CompuServe Thread

#A3000T040 + 16MB = Prob!

9 messages in this thread
#152976From: Dale LarsonJun 18, 1994 10:30 PM
I now know about the problem, but am hoping that someone can tell me about the fix. Apparently, there is a problem with some A3000T040s. If you get them up to 16mb of fast RAM, they get flakey. Bring them back down to 12mb, they work. I talked to another ex-C= person who told me about the problem, and found that removing four mb from a flakey A3000T040 here cured the flakiness. Unfortunately, my ex-C= buddy can't remember the fix, only the problem, and the guy most likely to know the fix is on vacation. I think it may have something to do with RAMSEY/DMAC revisions and that the flakiness mostly involved HD DMA. Does this sound at all familiar to anyone? By the way, to detect the problem, run DiskSpeed 4.2 on your HD. It sometimes works for an iteration or two, but I couldn't make it work for more than three. MBRTest-2 may show the problem, but I'm not sure on that one. — Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
#153079From: Andrew PorterJun 19, 1994 11:16 AM
Dale, I don't know about the flakiness over 12MB but I do know that the revision of RAMSEY/DMAC in my 3000T is defective and is apparently a common problem with the system. In my case I have quite a few crashes with a yellow warning screen indicating memory problems. My techy suggests the RAMSEY/DMAC combo is at fault. Andrew
#153081From: Dale LarsonJun 19, 1994 11:32 AM
You wouldn't happen to know any important details like which rev RAMSEY/DMAC you have and/or which one is supposed to be good? — Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
#153183From: Terry Mc IntoshJun 20, 1994 2:38 AM
Dale, I recently recieved one of my 3000T's back from SMG after a 9 month layover… and to my suprise the new motherboard they installed included all the latest revisions of the chipset. This includes: WD SCSI Chip Rev-08, Ramsey Rev-07, Super Buster Rev-11, Super DMAC Rev-4. These are the latest revisions available (check the inside of an A4000 to compare). I too had a problem with a PP&S 040 I had in this beast until the new chipset came into play. All those problems (not associated with the reason the thing went into the shop) cleared up 100%. As for the Super Buster… one of my 3000T's has a Rev-09… and the EGS-Spectrum and DKB4091 work fine… so I dont know if I am lucky or what. Seems Rev-09 Super Busters work in Zorro3 DMA without too much of a termoil. Go figure. Terry Mc Intosh /| USING AUTOPILOT |\ LIVEWIRE Productions \| WHERE AVAILABLE |/
#153186From: Dale LarsonJun 20, 1994 4:56 AM
Have you run DiskSpeed on the DKB4091 you think is working fine with Buster -09? How many times? Multiple at once? I think you might find that it is not really working, it just doesn't have problems under light load. I'm not positive that DiskSpeed would show the problem, but it is pretty good at finding many drive problems. Glad you finally got your T back from SMG. Thanks for the chip revision numbers. — Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
#153252From: Andrew PorterJun 20, 1994 7:43 PM
No, I don't but I'll ask my dealer tomorrow and hopefully he will be able to tell me. I'll pass the info on when I get it. Andrew
#153322From: Dale LarsonJun 21, 1994 5:03 AM
Thanks, but I was able to get ahold of C= buddies yesterday (the ones I needed to talk to were all at the shore or something over the weekend). Ramseyy -07 and DMAC -04 ought to be OK. Unfortunately, those were the revs I already had. — Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing
#153272From: Bill ReevesJun 20, 1994 10:11 PM
Dale, I have been running an A3000T/040 with 16 meg fast ram for several months and haven't had any problem. Bill
#153323From: Dale LarsonJun 21, 1994 5:03 AM
Only some have the problem. Thanks for the extra data point. — Dale L. Larson, Intangible Assets Manufacturing