Re: Question about SIMM and DIMM combination in an old computer - UPDATE

[Guest thanatoid]

Thank you VERY much to all who replied (quite extensively in

some cases) to my post and have helped me solve the problem.

 

WARNING: A long and boring description of what I did follows

between the two rows of asterisks.

 

*****

 

I had no idea whatsoever that DIMMs ran on 3.3 or 5V. I have had

the 4 16MB SIMMs since the day I got the computer. Of course, my

DIMM does not say which voltage it likes, but I read on one site

that it really couldn't damage anything if the voltage was wrong

("couldn't damage" meaning, I suppose, AOT just screwing

everything up).

 

So the first thing I checked was the voltage jumpers, and they

were set to 3.3V. The 64MB DIMM was in the slot right next to

the 4 SIMMs, a combination which the manual said would not work.

Well, it worked, even with the wrong voltage, just not very

well. As I said, I had 80 MB of RAM which made no sense, and the

computer ran very badly - I was getting constant BSODs, fatal

exceptions, address problems, and weird messages I've never seen

before like "WindowsAspect1 already open" (or something) - in

general, stuff I am really (really) not used to seeing. I was

beginning to think that my computer might not make to its 10th

birthday on Sept. 20 (although that IS still 2.5 months away).

 

Anyway, after trying all the possible combination of the 5

sticks and the two voltages, I gradually arrived at the final

result.

 

The person who said I would not get more than 96 MB out of my

available total of 128 (4x16 and 1x64) was correct. (This in

contrast both to the MB manual and several web sites which I was

able to visit between the constant crashes etc.)

 

All the stick/voltage combinations except the two that worked

gave me between 20 and 80 megs and caused a variety of weird

problems. In one case, everything worked fine, no crashes, BSODs

etc, but no mouse. Keyboard, yes, but no mouse.

 

I have ended up using the 64MB DIMM at 5V and 2 16MB SIMMs, and

there are two configurations which work equally well, both

providing one or two empty slots between the DIMM and the two

SIMMs.

 

I am amazed that the MB did not crack, because I took the DIMM

in and out of both slots several times, and it did not get any

easier except for the slightly reduced fear factor. Installing

SIMMs OTOH, as you know, is a piece of cake. That's progress I

guess.

 

*****

 

It is too early to say whether the whole thing was worth it, but

it certainly kept me busy for a few hours, and 96MB of RAM is

50% more than 64 - in fact, I now have 62 or 64 free once 95B

has booted up with no other programs running. I have never had

serious memory problems, but this is bound to make SOME

difference in the overall performance. AND I have two spare 16MB

EDO SIMMs which is nice (I'm going to see if they work with a

486/66 HP Vectra I have sitting around).

 

Thank you AGAIN to all who responded.

 

Best regards

t.

 

--

Everyone who installs Vista is insane.