#Bad Math Coprocessor?
3 messages in this thread
I just recently installed a 387/40 IIT math coprocessor I got from Tiger
Software onto my 386/40 machine, and am having trouble with it. I took it
to the place where I purchased my computer and they think that I just have
a bad chip. According to them, there's about a 10% failure rate, and I was
just unlucky. I paid $140 for this chip, and THEIR cheapest price is about
$220 – $240. When I told them how much I paid, they said I probably got a
cheap chip. But they sell IIT, too, as well as AMD. Would I be better off
getting Tiger to exchange this chip or should I just go with the local
dealer? Is $140 too rediculously low a price to expect good quality?
Could mailing of the chip (it came via Federal Express) subject it to
possible damage that it wouldn't incur if recieved from a dealer?
The chip isn't always detected on boot-up. Even when it is, it seems to
become un-detected later. The diagnostic software will not always execute,
and sometimes Norton says its not there even though the boot-up screen said
it was there.
Thanks in advance for any and all comments and suggestions. When I first
got this computer, I was a bit unfamiliar with the technology. Now that I
know more, I'm trying to upgrade without having to always take my machine
to the dealer so he can just open the machine and flip a switch. I'm not
mechanically inclined, but it would be nice if I could do a few things
myself.
Ellison Capers
Ellison,
Have you checked to make absolutely sure that the chip is seated in the
socket and that none of the pins are bent ????? Are you sure that all the
necessary mother board jumpers are set correctly and any bios changes are
completed ??? There are as many ways of telling the machine that the
co-processor is there as there are machines, but the usual are jumpers on
the mo-bo and bios setup.
Also if the chip is not seated completely, it will sometimes rise in the
socket and disconnect due to the heat buildup in the machine.
If none of the above seem to be your problem, then it's very possible that
you have a bad chip. The easiest place (and the cheapest) is to contact the
original dealer that sold you the chip and get it replaced. That should
only cost you the shipping to the dealer of the old chip.
Did you get any software diagnostics with the chip ??? If so, try running
them and note the results.
Joe,
Thanks for the advice. Yup, I checked all those things. The chip is
auto-detected – no jumpers, switches, or CMOS to change. Even confirmed
this with the dealer. I asked him about the seating of the chip. I had
tried pressing down on it to see if it would make a better connection, but
got no improvement. The dealer said he actually loosened it a bit.
The diagnostic software ran differently at different times. Not very
consistent.