AERCO 4 MEG 1040ST upgrade By John Damiano Copyright 1992, 1994 All Rights Reserved Way back in the bad old days (before the ST) I owned a Commodore 64. Actually, I still have an SX 64. 64K of RAM (random access) memory. Enough to rule the world we thought. We couldn't even conceive of what it would be like to have 512K, much less 1 MEG, of memory. So...how come, now, 1 Meg of RAM isn't enough. It isn't really. If you try to work with desk top publishing you quickly run out of room for fonts. If you load lots of handy accessories into memory, you can run into some tight situations. If you want to use a decent ram disk..not enough room left. My 1040 felt so...so...confining. I decided it was time to shove some more chips into it. Checking around, people generally recommended the AERCO upgrade board. There were a host of other brands available too. Some that were not recommended. We won't mention those. Here is how it went: I got the phone number of Aerco (Acme Electric Robot Co). A call was placed. It went right through. They said they would be GLAD to sell me a 4 meg upgrade for my 1040 ST. They also had 520 upgrades. Or maybe I would rather just get the 2.5 MEG upgrade. Chip prices were down so we went with 4 MEGs. The whole thing would cost $419.00 [editor note: The current, 1994 price is $350 Ry] out the door. This is a good deal. Check around. Most 4 meg upgrades run around $600. It arrived a week later even though it was ordered UPS second day. When ordering things from remote outposts of our country, I always order everything UPS second day...that way you are reasonable sure it will arrive during your lifetime. I guess the Christmas shipping glut slowed things down but it did show up. I un-boxed it and there it was. The Board looks good...good quality. The little chips were all there. 32 of them smiled up at me. Now for the instructions. Lets see...there is the shipping list and there is a picture of the board and...no instructions. Maybe they are on a piece of spy type microfilm. Nope, the picture is the message. Actually, it's not so bad. It only goes in one way. That brings me to another important point. This upgrade only fits SOME of the 1040 boards. They will discuss which ones with you on the phone but you have to take apart the 1040 before you can tell them how its configured. I had an "A" revision so it fit ok. You have to remove the MMU (a large square IC). To do this you pry it out. You have to have something like a dental tool or a small awl to do this. And you have to be careful. Best Electronics has more MMU chips should you need one after this operation. Mine came out hard. Now you put this chip on the bottom side of your upgrade board. Orient it like the picture and push hard. The IC has a little dent (dot) on one side to show its position. Hard to mess this part up. Now you have to take the board and push it into the old MMU socket. This is pretty easy too. You can see inside the socket when you are done to make sure the metal pins are aligned with the socket contacts. Next we have our first problem. You have to plug a cable into the Video Shafter I mean shifter socket. You have to unplug this chip. You can pry it out. I used an IC extractor I own. This chip plugs into the top of the new plug. The problem is...the shield won't fit back down because the cable has to exit the area. I cut part of the shield off. Easy for me as I have a metal nibbler. This could present a problem for the less well equipped. Now the cable can snake into the shielded area. Its ready to reassemble. Whoops...the main shield won't go on anymore (hits the RAM chips). Out comes the nibbler. A BIG section of the shield needs to be removed. Reassembly continues. Whoops again. The keyboard won't fit flat. This means the case won't quite go back together. I worked around this. The case has about a quarter inch gap at the front. I find some plastic spacers (you could make some out of a ball point pen body) and some longer sheet metal type screws. To cover the gap I cut a piece of plastic electricians tape. It looks good! Its tight. Testing time. The moment of truth. Have I ruined a perfectly good computer. It comes on. No smoke...no strange noises. I'm bold so I boot up the HD and everything. Like I know its going to work. Initially, you can't tell if anything is different. This is good. This means at least it still works about the same as it did before you attacked it. We run the memory check utility AERCO supplied. Holy caped crusader...4 MEGS of RAM! Its working. I'm ecstatic. I eat a donut. How do I like it? It's been just great. As an example of how neat it is...using Flash I go online to DL messages off Compuserve and Genie. (Usually, I fill up the capture buffer at least once during a session) I forget the 4 Meg is there and am getting the messages while doing business paperwork. I glance at the capture buffer. It reads 3 percent...it doesn't change. I think "Oh NO...something is wrong...the capture isn't working...dang it" Not my exact words. But everything IS ok. The capture buffer is so HUGE that what would normally fill it up takes about 10 percent of the one I have now. I made a 2 MEG RAM disk just for fun. I can rule the world...at least for now. Summary: the price is right. Its a hassle to get it in and indeed, it won't fit. They don't tell you this and I can not remember anyone in any review mentioning this fact. There is no way this can be considered a plug and go operation. But for about $1200.00 [editor note: currently priced at $600 Ry]. I now have a 4 MEG computer. (This price includes the base ST unit, both monitors, an SF 314 DS disk drive, and the upgrade. Time spent on the upgrade was about 2 hours. A lot of this was time spent cursing and could be called non-productive. Bottom line: It was worth it. [Editor's note: The AERCO board is the memory upgrade of choice for the early ST, without internal floppy drive. The memory upgrade for the STF and STFM, both with internal floppy drives, is the XtraRAM Deluxe. The XtraRAM Deluxe is high profile and thus will only find in those spacious ST models. It uses SIMMs and can be easily upgraded to 1, 2.5, and 4 MEGs of total ST RAM. STeve's Atari Sales carry both memory boards. If you want professional installation, STeve's can do it for you at $25. For the AERCO board, AERCO charges a $40 installation fee for the 4 MEG configuration. STeve's charges $50 for the installation of the 4 MEG configuration. Ry] Upgrade and chips from: STeve's Atari SALES! Order line: (800) 487-7753 STeve's Atari SALES! Info Line: (916) 661-3328 5 West Street 24Hour BBS: (916) 661-1538 Woodland, CA. 95695 Fax Line: (916) 661-1234 Your 'PROUD' Atari Dealers Aerco Box 18093 Austin TX 78760-8093 Phone: 512-451-5874 The author: John Damiano Transierra Technology Madera CA 74575,60 Compuserve Rhinobreath Genie