Need Help with Memory Upgrade Problem with P3V4X board

[Mitch]

I hope someone can help me with this:

I have been trying to upgrade the memory on my P3V4X motherboard. I
want to add 3 512 meg P133 memory modules. I understand that each slot
can handle a max of 512 Meg. so I am only using 3 of the 4 slots.

The system runs OK with 1 512 meg module. When I add the other two 512
modules I get a message when booting the OS, Win 98SE . "Insufficient
Memory to initialize windows. Could not allocate code/patch Ram below 4
meg boundary:" The system also cannot boot in safe mode due to not
enough memory available.

If I use only 2 512 meg modules, I can get to windows but I will get a
"System Memory Running Low Norton Anti Virus may not Function properly"
message fairly often. The system does show that it recognizes the extra
memory.

When I use only 1 512 meg module, everything runs pretty well. I am not
changing any of the system configuration settings when adding any
additional memory.

What's wrong?

Thanks for your help.

Mitch

 

[KC Computers]

I hope someone can help me with this:

I have been trying to upgrade the memory on my P3V4X motherboard. I
want to add 3 512 meg P133 memory modules. I understand that each slot
can handle a max of 512 Meg. so I am only using 3 of the 4 slots.

The system runs OK with 1 512 meg module. When I add the other two 512
modules I get a message when booting the OS, Win 98SE . "Insufficient
Memory to initialize windows. Could not allocate code/patch Ram below 4
meg boundary:" The system also cannot boot in safe mode due to not
enough memory available.

If I use only 2 512 meg modules, I can get to windows but I will get a
"System Memory Running Low Norton Anti Virus may not Function properly"
message fairly often. The system does show that it recognizes the extra
memory.

When I use only 1 512 meg module, everything runs pretty well. I am not
changing any of the system configuration settings when adding any
additional memory.
What's wrong?

Windows 98 can use more than 512MB, but you need to add the following
line to your system.ini file under the [vcache] section;

MaxFileCache=524288

That limits the amount of RAM used for the disk cache to 512MB.
If you don't do this, the cache can 'overextend' and cause
crashes due to lack of available address space. See;

"Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed
http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q253912

 

[Ken Maltby]

I hope someone can help me with this:

I have been trying to upgrade the memory on my P3V4X motherboard. I
want to add 3 512 meg P133 memory modules. I understand that each slot
can handle a max of 512 Meg. so I am only using 3 of the 4 slots.

The system runs OK with 1 512 meg module. When I add the other two 512
modules I get a message when booting the OS, Win 98SE . "Insufficient
Memory to initialize windows. Could not allocate code/patch Ram below 4
meg boundary:" The system also cannot boot in safe mode due to not
enough memory available.

If I use only 2 512 meg modules, I can get to windows but I will get a
"System Memory Running Low Norton Anti Virus may not Function properly"
message fairly often. The system does show that it recognizes the extra
memory.

When I use only 1 512 meg module, everything runs pretty well. I am not
changing any of the system configuration settings when adding any
additional memory.

What's wrong?

Thanks for your help.

Mitch

I had heard that 1.5G was possible with that great little
board, but all I was ever able to do was 769meg. Post
if you get it working.

Luck;
Ken

 

[Mitch]

Thanks to all who responded:

But after changing the vcache size, I still have the same problem.  There is more detail to the error message I get when booting:

"Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer.
Error: Try loading SBEINIT.com before smartdrv.exe or minimizing vdisk RAM"

I have checked out my Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, and I can only find the SBEINIT.com entry.  I don't know how to change my vdisk ram or how to load SBEINIT.COM before smartdrv.exe. 

Does anybody have some suggestions?

Thanks again to everyone.

Mitch

The Cybrow wrote:


On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 03:16:07 GMT, Mitch <[email protected]> wrote:



I hope someone can help me with this: I have been trying to upgrade the memory on my P3V4X motherboard. I want to add 3 512 meg P133 memory modules. I understand that each slot can handle a max of 512 Meg. so I am only using 3 of the 4 slots. The system runs OK with 1 512 meg module. When I add the other two 512 modules I get a message when booting the OS, Win 98SE . "Insufficient Memory to initialize windows. Could not allocate code/patch Ram below 4 meg boundary:" The system also cannot boot in safe mode due to not enough memory available. If I use only 2 512 meg modules, I can get to windows but I will get a "System Memory Running Low Norton Anti Virus may not Function properly" message fairly often. The system does show that it recognizes the extra memory. When I use only 1 512 meg module, everything runs pretty well. I am not changing any of the system configuration settings when adding any additional memory. What's wrong? Thanks for your help. Mitch



It's a common problem with 98SE. Check this out: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q253912

 

[Paul]

Thanks to all who responded:

But after changing the vcache size, I still have the same problem. There is
more detail to the error message I get when booting:

"Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident
programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and
Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer.
Error: Try loading SBEINIT.com before smartdrv.exe or minimizing vdisk RAM"

I have checked out my Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, and I can only find
the SBEINIT.com entry. I don't know how to change my vdisk ram or how to
load SBEINIT.COM before smartdrv.exe.

Does anybody have some suggestions?

Thanks again to everyone.

Mitch

There are two variable that come in handy -

1) MaxPhysPage in System.ini, is like physically removing RAM from the
system, without needing to touch the RAM. The value is coded in
hexidecimal:

[386Enh]
MaxPhysPage=10000 ; limits memory to 256MB (as 4k pages)
MaxPhysPage=20000 ; limits memory to 512MB (as 4k pages)

2) MaxFileCache (in the Vcache section of System.ini). This limits
Vcache to the number of decimal KB specified. Vcache should not
be larger than 512MB, so a value of 524288 is the maximum
recommended. (See Q253912 in KB.)

[VCache]
MaxFileCache=524288

There is varying advice on the Microsoft site, but possibly
1GB is the most memory that Win98 can take. So, if using 3x512,
set MaxPhysPage to slightly less than 40000 hex (1GB). On my
machine, I had to try values less than 30000 hex to get the
machine to boot without any silly error messages. But you can
experiment by moving this value up or down. I don't know to
what extent reducing Vcache might have allowed a larger
MaxPhysPage - I didn't do an exhaustive search of possible
values.

In the end, I settled for a system with 512MB in it, which
gave me the best desktop performance. YMMV. More background
here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]&rnum=9

HTH,
Paul

 

[DaveW]

Ahem. As you may not have known, Windows 98 SE can only use a MAXIMUM of 512 MB of RAM. Total. If you want to exceed the 512MB limit you will need to upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP. Microsoft has an article about this limitation of Win 98SE in their Knowledge Base on line.

--
DaveW



Thanks to all who responded:

But after changing the vcache size, I still have the same problem. There is more detail to the error message I get when booting:

"Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer.
Error: Try loading SBEINIT.com before smartdrv.exe or minimizing vdisk RAM"

I have checked out my Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, and I can only find the SBEINIT.com entry. I don't know how to change my vdisk ram or how to load SBEINIT.COM before smartdrv.exe.

Does anybody have some suggestions?

Thanks again to everyone.

Mitch

The Cybrow wrote:


I hope someone can help me with this:

I have been trying to upgrade the memory on my P3V4X motherboard. I
want to add 3 512 meg P133 memory modules. I understand that each slot
can handle a max of 512 Meg. so I am only using 3 of the 4 slots.

The system runs OK with 1 512 meg module. When I add the other two 512
modules I get a message when booting the OS, Win 98SE . "Insufficient
Memory to initialize windows. Could not allocate code/patch Ram below 4
meg boundary:" The system also cannot boot in safe mode due to not
enough memory available.

If I use only 2 512 meg modules, I can get to windows but I will get a
"System Memory Running Low Norton Anti Virus may not Function properly"
message fairly often. The system does show that it recognizes the extra
memory.

When I use only 1 512 meg module, everything runs pretty well. I am not
changing any of the system configuration settings when adding any
additional memory.

What's wrong?

Thanks for your help.

Mitch

It's a common problem with 98SE. Check this out:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q253912