cache memory error

[chasadavies]

I have an old MB-586TX motherboard,and was running 2banks of 2x16meg EDO Simms.I tried to up my memory using 2x64meg FP Simms,something died,the FP'sonly read 16megs, and when I replace the old EDO's only bank (3&4)read (32megs) At startup I get an error message, cache memory error, what does this mean and how can i fix it?

 

[delpart]

Your problem is mixing two different types of memory (FP & EDO). Check your manaul or look for the info on the manufacturers web site for the allowed memory configurations and maximum allowed memory. It would be a good idea to have your memory checked and either buy 2 32Mb EDO bars or keep your present memory.

en Xristos

 

[chasadavies]

been there,done that.I started out with 64MB of Ram,4x16EDO Simms then I got 2x64MB FP simms,The FP on their own give me only 16MB,2xFP's and 2xEDO's give me 46MB, my original
4x16MB EDO's only give me 32MB,my board only recognises EDO's in slots 4,the FP are recognised in slots 0,1,and4,5,
but only give me 16MB. It just doesn't make sense,anything else i can try? How do i fix the cache memory error?

 

[delpart]

Been where and done what?
Are you saying that you were using mixed memory and it worked before? Are these 72 or 30 pin SIMM's? I have never heard of mixing memory and it working well. I cannot understand how bank 4 only recognizes EDO. You need to check your memory timing as well. Everything works much better when it is matched. What about banks 2 & 3? You will need to either use FPM or EDO because they are working against one another and BIOS cannot properly register it as far as I see. Memory can be a real bear sometimes.

en Xristos

 

[chasadavies]

Hey, Journeyman now you know why i am going crazy, I always thought computers worked on logic, well not this time. I would also like to know what happened to 2,3. as i say when i have the FP chips in they are registering as4,5. the only way i can get extra RAM at the moment is by mixing, when I put in 4x16MB EDO, I only get 32MB.If i could just get the 2x64MB FP to work i would be soooo Happy

 

[delpart]

Check your motherboard manual and find out what kind of memory it takes and what banks need to be loaded and with what capacity memory. You probably wont be able to load a single 64Mb bar anywhere and the memory has to be loaded in pairs. Mixing memory is not recommended even if you can get it to work because you will get more page fault errors. Win 95-98 has enough reasons to crash, don't give it any more.


en Xristos

 

[delpart]

A couple of other things I should have mentioned is that you probably have a bad board. If you are using the memory counter that appears during POST as your memory indicator, don't, use your setup program. If your board is really old, you have to change BIOS to recognize your new memory. It is not automatically detected.

en Xristos

 

[chasadavies]

Thanks again, no I am checking my memory in System Properties, its definatly only 46MB.On the front cover of my board manual it is called a MB-586TX but inside it is called an i430TX, in the features list it says:4 x 72-pin SIMM modules auto banking in multiple configuration up to 256MB. Provides 2 x168-pin DIMM to support SDRAM/EDODRAM/Page Mode DRAM up to 128MB, in my memory configeration it uses both SIMM and DIMM slots except SIMM1&2 and DIMM2 at the same time. In the features list it says SIMMs banked up to 256MB but in the con. it only shows
2 banks of 2 x 32MB = 128MB. Could you please tell me how to set up my BIOS to recognise extra memory, or how to set it up so that it will recognise DIMM.

If at first you don't succeed try, try,try again

 

[delpart]

Now I know why you are having so much trouble with your memory. I also have an i430FX machine that will only cache 64Mb of memory. I think the TX caches is larger. You should be able to read that in the manual. You don't want to have more memory than your cache can handle or you will end up with a performance loss. Yes, even though you can put 256Mb in the machine, you will not get the performance that comes from it. I also tried to install a DIMM module of SDRAM and only got a series of short beeps. When I went to www.kahlon.com, after I bought this memory from them, I found out that you can only cache 64Mb and that the board really didn't support SDRAM. I don't know about EDO or FPM but I do know that you will be able to definatley get 2 32Mb bars of 72 pin SIMM to work in banks 1 and 2, if I am not mistaken. DO NOT MIX MEMORY TYPES WITH THIS CHIPSET. This was the precursor to SDRAM and DIMMs and unless you get the BIOS update, it won't work right. That is what I recommend, 2 32Mb bars or either FPM or EDO for this board. The BIOS will recognize it. The performance loss from using EDO or FPM isn't as bad as if you try to use 128Mb. If you go to www.clickandlearn.com, you will realize the 2x32 is not 64Mb of memory but substantially less, I believe 8 or 16Mb. Get you memory tested.

en Xristos

 

[delpart]

Now I know why you are having so much trouble with your memory. I also have an i430FX machine that will only cache 64Mb of memory. I think the TX caches is larger. You should be able to read that in the manual. You don't want to have more memory than your cache can handle or you will end up with a performance loss. Yes, even though you can put 256Mb in the machine, you will not get the performance that comes from it. I also tried to install a DIMM module of SDRAM and only got a series of short beeps. When I went to www.kahlon.com, after I bought this memory from them, I found out that you can only cache 64Mb and that the board really didn't support SDRAM. I don't know about EDO or FPM but I do know that you will be able to definatley get 2 32Mb bars of 72 pin SIMM to work in banks 1 and 2, if I am not mistaken. DO NOT MIX MEMORY TYPES WITH THIS CHIPSET. This was the precursor to SDRAM and DIMMs and unless you get the BIOS update, it won't work right. That is what I recommend, 2 32Mb bars or either FPM or EDO for this board. The BIOS will recognize it. The performance loss from using EDO or FPM isn't as bad as if you try to use 128Mb. If you go to www.clickandlearn.com, you will realize the 2x32 is not 64Mb of memory but substantially less, I believe 8 or 16Mb. Get your emory tested.

en Xristos