---- HOW TO INSTALL RAM INTO AN AMIGA 3000 DESKTOP ---- General steps: 1. General setup and protection methods 2. Disassembly of the 3000 3. Move the DRAMS from fast memory to chip memory 4. Install the ZIPPs (Read this section thoroughly!!!) 5. Reassembly of the 3000 6. Testing to make sure that the memory is working. 1. GENERAL SETUP Be sure to protect yourself against any static charges. James Seymour suggests buying an anti-static wrist-band. I used a plug in anti-static mat which fit underneath the 3000. I did constantly touch it just to make sure that I didn't have any charge built up. Make sure that you have a clean and fairly large workspace. Remember that you have to basically strip the 3000 down to the motherboard. You need a place to put all the parts. I had a towel set aside for the parts. 2. DISSASSEMBLY OF THE 3000 DESKTOP I'll bet that tearing apart your 3000 will scare a great many people. And, even being used to stripping IBM ATs daily at work, I was a bit concerned with fooling with *my* Amiga. But, taking it apart was actually not much harder than the ATs; it's just that there is a lot more packed in there. C= did a good thing by putting all the drives on their own platform. First, be sure that you have the "Introducing the Amiga 3000" small white book which accompanied the computer. It does give good instructions on dissassembly, but *NOT* on installing the chips. a. Remove the cover to the 3000. (This is rather simple: remove the screws and pull forward). b. Although the manual didn't tell me to, I found it necessary to remove the cover plate assembly (the place at the rear of the 3000 where the expansion cards will poke through the back of the PC). I needed to do this to get the daughter board out. c. Remove the daughter board. The daughterboard is the place where the expansion boards plug in. Be sure to remove the S-clips first, then pull the board out. This does require some pressure. (I almost fell over when I got the damn thing out! :-) Then remove the spacer. d. Remove the floppy drive? Some people recommended that I pull out the floppy drive, but I didn't find that necessary. I left it in and just unplugged its power and connector (and shoved the connector through the slot toward the motherboard). Be *sure* to note how the connector plugs in (I remembered it as "numbers down"). e. Remove all the screws holding the platform. (Follow your manual). f. Remove the platform. First, lift the platform and disconnect the power and hard drive. Then pull the thing out. This requires NO pressure. It should just lift out. g. That's it, you have now stripped the 3000 down to the motherboard. 3. MOVING THE DRAM FROM FAST TO CHIP The first thing I did when I stripped the 3000 down was move the DRAMS. This is a very simple move. Pull the chips from the fast ram sockets and put them into the open bank by the chip ram. (Follow your manual). Be sure that the chips you put in match the direction of the chip ram already installed. Just be sure not to bend the chips. 4. INSTALLING THE ZIPP CHIPS This is the hairiest part of the operation. Installing the chips took me a great deal of time. READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY! The first thing to do is switch the jumper on the motherboard so the Amiga knows that it will be using ZIPP chips for fast memory instead of DRAMS. The manual has a great picture showing you where it is and how to change it. Next, note that the ZIPP chips DO NOT install one after the other! When you install chips, you must fill a full bank. And the chips in a bank are NOT adjacent. The absolutely best instruction I got (and which I FOOLISHLY didn't study enough) was given by James Seymour: Unless they changed the board, the orientation of the FAST RAM is with pin 1 pointed toward the center of the main PCB (to the left, if you're facing the front of the computer). The pictorials of the RAM location were not clear in my manual. As an aid, I developed this: FAST RAM Physical Locations (ZIP) in A3000 socket number "bank.number" u881 u879 4.8 4.6 u873 u871 3.8 3.6 u865 u863 2.8 2.6 u857* u855* 1.8* 1.6* u880 u878 4.7 4.5 u872 u870 3.7 3.5 u864 u862 2.7 2.5 u856* u854* 1.7* 1.5* u877 u875 4.4 4.2 u869 u867 3.4 3.2 u861 u859 2.4 2.2 u853* u851* 1.4* 1.2* u876 u874 4.3 4.1 u868 u866 3.3 3.1 u860 u858 2.3 2.1 u852* u850* 1.3* 1.1* Double-check this against your manual, but it's correct for mine. I have marked the locations that comprise the first bank. You can see how the other banks follow. James's diagram clearly indicates where the chips should be installed. If you do not understand it, please take the time to reread it until you do. I jumped the gun and ended up removing all my chips and doing it again. For example, to fill the first bank, put a chip in every fourth spot, starting with the first one (assuming you are looking from the front of the computer). The second bank is also every fourth one, starting with the SECOND space. David Tiberio also gives a good pictorial of where to install the first bank of chips: (front of A3000) (rear of A3000) DRAM sockets Z---Z---Z---Z--- DRAM sockets Z---Z---Z---Z--- Z = ZIP chip - = empty socket (The second bank would be, assuming the first bank is in place (z for first bank chips), zZ--zZ--zZ--zZ--). Ok, now that you know where to install the chips, you need to know HOW. These chips are NOT EASY to put in. Just pushing them in was not the way to do it. Sean Reifschneider did give good instructions that worked for me too: >I placed the pins in the sockets, grasped them by their middle, and kinda >wiggled them into place. I tried to just push them into place, but it took >too much force to get anywhere that way. Just kind of exerting a steady >pressure on the chip, and wiggleing it forward and back seemed to work well. >I did the same only gently pulling, and they came right out (when I was checking >for some problems with the chips). Wiggleing then forward (that is toward the front of the computer) and backward worked for me, but it gave me a weird feeling of bending the leads. But, they slid in and work great! However, I did not find it so easy to take them out. I was pulling with all my might to get them, and I nearly broke 3 or 4 of them. IF YOU FOLLOW THIS GUIDE AND PUT THE CHIPS IN RIGHT THE FIRST TIME YOU WILL SAVE YOURSELF SOME HEADACHES!!!! 5. REASSEMBLY OF THE 3000 I will not go into great detail here, just follow (in reverse) the steps you used to disassemble. Just make sure that you plug everything back in correctly. James Seymour: A last note: when re-assembling your A3000, make *sure* that you have the vertical expansion slots board correctly and fully inserted. The A3000 will not work well (or at all) if this is not done. 6. TESTING I used the program SysInfo to check to make sure my chips were working. I was surprised to see only 6Mb responding (instead of 10mb) and I had to rip the PC down again and move a bank of chips to their right socket. .