13 Mar
2002
13 Mar
'02
3:46 a.m.
On Tue, 12 Mar 2002, Chad Fernandez wrote:
I knew where you were going. It's just that for
many, soldered in
does mean "non-replaceable", especially when the manufacturer uses
those chips that aren't recognizable as uarts. I don't know if
everything is on one chip or what, but I've seen some serial boards
that only had a very few chips and none looked like uarts to me.
Also, surface mount chips would be hard, since they are usually so
small, although, I don't think uarts are made that way, none that I've
noticed any way.
I've seen these boards myself, and they could be upgraded if you had some
of the dual 16550 uarts in the QFP package, and had the tools and patience
to replace them. Since 16550 cards are so plentiful, it just isn't worth
the trouble IMHO. For dual 16450/16550 uarts in a PLCC package, those are
not too much trouble to replace even if soldered directly to the board.
There is usually room for a PLCC socket too.
-Toth