Putting a RAM chip in U36 on a C128

From: Niklas Ramsberg (niklas.ramsberg_at_swipnet.se)
Date: 2002-08-21 19:43:50

Hej allihopa!

That empty ROM socket on the C128 motherboard has been staring at me for some time now. Then, a few days ago I stumbled on some old message on comp.sys.cbm mentioning that it's possible to put a static RAM chip with battery backup in the socket. Sounds a lot simpler (and cheaper) than buying an EPROM burner and start destroying perfectly good EPROMs. ;)  Unfortunately, the message said nothing about how it is done; it only referred to an old article on Q-link which I haven't been able to find.

I suppose any small (5V?) battery would do for holding the memory and there would have to be some kind of write-protect switch. That's as far as I've been able to figure it out with my limited knowledge. What I need to find out is what kind of RAM chips can be used (preferably a kind that can be bought new in an electronics shop), how to hook up the battery and write-protect switch (I don't mind drilling holes in my C128's case; Ive already mounted the JiffyDOS on/off switch that way) and lastly, how to transfer programs to it. The C128 Programmer's reference guide is sketchy at best on subjects like these.

The obvious choice for a program to transfer to it would be The Servant, which seems really neat.

Anyone willing to help me out here?

/Niklas Ramsberg

       Message was sent through the cbm-hackers mailing list

Archive generated by hypermail 2.1.4.