105 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
105 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
MiniSport Laptop Hacker - Vol 5, 3 Dec 1992
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Yea! I've gotten a few more technical responses from the audience. I'm
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never sure what people are most interested in. Usually a discontinued, but
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useful computer attracts a cadre of hackers to support it. I initiated
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this series in an effort to provide a single point resource point. Keep
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sending the tech info!
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On the flip side, I'll bet there are a lot of first-time MS-DOS users who have
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purchased this machine because of its "out of production" cost. Let me know
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what information you need to make this thing useful in your Amateur Radio
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quests. Owning it is only half the battle. Be sure to *use* it to its full po-
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tential.
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>>>DISASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS Remove the battery. If you'll do more than
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remove the back panel, I suggest removing the Li batteries, too. If you re-
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move the main battery pack and the Li batteries, you'll loose all RamDisk info
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and configuration info. Back it up first!
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There are 12 phillips screws holding the back of the computer in place. Re-
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move the 5 around the perimeter of the bottom. Notice that one rubber foot
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has no screw. So as to not snap plastic, remove the 2 screws holding the
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modem cover in place. Remove the modem cover. Loose the 4 scres holding
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the handle of the computer. I leave these in place as the back panel is lifted
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off. Lastly, don't forget the single screw on the back panel (not bottom). It
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is the one farthest from the flip down access panel on the back.
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Once all 12 screws have been loosened or removed, lift the back cover
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straight up. The oval Li battery cover will remain in place. There's a plastic
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insulating sheet attache to the inside of the bottom cover. Be sure not to
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dislodge or crease it as you lay the back cover aside.
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Another dozen screws allows the circuit board to come up. For reference, lay
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the computer upside down with it's back toward you. Remove the 3 screws
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across the top (the front edge as it lays). The two metal brackets on each
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side are held down by two screws each. Remove these 4 screws, as you no-
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tice the orientation of the metal brackets. Right in the center, there is a sin-
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gle screw holding down a grouding tab. Remove the 1 screw, and the tab if
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it appears to be loose. The next 3 screws are *inside* of the flip down ac-
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cessory panel on the back. They're tiny. Don't loose them! The last screw
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actually is one of four that mount the disk drive in place. It must be taken
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out to loosen the silder and copper colored grounding straps that curl up
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around the right side of the circuit board between the power switch and the
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disk drive.
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Disconnect the ribbon cable that overlays the copper colored foil you just
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loosened. *Carefully* note how the power switch, the ribbon, cable, the fer-
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rite choke (if present), and the disk drive are arranged. This is the most
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difficult part to get alligned correctly during reassembly.
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As you lift the lower right side, depress the power switch so you don't break
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it off! The eject button of the disk drive also needs to be pressed in as it
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passes past the thin plastic strip of the computer case blocking its path. The
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power switch and disk eject button need to be caressed during reassembly,
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too, simultaneous with holding the ribbon cable and ferrite choke on the cable
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in place. Do you have three hands?!
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While rotating the entire board a little clock-wise (to release the plastic clip
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extending out from the battery enclosure), lift the left and front upward. The
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circuit board and the keyboard will be free. The keyboard must be lifted out
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at the same time or the green acetate ribbons curling around the left side of
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the circuit board will be strained. *Although the keyboard and the circuit
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board are not connected, they must be handled as one unit while the acetate
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ribbon cables are connected*
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As you lift out the keyboard/circuit board pair, you'll find they're still con-
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nected to the rest of the computer on the back (bottom as you look at it). I
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find it convenient to open them like a clamshell and set the computer on its
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side. It stands up all by itself like a birthday card.
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>>>POWER PINOUTS
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More info on dissembly next time if folks are interested. For now, back up to
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when you just pulled the back panel off.
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Just below the center circuit board hold-down screw, there is a double row of
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8 pins (bottom view of a 16pin mini Scotch flex connector header). Pin 1 is
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toward the right and front of the computer. As you look at it:
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15 13 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 2
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16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 or rotate CCW: 3 4
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5 6
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A working power supply provides the 7 8
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following voltages: 9 10
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11 12
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1: 5.1 2: 5.1 13 14
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3: 0.0 4: 5.1 15 16
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5: 5.1 6:-22.1
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7: 10.3 8:-10.4 When my system quit working, it consistently
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9: 0.0 10: 6.6 failed with the following indications:
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11: 0.0 12: 5.1 pin 5: 0.0
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13: 0.0 14: 0.0 pin 6: 3.9
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15: 5.1 16: 5.1 pin 10: 5.7
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Well, I have gone way over my self-imposed one page length! Oh, by the way,
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if you're looking for an excellent "cram it all onto paper" utility that lets you
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document packet work, consider tcols, distributed with the shareware A86 as-
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sembler. I'm currently evaluating version 3.21 (off of CDROM, available to you,
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as indicated in MLH Vol4). Tcols appears to be a unix clone, accepting param-
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eters of line width, length, number of columns, etc. I run my printer at 160
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characters per line (12cpi condensed) and pack in 8 lines per inch. That's
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how I archive all the good info you folks send me.
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Next time, MINIMUM BOOT FILES, BOARD REVISIONS, and more DISASSEMBLY
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and PINOUTS.
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73, Brian, ka9snf@wb7nnf.#spokn.wa.usa or Internet ka9snf@jupiter.spk.wa
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