DKB 3128 only recognises 64Mb

[crabfists]

Hello,

I have a DKB 3128 board which I am trying to populate with 128Mb of RAM. I have discovered it is VERY fussy about which RAM it accepts. Some SIMMs do not work at all and some are recognised as less than they really are. (ie 16mb will show up as 4mb). Anyway, I have finally found 4x32mb SIMMs which work seperately (Kingston ktm7318/64), yet it will only recognise a maximum of 64mb if all put in together. If I put 2 sticks in I get 64mb but when I put 2 more in I still get 64mb, instead of 128mb as I would expect.

I have a A3000D with an Ariadne II network card and a Multiface III serial card. I have 16mb of FAST ram (zips) on the motherboard. I dont know what revision my Buster etc is, does this matter?

I have now got 80mb of FAST ram, which is plenty, but being power hungry I want to max it out just for the geek kudos. :-)

Thanks!

[crabfists]

@ effy

I only paid 45 EUR for it so its not big deal.

@ doctorq

The SIMMS are (supposedly) identical - all 4 are made by the same manufacturer (Kingston). It would be strange they would not work together but its possible I suppose. What make SIMMS did you get to work in the end?

[crabfists]

@doctorq

Do you know what the model number is of the Hyundai SIMMs? I presume you bought 4 matching ones? I will try tracking some down to see if they work. If I cant get them to work I will have to manage with 80mb.  :-)

Thanks

[crabfists]

@ orjan

Could you tell me what config was your A3000 please? Buster rev, mb rev etc?

How do I tell what revision my buster chip is?

Thanks again

[crabfists]

@ orjan

Thanks for the info on your system. I will see what my buster revision is tonight. I know I have got Kickstart 3.1 though.

@ glitch

From memory I think I tried some single sided SIMMS but they wouldnt work at all. Are you saying you had better results with single sided SIMMS? Do you know what make/model they were?

I should make a list of known SIMMS to work in this board. Would this be useful?

[crabfists]

I have checked my buster revision and I think it is a revision 7. It has 390539-07 written on it.

I have taken out all of the other cards but that does not help.

I have also found 2 SIMMS which are exactly the same as doctorq has used in his 3128 (Hyundai HYM532814 BM-60). These show up fine if put in alone but if I add any more SIMMS only 64mb shows up as before.

This looks like I need to get a Buster rev 11? I cant see what else it can be. Or I am being really unlucky with the RAM I am trying.

[crabfists]

Hi Lemmink,

Sorry, yeah I tried that but I still only got the 64mb. Nice suggestion though.

Thanks

[crabfists]

@amiwalker

Did you have the exact same problem then? You could only get 64mb with 4x32mb SIMMS? Do you mind me asking your amiga model and configuration (ie buster revision etc)?

Thanks!

[crabfists]

Thanks Amiwalker.

As for your WarpEngine problem, have you done the INT2 modification on your 3000 motherboard? I thought the warpengine SCSI only works when this modification has been performed?

[crabfists]

@Alexh

That's interesting. So it can't be the buster revision then if you've got rev. 11 and you still only get 64mb? Like yourself I am going to try and get some FPM SIMMS too, but they are not as easy to get hold of. A quick search on ebay reveals quite a lot of auctions in the USA for FPM SIMMS but not many in the UK.

So, you actually contacted the maker of the board himself? How did you find him? I heard when they made the board they couldn't test with many (or any) 128mb SIMM sets because they were so expensive at the time.

I will report back if I manage to find some FPM SIMMS that work. Perhaps you could do the same?

[crabfists]

Just a little update. I have finally managed to find some RAM that works in this DKB3128! After trying lots of different types of RAM the ones that worked were FPM (Fast Page RAM).

They were Toshiba. I bought them from eBay and the auction said they were Part number THM3680G0BSG-60. Yet, I cannot see this printed on the actual SIMMS themselves.

    * 8Mx36= 32 mb
    * Fast Page [non-EDO]
    * 60 ns
    * parity
    * 9 chips on each side
    * 2k refresh
    * gold leads

This was the auction. Don't know if he's got any more.

Auction URL

Anyway, I've now got 148,309,944 bytes of RAM. I am very happy.  :-P