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Revenge of Frankenstein

Well the new brain isn't working quite as well as I thought.

What kind of brain did I transplant into the kid's Frankenstein computer?

Abby.

Abby what?

Abby something.

Abby something??

Abby Normal.

Abby Normal? Abby Normal??

You mean I put an abnormal CPU into the Frankenstein???

Yes, the 450 is not acting as nicely as it should. Or more accurately, it is acting about the same now as it did in the other computer.

Why should it work fine when it is freshly put into a computer, but get crabbier and crabbier when left in?

One possibility is that there is some sort of build up that is causing the pins to misbehave.
Another possibility is that the board is not seating perfectly, and heating and contracting is causing shifting in the socket until it becomes unreliable.
Perhaps there is solder joint that isn't quite right, and reseating the board is temporarily making the circuit work better.

I tried cleaning the contact on the CPU, but that by itself didn't solve it. The I tried the CPU without the heat sink (only for a few seconds :) ) and then it booted right away. I did notice that the small surface mount resistors on the back got hot very quickly. Maybe they need a heat sink of their own! When I put the heat sink back on, and put the 480 back in, it wouldn't boot. Tried playing with the seating of the CPU. Eventually that seemed to help. I think that CPU is just not a healthy unit.

If the 450 CPU is still giving trouble in the Frankenstein, I'll take it out. First I will see if it will run with a celeron I have handy. If that doesn't work, I'll put the 700 back in. At least until I can purchase a replacement P3.

Puttin' on the Ritz!

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