A4000 Buster -09 or -11 Revision: Heat Sink On Chip

[crazyegg]

Hi All,

The Buster chip on my A4000 has a heatsink on it that is glued very tight.

Is there a way to find out the revision number (09 or 11) without removing the heatsink?

If no, what is recommended on removing a heatsink?

Regards....ed

[rkauer]

Depends on what kind of heatsink it is and how it was glued on top of the Buster.

Try to rotate gently the 'sink to see if it snaps off.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by crazyegg

Is there a way to find out the revision number (09 or 11) without removing the heatsink?

A rev 11 can reportedly only support 1 Zorro III DMA master whereas a rev 9 can support multiple masters so if you use happened to have two DMA master capable cards that you could fit they would not work

i.e. A4091, Fastlane ZIII, Deneb

[crazyegg]

Hi Alexh,

Thanks for the reply.

I think I will just leave the Buster alone for now. I have bigger issues at hand....like fixing the potential leaking caps on all my Amigas...sigh....

I guess it is just a matter of time before they all start leaking right??

Regards....ed

[mech]

Originally Posted by crazyegg

Hi All,

The Buster chip on my A4000 has a heatsink on it that is glued very tight.

Is there a way to find out the revision number (09 or 11) without removing the heatsink?

If no, what is recommended on removing a heatsink?

Regards....ed

use a thin bladed knife like a carpet knife(box cutter etc), work it under 1 corner between chip and heatsink a bit and twist, it usually pops loose the most stubborn chips.

[mech]

Originally Posted by alexh

A rev 11 can reportedly only support 1 Zorro III DMA master whereas a rev 9 can support multiple masters so if you use happened to have two DMA master capable cards that you could fit they would not work

i.e. A4091, Fastlane ZIII, Deneb

I have done this in the A4000t's to get multiple bus masters. Unfortunately most of jens stuff does not have buster9 support,at least big ram insists on buster11 iirc.
fastlane Z3,4091,deneb work with 9.

[toddbailey]

Originally Posted by crazyegg

Hi All,

The Buster chip on my A4000 has a heatsink on it that is glued very tight.

Is there a way to find out the revision number (09 or 11) without removing the heatsink?

If no, what is recommended on removing a heatsink?

Regards....ed

heat and alcohol, and be gentile with a slight twisting motion between heatsink and chip
Use 99% iso and soak heatsink for a few hours, then heat (keep it under 150 F), then back into alcohol , a few times will soften the glue and allow you to remove the heatsink with out damage