, I don't use them because they don't easily fit in an ATX PC case. So my experience is with S900 and PTP boards, which have easier ways of disabling the cache. Hence, my lack of opinion on the desirability of this modification.
However, I am happy to offer advice about how to implement the modification. The resistor in question is a surface mount resistor. Surface mount resistors are soldered down at each end, and may be glued down in the middle. The best way to remove one with home equipment is to use two soldering pencils, one in each hand. I first saw this method described on Marc Schrier's "Clock Chipping Home Page".
Take one soldering pencil in each hand, and apply a tip to each end of the resistor. Do not pry on the resistor with the pencil. When the solder has melted, the resistor will lift off easily. If it was glued down in the middle, the heating will take a little longer to loosen the resistor.
It's handy to keep a moist sponge nearby. If the resistor sticks to one of the pencil tips you can wipe it off on the sponge and recover it with tweezers. I find that sticking the resistor to a piece of scotch tape (after it is cool and dry) and putting the tape on an index file card is a good way to store them individually.
I recommend the 15 watt grounded (three pronged plug) soldering pencil at Radio Shack for this operation. It is less than $10. But any soldering pencil will probably work. Just try to keep the wattage low. Thirty or forty watts is probably the maximum you should use.
Jeff Walther
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