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System Maintenance
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2 System Maintenance

Reseating Socketed Chips

Another primary preventive maintenance function is to undo the effects of chip creep. As your system
heats and cools, it expands and contracts, and the physical expansion and contraction can cause com-
ponents that are plugged in to sockets to gradually work their way out of those sockets. This process is
called chip creep. To correct its effects, you must find all socketed components in the system and
ensure that they are properly reseated.
In most of today’s systems, the memory chips are installed in socketed SIMMs, RIMMs, or DIMMs.
SIMM/RIMM/DIMM devices are retained securely in their sockets by a positive latching mechanism
and cannot creep out. The memory single inline pin package (SIPP) devices (SIMMs with pins rather
than contacts) used in older systems are not retained by a latching mechanism, however, and there-
fore can creep out of their sockets. Standard socketed memory chips are prime candidates for chip
creep; most other logic components are soldered in. On an older system, you also might find the
ROM chips, a math coprocessor, and even the main system processor in sockets. Newer systems place
the CPU in a ZIF socket, which has a lever that releases the grip of the socket on the chip. In most
cases, very little creep occurs with a ZIF socket. However, sometimes a connection oxidizes and simply
removing and reinserting the processor wipes the contact clean and restores normal operation. In
most current systems, the memory (in SIMMs, RIMMs, or DIMMs) and the processor are the only
components you find in sockets; all others are soldered in.
However, exceptions can exist. A socketed component in one system might not be socketed in
another—even if both are from the same manufacturer. Sometimes this difference results from a parts
availability problem when the boards are manufactured. Rather than halt the assembly line when a
part is unavailable, the manufacturer adds a socket instead of the component. When the component
becomes available, it is plugged in and the board is finished.
To ensure that all components are fully seated in their sockets, place your hand on the underside of
the board and then apply downward pressure with the thumb of your other hand (from the top) on
the chip to be seated. For larger chips, seat the chip carefully in the socket, and press separately on
each end of the chip with your thumb to ensure that the chip is fully seated. (The processor and math
coprocessor chips can usually be seated in this manner.) In most cases, you should hear a crunching
sound as the chip makes its way back into the socket. Because of the great force that is sometimes
required to reseat the chips, this operation is difficult if you do not remove the board.
For motherboards, forcibly seating chips can be dangerous if you do not directly support the board
from the underside with your hand. Too much pressure on the board can cause it to bow or bend in
the chassis, and the pressure can crack it before the chip is fully seated. The plastic standoffs that hold
the board up off the metal chassis are spaced too far apart to properly support the board under this
type of stress. Try this operation only if you can remove and support the board adequately from
underneath.
You might be surprised to know that, even if you fully seat a chip, it might need reseating again
within a year. The creep usually is noticeable within a year or less.