Reply 40 of 58, by matskatsaba
Sorry for not keeping the exact schedule, here are some more results:
The problem doesn't seem to be affected by the video card so far.
I have tried the cirrus logic, mentioned in the opening post, and got the same results with a tseng et4000-1mb.
Also, tried every viable cdrom driver from hirens site, no success (mostly hard freeze).
The specific problem seems to be with the ram modules, as the cd driver fails to load when the 4meg motules occupy bank0 and bank1.
For the last hour, I've been leaving bank2 and bank3 empty.
Here are the advanced chipset (probably) relevant settings:
(changing these have no effect regarding the problem)
(also, these were the default values)
Hard Disk Type 47 RAM Area: 0:300 (alternative option: DOS 1KB)
Fast Gate A20 Option : Disabled
Video ROM Shadow C000, 16K: Enabled
Video ROM Shadow C400, 16K: Enabled
Adaptor ROM Shadow C800, 16K; CC00, 16K; .... ; DC00, 16K; E000, 64K: All disabled
System ROM Shadow F000, 64K: Enabled
384KB Memory Relocation: Disabled
Fast I/O Speed Option: Disabled
It's an American Megatrends 1991 bios, the limegreen-magenta-light brown uglyness.
Further findings:
When the 4x1meg modules are inserted, the bios counts 4096.
When 2x 4megs installed, bios counts 7424KB.
With 4x 4megs installed, bios counts 15872KB.
Not sure if it's relevant, the 4meg modules seem to warm up a little. Not too much, roughly body temperature. The 1meg modules stay cold.
Will try if the 4megs warm up in a 486 board or not.
Now trying with a different IDE controller, since that's the quickest of the remaining options.
Also, quick question:
I have a few ISA ram extension cards (XMS cards). Do those bottleneck the system?
Also attaching photo of the board.