VOGONS


First post, by s3freak

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In 2018, I acquired the following cards, described in one of my other topics at Bought a Tseng ET4000 VLB with communication card with a TI DSP chip and single board computer with an Intel 486 CPU, where the CPU was soldered to the board.

I finally got round to acquiring an Anesty ZD-915 desoldering station and desoldering the CPU, like this topic at Rescuing an Intel DX4 100MHz 16KB WB CPU from an unidentified ISA board.

Anesty ZD-915 Desoldering Station.jpg
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Anesty ZD-915 Desoldering Station
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Before.jpg
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Nachi board with Soldered CPU vs. Desoldering Gun
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I were 'listening' to the noisy fan of the base unit, wiggling around the pins, pressing the trigger and 'listening' to the even louder pumping noise, then checking to see if the solder has sucked away. Some pins would not clear, I had to repeat, add fresh solder, flux, repeat, etc.

Eventually, once all pins appeared to be clear, after a couple of hours, I were able to gradually push the CPU out from the back of the board, leaving the following end result.

After 1.jpg
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CPU Removed - Front
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CPU Removed - Back
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The CPU then went straight into my Socket 3 motherboard, where I did not have to straighten any pins nor remove excess solder.

Installed.jpg
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Installed in Socket 3 Motherboard
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Results are to follow in my next post.

My 486 is my real DOSBox, as well as my customised DOSBox!
I am not very active on VOGONS, please send a private message if you need a quicker response!

Reply 1 of 6, by s3freak

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I then plugged in the PC and set a tripod up to record the first switch on.

Once everything was set up, I pressed the power button, then the moment of truth...

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OSSC Test Card before First Switch On
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The test card of my OSSC (open source scan converter) disappeared, heard the AMIBIOS memory test and booted up just fine.

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First AMIBIOS POST
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Yes, 128MB on a 486 is an overkill, but I like to experiment with memory hungry apps and systems, including Windows 2000 (NT5).

AMIBIOS System Configuration.jpg
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AMIBIOS System Configuration
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I had to bypass the XT-IDE BIOS to capture the AMIBIOS System Configuration, as I have it set up to clear the screen when it is initialised.

NSSI Summary.jpg
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NSSI Summary
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Sim City 2000.jpg
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Sim City 2000
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If you were expecting screenshots of Doom, Quake, etc., first person shoot em' up games aren't really my thing anymore. Therefore, I have tested the first PC game I ever played on my first ever PC in 1994 when I was a kid.

My 486 is my real DOSBox, as well as my customised DOSBox!
I am not very active on VOGONS, please send a private message if you need a quicker response!

Reply 2 of 6, by BinaryDemon

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I respect the insane work you went thru to save a 486DX4-100, especially considering they still only go for ~$15 on ebay.

Check out DOSBox Distro:

https://sites.google.com/site/dosboxdistro/ [*]

a lightweight Linux distro (tinycore) which boots off a usb flash drive and goes straight to DOSBox.

Make your dos retrogaming experience portable!

Reply 3 of 6, by s3freak

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I bought the desoldering station to use with my other projects too, plus this gives me experience with electronics repair at component level, as I will be repairing many more electronics in the future.

My 486 is my real DOSBox, as well as my customised DOSBox!
I am not very active on VOGONS, please send a private message if you need a quicker response!

Reply 5 of 6, by oeuvre

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woah holy crap that's an awesome job desoldering!

Your next task is to desolder a modern MacBook...

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif

Reply 6 of 6, by s3freak

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oeuvre wrote:

woah holy crap that's an awesome job desoldering!

Your next task is to desolder a modern MacBook...

Thank you. This gave me some experience desoldering through-the-hole devices.

The next tool is a hot air station. Maybe I could upgrade a BGA soldered CPU in my MacBook? Not going to be easy, but I have seen it done, for example, I have this morning just destroyed a S3 Trio by trying to replace a faulty RAM chip which is SMD soldered.

My 486 is my real DOSBox, as well as my customised DOSBox!
I am not very active on VOGONS, please send a private message if you need a quicker response!