Hacking a Cray memory module
Alan found this Cray memory module on eBay. [He used to work at Cray] |
We looked at the intricate circuitry. |
Then of course we started taking it apart. |
We used a ball point pen as a nut driver on the small nuts. |
We ran them up in the tube until they wouldn't fit anymore. Then found another pen. |
Jeff and Brynn admire the craftsmanship. |
There were two boards sandwiched around the aluminum cooling frame. And they were connected with these small pins. |
Brynn kept whining about his hand hurting from playing racket ball. So he volunteered to pull the pins with pliers. |
A closeup of the chips. |
Brynn was making a noble effort but not getting very far. So Alan pulled out some precision tools. We were cutting the pins with a putty knife and a hammer. |
Then he went to work with a pry bar. |
We finally got one of the boards off. |
This is the aluminum cooling frame. |
It is milled so it has a pad that sticks through the board where every chip is located. |
These are the really small nuts and bolts that held it together. |
While we were destroying the the memory module, Alan was also trying to load Linux on one of his laptops. |
More Trippy motor drivers
Alan decided to make a single board instead of three small ones. |
This is the start of a 4 channel driver. This one only has 2 channels. |
Other
We were trying to find Afghanastan or Bulgaria or Ohio. |
Alan found this stylish headgear at a local toy store. |
Fully activated. |
We were going to try the grape in the microwave experiment. But we could only find cherry tomatoes. They didn't work as well. |