-=> ROY J. TELLASON wrote to WAYNE CHIRNSIDE <=-

 WC> The DIMM's on sale were of the wrong type :-(

 RJT> Wrong type?  Jeez...  What type were they,  and what did you need
 RJT> instead?

 WC> Well one sale item was PC133 and I can't use them

 RJT> I never could understand why it was that faster parts wouldn't work,
 RJT> unless there is something radically different about the way that it's
 RJT> accessed,  or something of that sort.

Has to do with the motherboard refresh rate of the DRAM.
Static RAM uses more transisters so is more costly though as long
as power holds no need to refresh.
If memory serves DRAM, dynamic RAM, works on the principle of
refreshing the charge on capacitors with that refresh clock
so the 1's stay 1's and the 0's 0's.
The refresh rate supported by this machine is 2 MHz while
that of the PC133's is 4 MHZ thus I'd expect to lose data.
Larger memory in same size or smaller packages has led to
smaller charge holding caps which hold the data thus they need
the higher refresh rate to maintain data integrity.
This info is from my early exposure to much smaller memory
modules and a smattering of what I'm picking up about
the newer stuff.
If I was younger with better eyesight and the comfidence in my abilities
I once had I'd cut the refresh line and put a clock doubler between it
and the DRAM banks and buy the PC133's.

 RJT>  was of the opinion that
 RJT> otherwise similar parts should work and that faster was okay,  but I
 RJT> guess in later stuff the access methods kept on changing,  too.

I don't think it's access but higher density DRAM caps requiring
higher refresh rate of those smaller caps.  If the MB doesn't
support that refresh rate...

 WC> and the other was 256 Meg per stick and this machine only takes 2
 WC> x's 128 sticks.

 RJT> Hm.  This board I stuck in to my test fixture last night takes 4 72-pin
 RJT> parts or *one* DIMM,  not sure what.  Since it's a VX chipset I doubt
 RJT> that I can go bigger than 64M in there anyhow,  and that's if I can
 RJT> *find* one that'll work in there -- probably PC66,  or maybe PC100 will
 RJT> work,  I dunno.  It had 16M in the 486 board that was in there,  but I
 RJT> found a couple of 8s and put them in so it's up to 24M just now.

 We've both got to do a little rsearch if we're to move on to the next
 generation of cheaply acquired hardware as the older stuff
 disappears.

 WC> Detailed info on this machines and it's DIMMS is scarce, little to
 WC> nothing in the owners manual except 2 x's 128 max and how to remove
 WC> them.

 RJT> Machine hell,  what I have here is MB.    I'll figure it out,
 RJT> though.

 I managed it with the last 486 board though it's easier
 if you've internet resources. Come to think of it I got
 the NEC Pentium  running with tools at hand there being nothing on
 the web about it except one guy saying what a rotten machine
 it is. I'm fine with the NEC now and if I slap 64 Meg. RAM in it
 and a larger hard drive I'll be thrilled.
 Omly problem with the Paviliom 433 is I've no tools to examine
 the hard drive and check and eliminate any hidden system files at the
 end of the drive to repartitian with FIPS without worry so as to install
 Linux.
 Guess I'll wait until I get CDR backup or start from scratch
 on a clean fresh drive splitting the first partition to the same
 size as the Quantum drive, xcopying over everything
 and than hacking up the rest of the drive for Linux.
 Than I'll install the 6 Gig drive into the NEC.
 BTW plug and play worked great for these two machines
 and when I first had difficulty reloading 98 I swapped
 the drive into the NEC and all went well with it recognizing
 the PCI sound card and modem of different types over on that machine!
 Those cards still have their drivers available for loading
 having been extracted from the CAB files at that time.
 Handy as this drive is eventually going over there.
 What I'm going to do however is clone my old Win 3.1 stuff
 to the Quantum so as to have regular DOS 16 bit available as
 well as Windows 98 as a 16 bit FAT which the manual proclaims
 shall work. 12 days and I order a new 1/2 price ISP,
 cancel Verizon and than it becomes upgrade time for both machines
 with me torn between getting the CD burner or large drive
 first. THan there's a UPS to figure in too, goimg to get an oversize
 one so it won't be stressed and I'll be able to parallel in
 some outboard deep discharge batteries. Can you believe the
 "upgraded" wattage ATX power supply for a H.P. Pavilion is 180 watts :-(
 I was looking for such when I discovered this astonishing detail.

 WC> All in all I think I'll look for a similar used machine like the
 WC> H.P. I saw in local classifieds for 200 bucks with 128 meg RAM, 8
 WC> Gig drive, Pentium 3 and SVGA!

 RJT> Ain't it nifty how m$ bloatware out there makes hardware like this look
 RJT> "obsolete" to some people?  :-)

I certainly think so. The _only_ reason I got this machine was
the technically inept individual who owned this machine added
all her software to the taskbar "quick start" _feature_
which used up her machines resources and slowed it to a
crawl. I've about 10 items in quick start amd 73 percent available
resources, to date the lowest figure I've seen and it runs well.
This Windows XP bodes very well for you and I as well as others
snagging good solid machines at rock bottom prices :-)

 
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