One Ram stick dont work

[letterman]

I just bought a used Pentium II 333mhz computer at local auction. I
only paid $5 for it, but it said "WORKS, 64m Ram, 16G hard drive, with
Win95.

Well, when I got it home, it only gave a lot of error beeps. It
turned out there was no Ram at all, as well as no Harddrive.
Obviously no Win95 either.

However the video card, CD drive, floppy drive, and a Zip drive all
work, so for $5 I cant complain.

I had two 128meg Ram sticks, which I took out of my working computer
when I added more Ram. I plugged in one of them into the MB on this
auction computer and it did not work. I tried all the Ram slots.
When I plugged in the other stick, it booted right up (from a floppy).
Both are 128meg X 133 Ram sticks. Both worked fine on my other
computer. Why would one stick not work, while the other does?
(Yes, it was pushed in tightly).

Thanks

 

[Paul]

I just bought a used Pentium II 333mhz computer at local auction. I
only paid $5 for it, but it said "WORKS, 64m Ram, 16G hard drive, with
Win95.

Well, when I got it home, it only gave a lot of error beeps. It
turned out there was no Ram at all, as well as no Harddrive.
Obviously no Win95 either.

However the video card, CD drive, floppy drive, and a Zip drive all
work, so for $5 I cant complain.

I had two 128meg Ram sticks, which I took out of my working computer
when I added more Ram. I plugged in one of them into the MB on this
auction computer and it did not work. I tried all the Ram slots.
When I plugged in the other stick, it booted right up (from a floppy).
Both are 128meg X 133 Ram sticks. Both worked fine on my other
computer. Why would one stick not work, while the other does?
(Yes, it was pushed in tightly).

Thanks

Do the 128MB sticks differ in construction ? Like one
stick uses sixteen chips, and the other stick uses eight
chips ? Sometimes density makes a difference.

It helps to know a bit more about the machine,
such as the motherboard make and model number, or the
computer make and model number, as that makes it
easier to guess at the chipset present.

Paul

 

[letterman]

Do the 128MB sticks differ in construction ? Like one
stick uses sixteen chips, and the other stick uses eight
chips ? Sometimes density makes a difference.

It helps to know a bit more about the machine,
such as the motherboard make and model number, or the
computer make and model number, as that makes it
easier to guess at the chipset present.

Paul

Yes, the sticks do look different...

The motherboard appears to be an Intel chipset. I'm half blind, but
the MB number looks like its Intel AL440LX or it may be AL44BLX. I
cant read that small print too well.

The computer is an Omni Tech OTC-7300D04

 

[Paul]

Yes, the sticks do look different...

The motherboard appears to be an Intel chipset. I'm half blind, but
the MB number looks like its Intel AL440LX or it may be AL44BLX. I
cant read that small print too well.

The computer is an Omni Tech OTC-7300D04

I did find one reference to the Omni Tech product here.
Enough to verify it is 440LX based.

http://developer.novell.com/yes/38844.htm

To analyse the memory support, I looked at both the Intel 440BX
and Intel 440LX datasheets.

http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29063301.pdf (440BX)
http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29056402.pdf (440LX)

The 440BX has a density issue with modules, such that 256MB DIMMs
work only if they have 16 chips. At least when I look at the
tables of supported addressing modes, I can extrapolate how a
larger module managed to be supported, after the datasheet was
released.

The 440LX seems to support the next level down of technology.
My interpretation of what I read there, is a 128MB DIMM is
the largest supported, and to work, it should have (16) 8Mx8
chips on it. If you're still interested in the difference
between your two modules, you can look at the total chip count
as one factor, and also copy the part number from the top
of the memory chips. With that information, it may be possible
to trace down how the modules differ.

If your 128MB module had 8 chips, those chips would be higher
density (128megabits inside, organized 16Mx8). And the motherboard
may only be able to address half of the RAM on the module.

There is nothing in the addressing mode tables in the 440LX
datasheet, to suggest a module larger than 128MB with 16 chips,
could be addressed properly. So 256MB with 16 chips or
128MB with 8 chips, likely won't work properly.

Paul

 

[letterman]

I did find one reference to the Omni Tech product here.
Enough to verify it is 440LX based.

http://developer.novell.com/yes/38844.htm

To analyse the memory support, I looked at both the Intel 440BX
and Intel 440LX datasheets.

http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29063301.pdf (440BX)
http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29056402.pdf (440LX)

The 440BX has a density issue with modules, such that 256MB DIMMs
work only if they have 16 chips. At least when I look at the
tables of supported addressing modes, I can extrapolate how a
larger module managed to be supported, after the datasheet was
released.

The 440LX seems to support the next level down of technology.
My interpretation of what I read there, is a 128MB DIMM is
the largest supported, and to work, it should have (16) 8Mx8
chips on it. If you're still interested in the difference
between your two modules, you can look at the total chip count
as one factor, and also copy the part number from the top
of the memory chips. With that information, it may be possible
to trace down how the modules differ.

If your 128MB module had 8 chips, those chips would be higher
density (128megabits inside, organized 16Mx8). And the motherboard
may only be able to address half of the RAM on the module.

There is nothing in the addressing mode tables in the 440LX
datasheet, to suggest a module larger than 128MB with 16 chips,
could be addressed properly. So 256MB with 16 chips or
128MB with 8 chips, likely won't work properly.

Paul

Thanks Paul

The model is a AL440LX. I got out a magnifying glass to check.

It looks like Omni Tech Corporation is out of business. Their website
dont work anymore. (http://www.otcwi.com).

That PDF file is extremely detailed. If only I could understand 95%
of it.

The ram that works has 8 LARGE chips, (Infineon), whereas the one that
dont work has 8 SMALL chips, and is called Centon. Both are 128M X
133.

The one thing that PDF file dont show (or is like finding a needle in
a haystack), is the maximum CPU size the MB can handle. It has a
333mhz PII Cpu now. I got several other faster PII CPU's laying
around. If I could use a faster one, I would. The CPU style is the
type that plugs into a slot, rather than the flat chip style.

thanks for the help. I'll have to dig in my junk box and see if I can
find another stick that works. I'd like to get the ram to at least
256megs, since I plan to run this for a test computer, to test other
operating systems like XP and Linux. (I installed Win 2000 on it
now). I still use Win98 for most everything.

 

[Paul]

Thanks Paul

The model is a AL440LX. I got out a magnifying glass to check.

It looks like Omni Tech Corporation is out of business. Their website
dont work anymore. (http://www.otcwi.com).

That PDF file is extremely detailed. If only I could understand 95%
of it.

The ram that works has 8 LARGE chips, (Infineon), whereas the one that
dont work has 8 SMALL chips, and is called Centon. Both are 128M X
133.

The one thing that PDF file dont show (or is like finding a needle in
a haystack), is the maximum CPU size the MB can handle. It has a
333mhz PII Cpu now. I got several other faster PII CPU's laying
around. If I could use a faster one, I would. The CPU style is the
type that plugs into a slot, rather than the flat chip style.

thanks for the help. I'll have to dig in my junk box and see if I can
find another stick that works. I'd like to get the ram to at least
256megs, since I plan to run this for a test computer, to test other
operating systems like XP and Linux. (I installed Win 2000 on it
now). I still use Win98 for most everything.

Is it possible the Centon stick is 256MB ?

With your magnifying glass, copy the part number off the memory
chip of the Centon stick. Maybe there is a datasheet for the
memory lying around, in which case, the size could be determined.

HTH,
Paul

 

[letterman]

Is it possible the Centon stick is 256MB ?

With your magnifying glass, copy the part number off the memory
chip of the Centon stick. Maybe there is a datasheet for the
memory lying around, in which case, the size could be determined.

HTH,
Paul

Centon 128mbpc133

 

[Paul]

Centon 128mbpc133

In this picture, the part number is printed on each chip.

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/da/a/AAAAAhPvBy8AAAAAANqqmQ.jpg

48LC16M8A2-75

Even without looking it up, I know that chip is 16Mx8 or a
16MB chip. The -75 means 7.5ns, the inverse of which is 133MHz.
The chip is made by Micron, so I could look on the Micron site
to get more details. If I saw a total of 8 of those chips on
a module, I'd know it was a 128MB DIMM.

Paul

 

[~misfit~]

Somewhere on teh intarwebs "(e-mail address removed)" typed:

The one thing that PDF file dont show (or is like finding a needle in
a haystack), is the maximum CPU size the MB can handle. It has a
333mhz PII Cpu now. I got several other faster PII CPU's laying
around. If I could use a faster one, I would. The CPU style is the
type that plugs into a slot, rather than the flat chip style.

I ran a PII 450 Deschutes on an LX chipset mobo for a while.
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)

 

[~misfit~]

Somewhere on teh intarwebs "kony" typed:

Possibly some LX boards can have their FSB overclocked but
AL440LX can't and so it has a max FSB of 66MHz. That
becomes a problem as any CPU faster than 333MHz (IIRC) uses
a 100MHz FSB and would run drastically underclocked in an
AL440LX. The one exception is the Celerons up to 533MHz
when used in a slocket adapter. I mean the Mendocino
Celerons, not Coppermine, though there were some that came
in slot1 format too but I can't recall the fastest speed
those were, probably only 400-odd MHz which isn't much of an
upgrade over the PII/333.

Arghhh! My bad. I just found the computer and opened the case. It's a ZX
chipset, not LX. Atrend ATC6310M. It has a jumper for 66 / 100MHz FSB.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)