Turn an Ultra66 into a FastTrack66 ???

[This_Idiot]

Uwe, I knew there was a reason that you had earned lifelong membership of the site.

Ladies and gentlemen, Uwe has posted a perfect example to the logical procedure that all contributors to the site are asked to adhere to. Firstly, I'd like to point out the surgical precision of the layout of tools. Secondly, the safety aspect. Uwe has deliberately turned the soldering iron OFF while he is taking the picture so that no-one can get hurt. Lastly (and most importantly) you will notice at the top right of the picture the base of a wineglass. I need to pick Uwe up on procedure here, since a) the glass appears to be empty (unacceptable) and b) it doesn't appear to be the right type of glass for this job.

I just wanted you all to know that we strive for the highest quality at this site

[Uwe]

Hi Chris,

You can´t imagine how difficult it was to arrange the tools so orderly after having drunken a bottle of wine.

Therefore I guess you are absolutely right and I will drink some bottles of beer next.



Uwe

[Tummy]

Just thought I'd let you guys know that I just performed this mod on my Ultra66 card as well and it seems to have worked just fine! I don't have 2 drives to make sure of it but the BIOS pops up like it's a RAID card and everything.. so cool! Thanks - u guys are awesome. =)

[asami629]

Hey everybody, i was just wondering if anybody could tell me how to desolder and IC chip, i am very interested in this and want to give it a try.. heh been looking for a little "project" and something to replace my rapidly aging Atlas II drive. anyways, i just went out and bought myself a soldering iron. i tried unsuccessfullyto remove an IC from an old ISA video card.. (man those irons are hot.. got me a couple of blisters to prove it.) but anyways if any of you experienced people have any tips for a newbie, or better yet, instructions as to how to desolder an ic using a regular soldering iron, i'd appreciate it

[SteveW]

Before I order one of these boards, can someone tell me if the BIOS IC is a through hole part or a surface mount part? I understand that the resistor that must be moved is a surface mount, but I'm not clear on the IC.

Thanks.

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[insert your favorite snappy signature file here]
Steve Wodard

[Uwe]

Hi Guys,

the Bios-IC is a through hole device.
This can be desoldered with the use of a vacuum tool or solder-wick (german: Entlötlitze).

Bye, Uwe.

[JayZ]

Uwe
I was just wondering if you replaced your BIOS IC or did you just resolder the old one back on. I've heard people say that they replaced it. But I do not understand why you would. What did you replace yours with, just a normal 32pin IC? thanks

[Uwe]

Hi JayZ,

I desoldered the BIOS-IC very carefully without damaging it.
After changing the position of the SM-Resistor I have soldered a 32 pin socket at the position of the BIOS-IC on the board.
Then I have put the old BIOS-IC into the socket.

Bye, Uwe.

[roverma]

Looks like Promise is getting a bit nervous.
Link to the latest drivers on their site seems dead.
What are the latest versions of the bios and the drivers for the Fasttrak66.
Maybe someone (Uwe, please) can post 'm here if they are not too big

Thanks very much,

Rob

[Uwe]

Hi Rob,

well, I don´t see any problems with the Promise ftp-server:

ftp://ftp.promise.com/Controllers/IDE/FastTrak66

And I don´t think that they must get nervous, because of us few solder-lunatics.
Perhaps there will be more users who kill their cards (and buy a new one) than users who successfully change it to a FastTrack !

Bye, Uwe.

[roverma]

Thanx Uwe,

Apparently my ISP who failed on me this afternoon.
I now have no problem downloading the drivers from their site..
Tomorrow my ordered ULTRA 66 and 2 Maxtor 's ata66 7200 rpm will arrive.
I will then try to perform the "trick" with the soldering iron. Keep you fingers crossed for me.

Rob

[DouglasTexas]

Will this trick work on a Asus P3C200 Motherboard? configured with Ultra ATA 66 with 4X AGP video, 2-Ultra ATA 66 IBM 7200 RPM. Hard Drives, 600PIIIB, Coppermine chipset?

[roverma]

Mission accomplished.
Well, I just finished formatting my 26 gig of superfast diskspace on my new Fasttrak IDE raid 0.
Everything seems to work perfect after a lot of swapping my PCI cards to find at last a slot in which the Promise card was detected.
A little warning:
The soldertrick is not someting for the weak of harted, especially when you have to use the simple DIY soldering tools I used.

Rob

[Bear]

Just finished performing "The Operation". I have to say moving the resistor is an eye strain but everything worked out OK and the array is alive and well! Surgery took 50min. Not a Bad trade-off... Ultra66 at $92Cad incl. Tax.. now a Fasttrak66 whch cost $300Cad.

[Patrick]

Hey, I'm glad it's working out for you guys!