On 8 Sep 2003 at 16:08, James Miller wrote:
>I picked up at an auction for about .50 apiece some old 386 "luggable"
>computers. They have a handle built it and come in a carrying case, but
>are about 5 or 6 times the size of a laptop. They have a little LCD
>(mono) screen and detachable keyboard. They came with 2MB RAM each, but
>I've got alot of chips available and would like to add more to one or more
>of them. Each has 8 RAM banks (30 pin). According to the manuals (which
>I *did* get with them), they can take up to 16MB. They provide a table
>showing what size chip(s) to put in which slot(s). For 16MB, they show
>only 4 4MB chips in the first 4 slots. For 10MB, the show 2 4MB chips in
>the 1st 2 slots and 2 1MB chips in the next 2. Here's my question
>regarding this: am I limited to the configurations they show in the
>manual? Could I, for example, put 2 4MB chips in the first 2 slots and
>fill up the rest with 1MB chips to get 14MB? I mean, apart from other
>contraints, such as having to use the chips in pairs. I would guess total
>capacity might be limited to 16MB, but it's not apparent to me up front
>why varying combinations up tp 16MB wouldn't be possible. Any
>explanations/input on this anyone?
>
>Thanks, James
The MMC (Memory Management Chip) is the crucial player in configuring
memory. Some MMC can recognize some configurations of memory; others
may not.
Basically, it won't hurt to try other memory configurations, but any
not listed in the manual are unlikely to work. Most often, you'll get
beeps indicating that the POST failed, or some lesser amount of memory
will be displayed than you expected.
With 30-pin SIMMs, usually 16-bit processors (8086, some 286, 386sx)
require pairs of SIMMs be added to adjacent slots. 32-bit data path
processors (386, 486) usually require sets of 4 SIMMs be added to a
system at one time. Your manual seems to indicate that pairs are okay,
so as long as you use matched pairs of SIMMs, you cause no damage.
You'll need to experiment to see what other combinations are possible.
Anthony Albert
===========================================================
Anthony J. Albert [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Systems and Software Support Specialist Postmaster
Computer Services - University of Maine, Presque Isle
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