TX97 SDRAM

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alice in Chains
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Alice in Chains

LS,

Does anyone know if the TX97-E support 256 MB SDRAM DIMMS?

I tried a double-sided 16-chip stick PC133 which it recognizes correct. When
I run memtest86 for an hour or so, I got no errors.

When I boot the OS (Linux) from HD, it totally freaks up, (SCSI errors / NIC
driver errors) it just won't load correctly.

As I swapped the 2x128 (also pc133) back in, it boots fine.


Whazzup??



Thanks,

Mike.
 
Alice said:
LS,

Does anyone know if the TX97-E support 256 MB SDRAM DIMMS?

I tried a double-sided 16-chip stick PC133 which it recognizes correct. When
I run memtest86 for an hour or so, I got no errors.

When I boot the OS (Linux) from HD, it totally freaks up, (SCSI errors / NIC
driver errors) it just won't load correctly.

As I swapped the 2x128 (also pc133) back in, it boots fine.

Whazzup??
Click to expand...

Could be that the BIOS doesn't initiate the RAM timings correctly when
it reads the PC133 module's SPD EEPROM. I also had some strange memory
throughput problems when using an old BIOS on the P2L97-DS together with
a "new" PC100-222 stick (1008, Infineon 128 MiB doublesided). And since
the latest BIOS for the TX97-E is very long in the tooth by now, I don't
see much of a chance of getting this to work correctly. But at least we
know now that in theory even the 430TX can use "BX compatible" modules.

Stephan
 
Stephan Grossklass said:
Could be that the BIOS doesn't initiate the RAM timings correctly when
it reads the PC133 module's SPD EEPROM. I also had some strange memory
throughput problems when using an old BIOS on the P2L97-DS together with
a "new" PC100-222 stick (1008, Infineon 128 MiB doublesided). And since
the latest BIOS for the TX97-E is very long in the tooth by now, I don't
see much of a chance of getting this to work correctly. But at least we
know now that in theory even the 430TX can use "BX compatible" modules.

Stephan
Click to expand...

You might look here:

http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29055901.pdf

This is the datasheet for the 430TX chipset Northbridge. It says the
Northbridge supports 256MB maximum, and supports 64Megabit chip
technology. Using (16) 8Mx8 chips, this would be a 128MB double
sided DIMM.

You can also verify what works, by using the Crucial.com memory
configurator.

Based on the above sources of info, I would think your 2x128MB
configuration is already at the max.

HTH,
Paul
 
Paul said:
You might look here:

http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29055901.pdf

This is the datasheet for the 430TX chipset Northbridge. It says the
Northbridge supports 256MB maximum, and supports 64Megabit chip
technology. Using (16) 8Mx8 chips, this would be a 128MB double
sided DIMM.

You can also verify what works, by using the Crucial.com memory
configurator.

Based on the above sources of info, I would think your 2x128MB
configuration is already at the max.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I guess so.

Strange however, when I put in both 256MB + 128MB DIMMS it recognizes 384
MB, and memtest86 tests all of it to be ok.

But at boot I got the same errors.

Too bad.


Thanks,


Mike.
 
Paul said:
You might look here:

http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/29055901.pdf

This is the datasheet for the 430TX chipset Northbridge. It says the
Northbridge supports 256MB maximum, and supports 64Megabit chip
technology. Using (16) 8Mx8 chips, this would be a 128MB double
sided DIMM.
Click to expand...

The datasheet says the same for the i440LX. Nevertheless, a 256 MiB
Infineon DIMM (16x 16Mx8) works fine in my P2L97-DS, at least after
flashing to BIOS 1010 beta 4, 1008 wouldn't recognise it. Maybe some
address lines are not connected on the TX97-E or whatnot, or maybe it's
the BIOS after all.

Stephan (hopefully being able to retire the P2L97-DS in favor of a rev.
1.06 P2B-D soon :)
 
Stephan Grossklass said:
The datasheet says the same for the i440LX. Nevertheless, a 256 MiB
Infineon DIMM (16x 16Mx8) works fine in my P2L97-DS, at least after
flashing to BIOS 1010 beta 4, 1008 wouldn't recognise it. Maybe some
address lines are not connected on the TX97-E or whatnot, or maybe it's
the BIOS after all.

Stephan (hopefully being able to retire the P2L97-DS in favor of a rev.
1.06 P2B-D soon :)
Click to expand...

I always have a lot of trouble understanding the bit patterns put on
the MA and BA lines, with respect to a density of memory supported.
Fortunately, in this case, there is a hint in the last line of
Table 13 on page 55. The Northbridge can support 16Mx4 logically,
but not from a bus loading point of view. If you were using 16Mx8
devices, maybe the rows x columns dimensions are the same, but the
"normal" number of devices are used. That doesn't help explain why it
doesn't work for the OP. Maybe the best advice would be to try the two
combinations like - maybe the BIOS will be able to handle one of these
two correctly.

Socket 1 = 256MB
Socket 2 = 128MB
Socket 3 = No Dimm

or

Socket 1 = 128MB
Socket 2 = 256MB
Socket 3 = No Dimm

With DIMMs of this size, socket 3 should not be used, as the Northbridge
multiplexes the necessary bits, and 64Mbit ram robs the third socket of
its chip select.

HTH,
Paul
 
According to the manual that came with my tx97-xe
it says maximum size memory is 128meg for a max total
of 256meg
 
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