Everyone here,
Please accept my apologies for snapping last night. I am just tired of trying to prove that the sky is blue. Now you can see for yourselves.
As is now accepted fact at AYM, my XT was nothing unusual or unique. I was just the first to risk $360 to find out. They have come to conclusion that this is a simple thing, no big deal. I haven't reinvented the wheel, just put an expensive hubcap on it.
Please read over there before posting any taunting, jeering, etc here.
XT is a Pro with:
A. R360 core which is just a faster R350
B. 256 Mb of 2.5 ns RAM, Pro has 2.8ns
C. Different circuit board layout, however, electronically it is THE SAME !!!!
So, after you have read up over there, feel free to try one yourself. I WILL be posting a complete guide with pix, etc on my site. Until then, here is a quick set of instructions. I can not say this enough....IF YOU ARE NOT VERY SKILLED WITH A FINE TIPPED SOLDERING IRON DON'T TRY THIS !!!!!!! No lesson is learned like one which is bought. I don't know who said that but you do not want to experience the sudden loss of $400 due to twitchy or inexperienced soldering hands. So, here we go:
1. Buy an XT, a cheap 7000 PCI on which to flash, and several 25p10AV EEPROMs from Mouser Electronics. ($1.75 each, shipping is pricey so get at least 10)
2. Scan both cards at hi-res BEFORE modding so you have record of which way ROM pointed, etc.
3. Clip off ROM from both cards. Use a fine snip, do 1 leg of EEPROM at a time. Do all four on one side then CAREFULLY bend back and forth til the other side snaps off. TAKE YOUR TIME !!! If you rip up a pad you will have created hours of not fun work for yourself to save card.
4. Clean up leg remnants with soldering iron. CAREFULLY !!!
5. Place EEPROM on 7000 PCI with a clip with rubber tips. Needs to contact all 8 pads perfectly and securely.
6. I will not detail flashing procedure as it is covered elsewhere.
7. Go to Thomas Perrier's conversion page and read up, follow links to his "ATICELLERATOR" at end.
http://mapage.noos.fr/campahunta/rad...onversion.html
Yes, I have his permission to link to him.
Consider a donation to him, without his work on this program I doubt this ever would have happened. Si vous parlez francais, il y a un autre page en francais.
8. XT board layout is totally different, I have yet to figure out the config resistors on front. If any of you would like to help I have posted a VERY basic schematic of how they work on Pro at Cubeowner.com You are MORE than welcome to help figure out, as right now to try different clock speeds I have to re-solder a new EEPROM each time. And trust me on this, DON'T TRY TO DE-SOLDER AND REMOVE UNLESS YOU DO THIS ALL THE TIME !!! You can get lucky and have it work once, but next time it will be a rip-up-the-pad experience that you will wish you could forget. Buy some extra EEPROMS, $1.75 vs $400. Do the math.
9. Use ATICellerator (henceforth ATIC) to open a 9800 Pro ROM (do a search for "Radeon Bios Collection", look carefully through list and download there). Modify the Core & Clock frequencies to those used on PC XT, or higher. I read up on their OC forums and noted what speeds people had had luck with. I DECIDED TO TRY 440/390. I have since ramped up to 450/400 but there are little artifacts appearing when I am chasing Tank Jr. that weren't there at 440/390. You will have to decide this for yourself. Save and close ROM. Close ATIC. Re-open and examine ROM again. If you have done it right, the settings you saved will re-appear. It took me awhile to get hang of it, but this is now my best friend. So I sent him some money, you should too.
10. Flash using whatever flash method you prefer. (ie, do some research, I'm not going to re-write what has already been written)
11. Solder ROM chip onto XT in correct orientation (from scan you did before, right?)
12. Boot up and enjoy a faster 9800 !!!
I need the "SE" ROM to figure out how to address other 128 Megs. Also, any help figuring out resistors for ROM config would be appreciated.
Please post your results, everyone is VERY curious. (BELIEVE ME !!!)
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