gary@ethos.UUCP (Gary J. Smith) (11/14/88)
In adding memory to the 6386E, is it necessary to purchase an add-on board, or can memory chips be added into the empty sockets on the original board? I have a couple of the 1MB "Simm Kits", but the computer fails to recognize the memory when I simply plug them into the empty sockets. No instructions came with the simm kits. -- Gary J. Smith [uunet,mcnc]!ethos!gary
lee@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com (Lee Begeja[cwc]) (11/14/88)
In article <2258@ethos.UUCP>, gary@ethos.UUCP (Gary J. Smith) writes: > > In adding memory to the 6386E, is it necessary to purchase an add-on > board, or can memory chips be added into the empty sockets on the > original board? I have a couple of the 1MB "Simm Kits", but the > computer fails to recognize the memory when I simply plug them into > the empty sockets. No instructions came with the simm kits. My simm kitts came with an installation guide which was necessary and sufficient to enable me to get the memory on the board. You can add the simm chips to the empty sockets on the board but they must be in the "correct slots" (unless you are fully populating the board). In addition, there are 2 dip switches on the board that must be properly set depending on how much memory you are adding. If you cant get hold of the installationguide, email me the details and I'll look it up for you. Lee Begeja 201/582-5777 att!ulysses!lee
adh@anumb.UUCP (a.d.hay) (11/15/88)
In article <2258@ethos.UUCP> gary@ethos.UUCP (Gary J. Smith) writes: --> -->In adding memory to the 6386E, is it necessary to purchase an add-on -->board, or can memory chips be added into the empty sockets on the -->original board? I have a couple of the 1MB "Simm Kits", but the -->computer fails to recognize the memory when I simply plug them into -->the empty sockets. No instructions came with the simm kits. first: you can't mix 256K and 1M simms on a board. _____________________________________________________________________ | XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX | | L07LL L06LL | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ___ _ _ _____| |____________________| |________| |________| |________________| L07LL: L06LL: banks 2&3 256K:3&4 1M:1-4 -------------------------------------------------------------- 0 1 1 0 0 0011 0&1 1 0 0 1 0111 0-3 0 0 1 1 1111 L07LL:5678 L06LL:12,56 board banks 256K 1M 256K only ------------------------------------------------------------- 1 0 0000 0000 00 00 0&1 . . . . 0-3 . . . . 2 0 . 0001 01 01 0&1 . . . . 0-3 . . . . 3 0 . 0011 10 10 0&1 . . . . 0-3 . . . . 0=on, 1=off; all other switches on. -- Andrew Hay +------------------------------------------------------+ Holistic Specialist | I will design a computer for you, so powerful that | AT&T-BL Ward Hill MA | organic life will form part of its operational matrix| mvuxq.att.com!adh +------------------------------------------------------+
del@cpsc55.ATT.COM (Dave Lindsey) (11/16/88)
In article <2258@ethos.UUCP>, gary@ethos.UUCP (Gary J. Smith) writes: > > In adding memory to the 6386E, is it necessary to purchase an add-on > board, or can memory chips be added into the empty sockets on the > original board? I have a couple of the 1MB "Simm Kits", but the > computer fails to recognize the memory when I simply plug them into > the empty sockets. No instructions came with the simm kits. Yes - you can plug the 1 Meg SIMMs into open slots on a memory board. Yes - you need to flip a few dip switches on the board AND run the UNIX/DOS setup program to properly recognize the memory. You can call the AT&T hotline for detailed help. Dave Lindsay, AT&T
mcripps@mtuxo.att.com (XMP12-M.CRIPPS) (11/23/88)
In article <357@cpsc55.ATT.COM>, del@cpsc55.ATT.COM (Dave Lindsey) writes: > In article <2258@ethos.UUCP>, gary@ethos.UUCP (Gary J. Smith) writes: > > > > In adding memory to the 6386E, is it necessary to purchase an add-on > > board, or can memory chips be added into the empty sockets on the > > original board? I have a couple of the 1MB "Simm Kits", but the > > computer fails to recognize the memory when I simply plug them into > > the empty sockets. No instructions came with the simm kits. > > Yes - you can plug the 1 Meg SIMMs into open slots on a memory board. > Yes - you need to flip a few dip switches on the board AND run the UNIX/DOS > setup program to properly recognize the memory. > You can call the AT&T hotline for detailed help. > > Dave Lindsay, AT&T ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ First off, "Hi Dave" from XT1145000. Next, to save you a call to the hotline, here are the switch settings: Capacity Switch L07LL Switch L06LL 1 MB 01100000 00000000 2 MB 01000000 00010000 4 MB 00000000 00110000 This is for the built in memory board and 256K SIMMs (the 1MB "Simm Kits" come with 4 256K SIMMs). You can only put 1, 2 or 4 MB of memory on one of these boards (3 MB won't work). When looking at the board with the connectors pointing down, switch L07LL is on the left. If you are not putting 4MB on the board, you have to place the modules in the right slots on the board, or else it won't work. The board is broken up into 4 banks of 1MB each, and all slots for a bank must be occupied before another bank can be added. Here is a diagram of how banks are mapped to slots on the board. 0 -------------- ------------- 3 1 -------------- L07LL L06LL ------------- 2 2 -------------- ------------- 1 3 -------------- ------------- 0 0 -------------- ------------- 3 1 -------------- ------------- 2 2 -------------- ------------- 1 3 -------------- ------------- 0 (connectors at bottom) All of the bank 0 slots must be filled before the bank 1 slots can be filled, etc. etc. This is courtesy of the 6386 service manual. Hope it helps. Mike Cripps AT&T Bell Laboratories mtuxo!mcripps
david@varian.UUCP (David Brown) (11/25/88)
In article <357@cpsc55.ATT.COM>, del@cpsc55.ATT.COM (Dave Lindsey) writes: > In article <2258@ethos.UUCP>, gary@ethos.UUCP (Gary J. Smith) writes: > > > > Yes - you can plug the 1 Meg SIMMs into open slots on a memory board. Just a quick warning - make sure that the RAM chips on your SIMMs are 100ns or faster. I tried some 120ns SIMM's from a desktop 6386 in a 6386E; the memory diagnostics passed OK, but I got unexplained panics minutes after bringing up UNIX. This is because the 6386E (tower) runs at 20mhz, vs. 16mhz for the desktop 6386. You can tell the speed by looking at the part # on the chips - if it ends with something like -12, it's 120ns, etc. My 6386E came with 80ns chips in the 1st 2mb (supplied by AT&T) and 100ns chips in the 2nd 2mb (installed by the retailer). The Hotline tells me that we would not see any speed improvement by using 80ns vs. 100ns - does anyone know if this is true? -- David Brown 415-649-4000 Orion Network Systems 1995 University Ave. Suite 350 Berkeley CA 94704 {pacbell,lll-crg,zehntel,ista,rtech,csi,kinetics}!varian!david
dave@westmark.UUCP (Dave Levenson) (11/27/88)
In article <697@varian.UUCP>, david@varian.UUCP (David Brown) writes: ... > My 6386E came with 80ns chips in the 1st 2mb (supplied by AT&T) > and 100ns chips in the 2nd 2mb (installed by the retailer). > The Hotline tells me that we would not see any speed > improvement by using 80ns vs. 100ns - does anyone know if this is true? This is true. The speed is determined by the processor and its clock, not by the memory chips. The speed rating on the memory chips indicates their fastest speed. The CPU requires that the memory cycle in not more than 100 nsec. If your memory cycles faster, the CPU won't notice the difference, and will still allow them 100 nsec. If your memory takes longer than 100 nsec. to cycle, (e.g. if you're using 120 nsec parts) then the CPU will be attempting to read from memory faster than the memory will cycle, and you'll get memory errors. -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave