[rescue] replacing an Ultra2

[Barry Keeney]

On Tue, 17 Apr 2007, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> Tue, 17 Apr 2007 @ 00:09 +0100, Mark said:
> 
> > > I don't know what would happen to your warranty if you upgrade
> > > CPUs, but a lot of people have done it.
> > 
> > I'm pretty sure you'd void it. You automatically void Apple  
> > warranties if you use a non-Apple supplied CPU, I'd imagine Sun are  
> > similar. 
> 
> I don't doubt they void it, but I wonder if their decision hold up if
> you filed a grievance under the Magnuson-Moss Act? 
> 
> Years ago the MMA lawsuits forced the industry to accept memory
> upgrades, and I don't see why it couldn't happen with CPUs.

  I agree that it might not void the warranty,or shouldn't, they can
charge you for the time they spend working on your system if the
problem is traced to a aftermarket part like 3rd party memory or CPU.
"Your CPU is bad, that'll be $150 and you'll need to buy a new CPU"

  I'm sure you're going to rule those parts out as the cause before 
having it repaired under warranty.

> > It's mostly about the manufacturer's ability to warrant that  all
> > major components are of their own high standards and installed
> > according to their own guidelines. 
> 
> Most of the time I'm upgrading to put better components in the system.

  And those components could draw more power or generate more heat, in 
the case of a CPU, and the company could claim the replacement part
exceeded the spec's for the original and caused the failure. Not to
mention the possiblity of faulty installation. Even the best techie
can install something wrong.

  The auto industry has been doing this for years. Sure a after market
oil filter is likely to be okay, provided it meets the car companys specs
for that part, but you swap out something like the intake manifold or cam
shaft and the warranty is gone, if it doesn't meet the original spec's or
it wasn't installed correctly.

  A guy I used to work with was pissed when he put on a lift kit on his
new pickup and the rear differential failed a few months later. The dealer
wouldn't replace it under warranty. The custom truck shop, were he got the
lift kit, told him he should *think* about upgrading this as well but he
didn't, well until he had to. The dealer did fix a problem with the engine
about a year after that, bad fuel injector if I remember correctly.

  Yes the auto makers were sued over oil changes and after market parts
too, and lost. But for after market parts have to meet or exceed the
orignal in quality and/or meet the original specs. An oil filter can
filter better then the original, but a cam can't have higher lift or
more duration, more isn't always better. :^)

  Now if you put the original parts back in before you have it 
serviced...... ;^)

  Would I upgrade the CPU while the system is under warranty or 
maintance contract? No I wouldn't.. After the warranty is up, sure
why not. Would I install more memory, PCI cards, hard drives sure,
I'm going to pull them before I have the system serviced! I don't
want them damaged while the system is getting repaired.

Barry Keeney
Chaos Consulting
email barryk at chaoscon.com

"Rap is Square Dancing gone terribly, terribly Wrong...."