Problems with memory expansion

[Tom Phobos]

Hi there,

first of all Greetings from Germany
Here i bought my first X68000, an X68000 Pro. It had 1MB RAM, so i bought a 4MB menory expansion.



It's labeled "6834"

The problem is that the computer don't recognize the memory. When i start Switch.X, i get the usual menu. Here i can set the memory parameter on the left side:



You see that i set the memory to 5MB. But the right side still is 1MB. With the arrow keys i  can change the memory to every size, 4kb and then up from 1MB to XMB.



But the problem is, also when i save the settings, the memory still is 1MB, The shown value on the right side still is 1MB, no matter what memory setting i use on the left side. I saved the settings, but nothing happened.

Maybe you have an idea: Did i something wrong with the settings or do i only have an incompatible machine for this card ?

Greetings
Tom

[NeWmAn]

Hi,
Switch.x doesn't check if the memory is really available or not, it should allow you to set any size you want.
Panel on the right should show the size you chosen on the left, if it doesn't change then you haven't confirmed the choice (cursors choose, then enter).

[Tom Phobos]

Hi,
thanks for the reply
Hmm, i set the size of the memory up to 5MB, confirmed with enter, but nothing happens. Only the size on the left side remains to the selected memory, the right side still shows the 1MB-value. But i noticed that the values ofn the right side never change, even when i select one of the other options. Only the left side shows new values, not the right side. Here the values are always the same.
Is there any write protection for the bios ? Maybe the computer only can't save the values ?

[NeWmAn]

Maybe I'm wrong about the right panel, I should check on my machine but I don't have it on hand now...
Anyway how do you save the settings? You should move on the last choice (終了) and then confirm with "Y", otherwise it will keep the old settings.

[Tom Phobos]

Yepp, that's also the way i save the settings. Switch.x saves the settings, at the next start i see them on the left side ... but not on the right side.
I installed an emulator for the PC. The strange thing is, that the emulator has the same display: Here i also can change the settings on the left side, but the right side always displays 1MB (no matter what memory size i set in the emulator menu).
Another strange thing: The emulator shows me sizes like 1024KB, 2048KB and so on. The real X68k displays 4kb more so it shows me 1028, 2052 and so on at the left side. I could even set the memory size to 4kb, a value that isn't possible in the emulator.

And one mor thing: I can set the memory to negative values. That's also not possible in the emulator. I can even set the size to more than 12MB. And it doesn't matter if i have the card inserted to the X68. It also shows this values w/o the card.

[NeWmAn]

If you say that the settings are kept (on the left panel) then it should be OK, have you tried a >1MB game?

About the negatives and the 4Kb+... I should check on my machine, but I need a day to do it.

[Tom Phobos]

If you say that the settings are kept (on the left panel) then it should be OK, have you tried a >1MB game?

Jepp, i tried it with Nemesis 90, Mahou Daisakusen and Daimakaimura. All with an error that it needs at least 2MB memory

About the negatives and the 4Kb+... I should check on my machine, but I need a day to do it.

Cool, thx

[NeWmAn]

Just checked: the right panel doesn't change, so what you get is normal.

About the extra 4Kb and negative values:
Type this at the dos prompt: "switch memory=5120" and it should be fixed.

You can check how much memory you have available with the dos command "memfree". Some is used by the OS, for example I get ~3MB available out of 4MB installed.

[Tom Phobos]

Cool, thx for the infos
i'm not at home this weekend, so i'll check it out on sunday night

[Taka]

I translate it from Japanese into English automatically.
As for X68000Pro, PIO-6834 cannot use exclusive 1MB memory board (CZ-6BE1A or CZ-6BE1B) for an exclusive slot unless I build more it.

[NFG]

As for X68000Pro, PIO-6834 cannot use exclusive 1MB memory board (CZ-6BE1A or CZ-6BE1B) for an exclusive slot unless I build more it.

Thank you, Taka!  Welcome to the forum.  =)

The X68000 PRO model can not use the PIO-6834 card.  Sorry Tom.

[Taka]

Sorry. Translation was strange.
If you do not install a 1MB memory module (CZ-6BE1A,CZ-6BE1B,PIO-6834-1M) in X68000Pro, X68000Pro cannot use PIO-6834-4M.

[Tom Phobos]

Ah, ok, Thanks for the information
I'll check it out when i'm back at home tomorrow. Maybe the system has such a module installed and the only problem is a wrong system setting (i hope so )

Edit: Are the CZ-6BE1A,CZ-6BE1B and PIO-6834-1M also expansion cards for the expansion slot or are they more like internal memory expansions like todays SIMM-modules ?

[papa_november]

They're nothing like today's SIMMs, but they do plug directly into a special slot on the motherboard rather than one of the expansion slots.

Why the X68000 didn't use SIMMs is a mystery for the ages. There's really nothing special about the RAM it uses.

[NFG]

Why the X68000 didn't use SIMMs is a mystery for the ages. There's really nothing special about the RAM it uses.

My XVI has a Sharp-made RAM board that takes SIMMs.  Some of the third-party expansions did too, for the regular X68000 models.

[Taka]

[1024KB] of the right side is the rated value when S-RAM was cleared.
The value does not change even if you increase memory.

CZ-6BE1A (CZ-6BE1B is a cheap edition)
http://img281.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/users/4/7/5/2/gyhgx269-img600x554-1235561834guf3fl84090.jpg

[Tom Phobos]

Soo, ok, i checked it out when i came home tonight.
First of all i checked  the "switch memory"-command ... and it worked Now i can set the memory to correct values But the problem, that the computer only recognizes 1MB still exists ...
I opened the computer and there is an empty slot:



It's on the maimboard. Is this the slot for the internam memory expansion ?

But there is another strange thing that i found when i tried some of the programs of the tooldisk:

There is 1 program on the disk that checks the system information, called "si". Another program checks the used memory, SPS.

But guess what i get with the plugged-in memory expansion card:



6MB RAM, no matter what i set in the switch program. When i plug out the memory expansion, i get 2MB displayed in the menu. But either with or without card, the free memory is abit 710KB free. It seems that the card is been recognized, but i can't used it.  Do you think it would help to clear the SRAM ?

[NFG]

It seems that the card is been recognized, but i can't used it.  Do you think it would help to clear the SRAM ?

You did read the part where Taka said your card won't work in a PRO without also having a 1MB expansion card, right?  In that context I'm having trouble understanding your question.

[Tom Phobos]

Jepp, i read that i need this 1MB expansion card. Therefore i opened the computer to check if i have this expansion card installed. I checked the motherboard and the only extra slot i found on the motherboard is the one i posted in the first picture. So my first question is: Is this the slot that is used for the extra 1MB memory ? Or is located at another place on the mainboard ? It looks that on the photo Taka posted there is a connector with 4 rows of pins. The slot in my computer only has 2 rows and another connector style. So i'm not sure if this really is the slot for the 1MB memory expansion.
I ask because i get a strange information when i use the system information program:
On my tooldisk there is a program called "SI.R". When i call this program i get all the informations about the configuration of the computer. like the installed processor, BIOS-version and so on. Also i get informations about the installed memory. Here it begins to get strange: Without the memory expansion installed i get the entry "memory size: 2048K Bytes (710 K Bytes free)". It's always the same size, no matter what i set in Switch.x, so i think that's the amount of physical memory in this computer. With the memory expansion installed, it displays "memory size: 6144K Bytes (710 K Bytes free)" (as you can see on the photo). Here it's also always the same, even if i set the memory to 1024kb in Switch.X. So it seems that the computer recogizes the extra memory, but i can't use it. It also seems that there are already 2MB installed in the computer, cause i get the 2MB memory size in SI.R. So that's the things i'm curious about. And that's the questions i had in the last post. I'm not sure if i already have this extra memory installed (cause i get this 2MB in SI) and why it recognizes the card, but i can't use the extra memory.

[NFG]

Yeah, that's the memory slot in a PRO.  It's up in the left front corner as you're facing the front of the machine, IIRC.  Been a while since I had one.  =)

I think you've answered your own question: The system recognizes the extra RAM but can't use it.

[Tom Phobos]

Jepp, it's the slot is in the left front corner of the mainboard. OK, i think then i have to find a 1MB memory expansion first (i think they are not easy to find ). Isn't someone here who wannts to sell one ?

Thanks to all of you for the support and the answers to my questions.  It's a really great place here for all the X68000-fans

Greetings from Germany
Tom

[Tom Phobos]

It works ! It works ! It works ! 

Oh guys, i'm so happy ...  I bought a CZ-6BE1A  on Yahoo auctions with a proxy bidder. Today it arrived and i directly tested it on my X68000 Pro. And it worked directly  Now i have 6MB RAM and can access it !

Thank you all for your great support. Without your help i still would sit there, frustrated with a non-working memory expansion. But especially with the hint from Taka i'm now one of the happiest people in the world

So Thank you very very much and many greetings from Germany

Tom

[Goran]

Soo, ok, i checked it out when i came home tonight.
First of all i checked  the "switch memory"-command ... and it worked Now i can set the memory to correct values But the problem, that the computer only recognizes 1MB still exists ...
I opened the computer and there is an empty slot:



It's on the maimboard. Is this the slot for the internam memory expansion ?

But there is another strange thing that i found when i tried some of the programs of the tooldisk:

There is 1 program on the disk that checks the system information, called "si". Another program checks the used memory, SPS.

But guess what i get with the plugged-in memory expansion card:



6MB RAM, no matter what i set in the switch program. When i plug out the memory expansion, i get 2MB displayed in the menu. But either with or without card, the free memory is abit 710KB free. It seems that the card is been recognized, but i can't used it.  Do you think it would help to clear the SRAM ?

Is the programm si on human disk? It didnt work. How ca i get this programm