Is There An Easy Way to Pick the Lock? . . .

(Ed. note: We put up an article by Lew about four months ago that was one of the first descriptions on how to unlock an Athlon XP.

Since then, other substances have been used, but the core principles of “covering the trenches, then putting five traces over the cover” have remained the same.

This is a PITA for the average person, and from what we’ve heard so far, kits haven’t worked all that well so far, but matters might have improved.

As you’ll see, this gentleman has a real problem with trying to do this “the regular way” and I know he has plenty of company.

If you know and have used a method that makes this fairly easy (i.e., something not much more difficult than the old pencil trick), drop me (Ed) a note.

OK, so I’ve tried to do some catch-up reading on XP unlocking today,
since I finally got mine up and running in my primary system yesterday.
(used ceramic chips up until then) I see on your site and others how
many different ways there are to unlock the XP.. but they all share
something in common.

They all look hideously difficult for people with shaky hands. Blame it
on nerves, (my doctor does; he tests the shaking of my hands by having
me hold them out and then he places a piece of paper on top of them).
Blame it on years of heavy caffeine abuse.. whatever you want to blame
it on, my hands are NOT steady.

I was only able to do the pencil trick
by sharpening the graphite, rubbing it on an index card or piece of
paper at an angle until the tip was insanely thin. Even then, due
to my hands shaking, it sometimes took several erasings and redoings to
get it right.

Now, I don’t even have that choice. I’ve looked them all over, and even
the methods involving masking each bridge one at a time seem difficult
for someone like me. Holding a pencil barely still enough to make a mark
is one thing. Trying to do the same with the tip of a needle is another
thing entirely.

If you think it’s just a matter of patience, then you’ve probably never
had your hands shake nearly like this. The longer you try and be
patient, the more frustrated you get, and the worse it gets until you
have to stop yourself from throwing the chip across the room.

OK, I can probably manage to mask the L1 contacts and fill the pits with
krazy glue without screwing that up too badly.. but any attempt to do
anything beyond that and I might just end up with XP-nuggets.

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there wishing to work on his chip but
having such problems. If you’re looking for things to post about,
there’s something for ya to think over.

Personally, I’m literally at the point where I’m considering finding
someone else I could pay to unlock this chip. Now THERE is frustration
for ya from a long-time ‘clocker. (“long-time” as in back when P100s and
P166MMXes ruled the day)

Can anybody help out?

Email Ed