Strange SIMM slot, can't figure out how to open them...

[bfollowell]

I'm trying to help out my new friend in the U.K. that I adopted my new STE from. We bought 4MB of RAM from the same seller, and my buddy had never installed RAM into an STE before. I told him it was really easy and that I'd step him through it and we'd do it together. Well, he messaged me today, and his SIMM slots are absolutely nothing like the one on my new STE. I looked through all of the different board revisions on Exxos' motherboard revisions forum, and every single STE board looks to have SIMM slots just like mine, the normal ones we typically see. The one's on my friend's machine are black and have plastic nub that goes through the holes on the left and right sides of the SIMMs. He can't seem to determine how they open and, naturally, he doesn't want to try too hard in fear of breaking something.

 

Is anyone familiar with this type of SIMM slot/framework?

 

I'm attaching the picture he sent me.

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by bfollowell

[anzac]

First I thought it would be an STe with SIPPs instead of SIMMs, but these look normal to me.

 

the sticks are inserted at an angle and then pushed to the vertical position entering those notches on the sides.

 

photo isn't very clear, but that's what it seems to me.

[bfollowell]

No, these don't look anything at all like the regular SIMM slots on an STE. The SIMM should install at an angle, like you said, then push it up, but that arm on the left, the piece that goes through the hole in the SIMM is in the way. You  can't install the SIMM or press it up. Whatever it is, these work nothing at all like the regular SIMM slots that you see on most STEs.

 

On my STE, which looks like a "normal" one, the SIMM goes in at about a 45 degree angle and then you press up, towards the back of the machine. I wonder if these install at the opposite angle, from the rear, then you pull them up straight towards the front of the machine, which would allow the little tip on the side arms to go through the holes in the SIMMs like is shown in the picture.

 

It's all very strange since I can't find a picture anywhere of a motherboard with slots anything like these.

 

[anzac]

1 hour ago, bfollowell said:

 I wonder if these install at the opposite angle, from the rear, then you pull them up straight towards the front of the machine, which would allow the little tip on the side arms to go through the holes in the SIMMs like is shown in the picture.

 

Seems easy enough to check if they're inverted... By the angle it does seem like it, but I would start by removing the already present memory and reverse for the new sticks? ?

[bfollowell]

Well, that's what he's tried to do, but nothing seems to want to move, and naturally, he's concerned about doing too much or moving too much and breaking something.

[anzac]

It might have been a SIPP STe that had SIMM slots installed later? Maybe the seller can answer that....?

 

these 30 pin do require some "gentle force", but damaging 256k SIMMs is much better than 1MB ones.

 

if the slots are inverted, putting the new meg ones or just see if they insert that way should not be a problem

[RodLightning]

I remember this type of simm socket being present on some older pc motherboards.  They were a pain to remove the simm as there are no moving parts.  The release relies on flexing two plastic tabs, the ones going through holes on either side.  As the plastic ages and becomes brittle, the removal process will be more likely to crack or break off a tab.  I recommend putting a drop of silicon based lubricant on either side.  Let it penetrate, and then gently try pushing down on the plastic catch that protrudes through the simm circuit board hole.  Use a finger or thumb nail to apply as little force as possible. The plastic "latch" will pop loose when you push the simm board inward.  Do one side at a time.

 

Wish him luck, those early cheap slots were sometimes tough, even when new.

[bfollowell]

11 hours ago, anzac said:

It might have been a SIPP STe that had SIMM slots installed later? Maybe the seller can answer that....?

 

these 30 pin do require some "gentle force", but damaging 256k SIMMs is much better than 1MB ones.

 

if the slots are inverted, putting the new meg ones or just see if they insert that way should not be a problem

That's what I was wondering as well. I'd also posted this to Exxos' Hardware forum and someone finally piped in that they have the same slot hardware, though theirs is white. He pointed out a tab that has to be pressed to release the SIMM and they are tilted to the back of the machine, rather than the front like most other STEs, and that they have to be installed and removed in reverse order to most STEs; back to front instead of front to back.

 

As far as contacting the seller, I gather my friend has had this machine for several years, so that likely isn't possible any longer.

 

Thanks.