Instruction manual

Eagle 250 Upgrade Instructions, Rev. A00
Chapter 1 - Introduction
The Eagle 250 is a powerful upgrade for certain Alpha Microsystems computers. Employing Motorola’s
new ColdFire technology, the AM-138-10 CPU board used in the Eagle 250 gives performance never
before available in an Alpha Micro entry level computer.
The AM-138-10 board includes a Motorola ColdFire CPU, one or two memory SIMMs for up to 256MB
of memory, 10BaseT Ethernet interface, and either a narrow or Wide SCSI bus. It also offers eight on-
board serial I/O ports, a parallel port, and three I/O expansion slots for a total of up to 32 serial ports.
The following computers can be upgraded with the AM-138-10 to Eagle 250 functionality:
•
Eagle 100, 200, or 300
The AM-138-10 board is supported only in the Eagle deskside chassis, either old or new (introduced in
the spring/summer of 1998) style. Kits are available to upgrade either chassis type, but you must specify
the chassis type. You can tell the old style chassis from the new style using the following criteria:
•
Old Style Chassis: Black plastic horizontal strip across the middle of the front bezel
•
New Chassis: Purple pushbutton switches on the front bezel (no black strip)
Please contact your dealer or Alpha Microsystems for information on the different upgrade kits used for
each of these system types.
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
This document contains installation instructions for upgrading your computer with an AM-138-10 board.
Besides this introduction, its chapters include:
•
Chapter 2 talks about what hardware and software works with the Eagle 250 upgrade, and what
doesn’t.
•
Chapter 3 describes how to install RAM SIMMs on the AM-138-10.
•
Chapter 4 covers AM-138-10 jumper settings and connectors, SSD installation, and more.
•
Chapter 5 leads you through getting ready for the upgrade, updating your software, and
beginning the hardware installation.
•
Chapters 6, and 7 contain specific instructions for each type of upgrade: Eagle 100 or Eagle 200
and 300.
•
Chapter 8 tells you how to test the new configuration and close the chassis.
•
Appendices discuss important SCSI bus termination issues and using the read-ahead and write-
caching options.