Date: Thu, 28 Dec 1995 11:20:57 +600 CDT From: "Larry Dolinar" <LARRYD@bldg1.croute.com> To: FreeBSD Chat <freebsd-chat@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: "To parity, or not to parity; that is the question..." Message-ID: <DF421140B02@bldg1.croute.com>
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Thus spake Donald Burr <d_burr@ix.netcom.com> (Thu, 28 Dec 1995): | But I don't know what kind of memory I need to get. Check the number of chips, almost certainly there will be 1 per bit -- ie, 8: no parity, 9: parity. I may be wrong -- I often am. Or call your favorite RAM vendor and see what they suggest. Certainly this approach worked for 30pin SIMMs when they were the rage (until the 2 and 3-chip came along). I use non-parity now with good results. | | Unfortunately, since my computer is pretty much "home brew", I can't | exactly call up tech support and say "hey! Do I need parity chips for a | <Brand X> 486 computer?" Not unless the good book (manual) insists on it. | | People have said "check your BIOS setup program, if it has any settings | that mention anything parity-related, then you probably need it." I did | this, but alas, none of the configurable stuff had anythig even remotely | to do with parity. Nor did any of the jumper settings on the motherboard | do with this either. Nor did the manual mention anything about parity. | When mentioning how to add memory, it basically said "Buy them SIMM | things and stick'um in them thar little slots." And Sean Kelly thinks people from Dallas talk funny 8). | | What I CAN tell you is that my motherboard uses AMI WinBIOS, circa 1993. | WinBIOS is the one with the cutesy BIOS setup program that has a GUI that | looks like Windows. The motherboard is ISA+VLB, and supports 486 and | 486-Overdrive chips (i.e. it has a socket with more pins on it than a | normal 486 chip). The chipset on the motherboard is OPTi (OPTi895? | can't be sure until next I reboot). | | I have 2 4MB SIMM sticks in there now, for a total of 8 MB. I remember | when I bought them that they EACH ran slightly less than $200 (around | $198 or something) including CA sales tax (7.75%). (this was last | year) Neither the receipt nor the memory chips themselves say whether | they're parity or not, and the store doesn't have any idea either. | | My guess is that my system can take either parity or non-parity, since | most of the "clones" are pretty non-partial about it, and some don't even | check for parity errors. Just don't mix them. | | I apologize for asking this here, I quite simply had nowhere else to turn. | If you take offense, feel free to flame me in private. Sorry, I can't spell the sound of a match being struck phonetically (or any other way). | | Thanks for your help, and sorry I can't be a little more specific. | | Donald Burr [d_burr@ix.netcom.com], PO Box 91212, Santa Barbara CA 93190-1212 | TEL (805)564-1871 / FAX 564-2315 / WWW http://www.geopages.com/WallStreet/2072 | PGP Public Key available by request (send e-mail) or on Public Key Servers. | ** Uphold your right to privacy - Use PGP. ** |
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