my bad, i forgot that if my chip says "10" it actually means 100ns..

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So what is wrong with 80ns? ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2Go

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If I am not mistaken, the RAM has to all match both each other, AND the motherboard...

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Usually [usually] it needs to be as fast or faster. ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2Go

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i just took a look at my A+ book, and it says with this old DIP memory, the memory has to be EXACTLY the same, not faster or slower... it says the northbridge on my old PC will refresh the RAM, and the RAM has to be the right speed, otherwise it will corrupt and crash..

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Did you try NOT loading some device drivers? Maybe you don't need a MOUSE. Maybe you can get away without loading a SETVER table. You can also reduce the values for FILES and BUFFERS.

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yes, i had already tried that.. matter of fact, before i submitted this question, i had booted DOS by bypassing config.sys and autoexec.bat..

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How about an older version of DOS? (Assuming you are using 6.something) I think you could run Wolf-3d on Dos 5.0. Maybe that version of DOS uses less RAM. (Get a boot disk and see.....)

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Hi, A DownGrade of DOS back to v5.0, or even v3.30, is a sound idea. It's exactly what i suggest myself. Salutations, Michel Samson a/s Bicéphale

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You need to do the obvious - replace the defective DRAM chips to bring the conventional memory up to the full 640K - and the minimum DOS required would be M$-DOS 5 You're *starting off* with less memory than the game needs, before DOS even loads - futzing around isn't going to change that We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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on my system, it seems i have 36 DRAM sockets.. 18 of which are right now populated.. 18 chips for 512KB total, and 2 chips for the parity bit... My PC can handle 1MB of RAM, if I can get 18 more of the same DRAM (256k x 1) chips...

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On some of those you could specify in cmos the amount of conventional memory. Check there to make sure yours isn't set at 512. It may take the setup disks for your 286 rather than a keystroke to get into cmos. The 80 ns chips should work just fine if you need to replace them.

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OK I probably spoke too soon. If half are populated then it must be only 512. I don't know why it would show 1 meg if you exit from the memory scan. Does the parity error show only when you exit the memory scan or does it alway show? If you can get the memory up to 1 meg you're probably better off keeping the OS at 6.22. Its memory management can use the upper 384 and you'll end up with more free memory than if you reverted to an earlier version.

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my BIOS uses an AMI BIOS, and has it's own setup utility.. though, there is no option to mess with the conventional memory.. it does have dip switches next to the DIP memory sockets, named "SW1", but the motherboard has no model number and I can't find how to configure this motherboard...

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The DIP switches may be where the amount is specified. Possibly it's set a 1 meg and that's why you're getting the error. Does any ID show when the computer first boots up?

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well, it normally has 1MB, but one of the chips were bad, so I just took out those banks, and kept it at 512KB.. when it boots, it checks RAM, stops at 512KB, checks floppies, HD, and then beeps ONCE.. If I have the 3rd and 4th bank of chips in, it will count to 512KB then do one long beep and 3 short beeps... then continues booting with 512KB available, just fine.. If I cancel memory check, it will count 1024KB with the 3rd and 4th banks filled, but then it goes to a blank screen that says onboard parity error, and gives a hex number... If I have only the 1st and 2nd banks filled, everything runs fine, even if I cancel memory checking... This is what the post shows on the system (i only have 1st and 2nd banks filled in this shot): http:// blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/bios.jpg

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you'll have to fix the URL.. Computing.net wordwrapped it... http:// blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/bios.jpg

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The bios string in the lower left corner of the screen usually will help ID the board. But I couldn't find any google links to it. You may want to check here and look through the pics for the 286 boards and see if one looks similar. If so, click on it and see if it gives any relevent info. You probably have a generic board for which the DIP settings may apply for many other boards.

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thanks so much! found it! http://pq.ozersk.ru/th99/m/M-O/33045.htm

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That's good. It has the jumper and switch settings too. Looks like it takes 4 x 256 chips. Thinking back I think the 1 x 256 were mostly used for video memory. You can get 640 ram with 4 x 64 chips in the second bank.

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i don't have any 64k chips, only the 256k ones... I might get myself an expanded memory card though, one of which that has SIMM modules on it (I have many SIMMs lying around)

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I was thinking backwards on those chips. They're 1 x 256 and the video were usually 4 x 256. Yeah, if you've got some expansion boards they should work just as well as on-board memory.

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ok, im looking at this here.. http://cgi.ebay.com/Dynamic-RAM-256k-x-1- DIP_W0QQitemZ2572993088QQcategoryZ7285QQssPageNa meZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (that link is gonna need to be copy and pasted line by line) those are 80ns, and I would put 18 of those into bank 1.. if bank 0 on my motherboard right now has 100ns, will this configuration work?

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Yeah, they should work. They want $.79 apiece for those. That would be $20 for 18 of them with the shipping. Let me look around here and see if I have any of those expansion cards left. I know I had a few loaded with chips but I may have scrapped them.

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I couldn't find any in the house. If I have some they're either in the garage or in some bins outside where I keep the boards I intend to scrap. I do have an IBM XT. With 640 ram they have 1 bank of 1 x 256 and 1 bank of 1 x 64 but those are usually 150 ns so they'd be too slow. But I'll open it up as soon as possible and see exactly what's there. Depending on how busy I am I'll check on this in the next day or two.

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ok.. just send me an email to: blackevilweredragon at gmail.com (just fix up the email address, i did it like that to prevent getting spam)

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I'll look too some time this week...are any numbers still legible on the chips? Skip

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