Messages in this thread | | | From | "Brien" <> | Subject | Re: my dual channel DDR 400 RAM won't work on any linux distro | Date | Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:01:03 -0400 |
| |
>but I suspect it has to do with > tolerances, timing, and evil gremlins that live under SIMMs and exact a toll > on non-union data
darn those gremlins! have any repellent?
(sorry if this seems like junk to some people--not going to make it a habit)
----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert White" <rwhite@casabyte.com> To: "Brien" <admin@brien.com>; <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 4:53 PM Subject: RE: my dual channel DDR 400 RAM won't work on any linux distro
> I had one-hell of a problem myself relating to memory on my new cutting edge > motherboard. The problem, it turned out, had everything to do with the > motherboard and the often marginal quality of the ram. Much investigation > revealed that there were only a few manufacturers of ram that the MoBoard > would "support" > > In lay speak, I could put any damn thing I wanted into the first slot, but > anything I did with the second and subsequent slots went all haywire. > > The BS layman's speak they gave me at the store was that they had seen a lot > of cases where having "double sided SIMMs" (they were oh-so-usefully > classifying the memory based on whether there were chips on just one side, > or on both sides of the circuit card 8-) in the second and subsequent slots > never worked. > > Translating that somewhat vague set of observations by less than top-shelf > observers, and the really scavenging across the manufacturer site where they > listed the specific manufacturer and model numbers of supported SIMs which > were only compatible in specific sets. (e.g. two of "these" or three of > "those" with no mix-and-match.) This netted me the following wisdom: > > 1) Mother Board claims of "up to N gig" are highly contingent. > 2) It is nearly impossible to find those contingencies. > 3) That is especially true before purchase. > 4) The conformant products were all high end components. > > This further suggests: > > 5) Manufacturers are not being completely scrupulous WRT Standards > conformance. > 6) Retailers are not well educated about the limits induced by #5. > 7) If you want a given amount of memory, make sure you get it all on one > SIMM, on in a matched set, or pre-installed by someone who has the resources > to match a set for you. > > 8) Individual experience varies *WIDELY* even with the same brand and model > of MoBoard and SIMM. > > 9) <sarcasm> This is probably a plot to force people to buy the over-priced > 1Gig SIMMs instead of a pair of reasonably priced 512K SIMMs </sarcasm> > > I don't know the "real cause"(tm) but I suspect it has to do with > tolerances, timing, and evil gremlins that live under SIMMs and exact a toll > on non-union data. At these speeds 1-half of one percent error can exceed > the noise-floor almost immediately. > > Rob. > > -----Original Message----- > From: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org > [mailto:linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org]On Behalf Of Brien > Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 7:59 AM > To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org > Subject: my dual channel DDR 400 RAM won't work on any linux distro > > > (I posted this on some forums and they recommended that I try here) > > Hi, > > I have a Gigabyte SINXP1394 motherboard, and 2 Kingston 512 MB DDR 400 (CL > 2.5) RAM modules installed. Whenever I try to install any Linux > distribution, I always get a black screen after the kernel loads, when I > have dual channel enabled; If I take out 1 of the RAM modules (either one), > everything works as it should -- it's not a bad module (works perfectly > under Windows by the way). I can't disable dual channel without taking out > half of my RAM, and I really do not want to run with only half of it. Does > anyone have any idea how I can fix this problem, or is it something that > needs to be updated in the kernel? > > Thanks for any info. > > > - > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/ > > - > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/ > >
- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
| |