Re: My *beepin* 486 (was Re: tlug: The meeting...)

[Scott Stone <sstone@example.com>]

On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Sean Bennett wrote:

> Jonathan-san;
> 
> Thanks for a decent bit of detective work :-)  I had found the page on the m/b diagram,
> but not on the m/b specifications - couldn't find it the first time through.
> 
> Yes, it looks to be the memory to be my problem (I hope); the memory I used came out of
> an intel TC430HX socket7 m/b, which would be EDO mem.  And just to confirm, the beeps on
> bootup were 1 short followed by 2 sets of 3 short (1-3-3).
> 
> Any 486 memory gurus out there?  I couldn't find any reference to parity/non-parity.  Is
> this an issue with FPM ram, or is there only one variety. Also, I know that *some* 486
> boards will accept single memory modules (as opposed to adding modules in pairs); is
> this true of all 486 boards?  I guess I'm looking for a total of 32meg; 2 16meg modules
> is probably the safest.

Pentiums must have ram in SIMM pairs (or single SDRAMs).  486s can take
single simms, provided that the individual board supports it.  Some 486
boards could support EDO ram as well, but only the newer models.
Parity/Non-Parity issues can usually be resolved in the CMOS - but they
won't cause beeps on startup, since you have to be able to get TO the CMOS
to change the ram settings.  What you need for the 486 is 60 or 70ns
72-pin fast page SIMMs, most likely.

> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> Sean.
> 
> Jonathan Byrne wrote:
> 
> >
> > This motherboard supports FPM memory but not EDO, so if the memory you got
> > from that Pentium machine is EDO, that may well be the problem.
> >
> > I've also confirmed that you have a Phoenix BIOS, and according to my book,
> > a 1-3-3 beep pattern from a Phoenix BIOS means:
> >
> > First 64K RAM chip or date line failure, multibit.
> > Code at port 80h: 0Ah
> >
> > Lots of 486 boards do not support EDO RAM, so this seems at least
> > suspicious.  Perhaps some of the real experts on this (Karl-Max?) could
> > confirm whether this failure code is consistent with putting EDO memory in a
> > motherboard that doesn't support it.
> >
> > Jonathan
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> > Next Nomikai: 20 November, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691
> > Next Meeting: 12 December, 12:30 Tokyo Station Yaesu central gate
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> > Sponsor: PHT, makers of TurboLinux http://www.pht.co.jp
> 
> --
> ******************************************
> Sean Bennett      < sean@example.com >
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> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Next Nomikai: 20 November, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691
> Next Meeting: 12 December, 12:30 Tokyo Station Yaesu central gate
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Sponsor: PHT, makers of TurboLinux http://www.pht.co.jp
> 

--------------------------------------------------
Scott M. Stone <sstone@example.com, sstone@example.com>
               <sstone@example.com>
Head of TurboLinux Development/Systems Administrator
Pacific HiTech, Inc (USA) / Pacific HiTech, KK (Japan)
http://www.pht.com		http://armadillo.pht.co.jp
http://www.pht.co.jp	        http://www.turbolinux.com


---------------------------------------------------------------
Next Nomikai: 20 November, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691
Next Meeting: 12 December, 12:30 Tokyo Station Yaesu central gate
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sponsor: PHT, makers of TurboLinux http://www.pht.co.jp