i am building a new machine.
specs of importance:

pIII 850 @ 100mhz
sy-6vca motherboard
kensington pc133 128mb sdram

I have a single 128 mb pc133 sdram on my soyo sy-6vca (both new). according to the specs on the mobo, I should be able to run pc133 as well as pc100. the mobo also states that it uses SPD. Now the bios is telling me that the recommended ram speed is 133, but when I go in to set that, the post gives me the dreaded memory beep.

Otherwise the issue comes from my OS installation. I have as of yet to get the machine to properlay install win98. I get halfway through the win98 installation and it dies based on a memory error... can't recall the exact at this time.

The long story is:

win98 cdrom is an upgrade
win95 cdrom is a support cd only ( no setup.exe file)
win95 3.25" disks work, but requires dos 6 or greater (for some reason due to the hard drive format process?)
Dos6.2 3.25" disks ok, but due to the extra ram, the himem.sys gets botched

So.... do I have a memory problem, a mismatch situation, or a lack of new software install disks...

If it were mine, I'd reformat making sure it was FAT32 and start it up with a WIN98 start disk and Install Win98 SE OEM.
...what you seem to be trying is a bit of a hodge-podge of OS's and you CANT install Win98 Upgrade unless Win95 (not a restore ver.) or Win98 is ALREADY on machine (which I think you already know). As far as the RAM goes, as long as you have it running at the same speed the cpu is (ie 100 mhz) it should work( unless it IS in fact bad ram) ......additionally,if you are overclocking the RAM to 133, it might not jive with the cpu too well.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

You might try disabling SPD, set memory speed to 100MHz, and set CAS (CL) to 3 and see if that gives you a stable system.

The retail upgrade version of WIN98 I have just needs to read the WIN95 CD I have during setup. The WIN98SE upgrade I have can only install from within Windows98. Also, don't think about ME.

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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

When you say "the mobo also states that it uses SPD", does that mean that it can or must use it? If it is an option in your BIOS setup program, and you have it enabled, and your RAM sticks do not have the special SPD chip, that could be a cause of conflict. Or vice verse -- disabled but do have chip. There may also be other conflicts regarding BIOS options for caching or buffering. In general, you're usually better to choose a BIOS option labeled "Default", "Fail Safe" or something similar when installing an OS. If your RAM is really Kingston (not Kensington), they have an excellent web site with a lot of info and troubleshooting tips at www.kingston.com (http://www.kingston.com) that might help.

Regarding the OS install, you should be able to boot to a Win98 start-up diskette with CD-ROM drivers, type D:SETUP, and when it senses that the CD is the upgrade and asks for a previous version, insert the Win95 diskette #1. This procedure may not be successful if you have Win98SE.

Thanks...

Sorry... that was kingston ram, not kensington.

I was successful in aquiring a full copy of win95 and was successful in booting and beginning the process of the install of win95. What I ended up with was a corupt .cab file.


any thoughts on that?

Reinstall Win and clean the Win95 CD with a damp rag before using it again would be my guess. You might have bad ram......try with the "external" cache disabled if you can (in Bios).....sometimes Win95 cant handle these higher speeds(800+ mhz) during install.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

I have determined that the ram is indeed bad.... another chip should be here today.

I was able to locate ram diagnostic software via www.simmtester.com (http://www.simmtester.com) Its called DocMemory. It at least verified, that I was pointing myself in the right direction all along. I appreciate all the assistance from everyone.

Thanks... I'll be bach.

All those interested. The ram was bad, and I replaced it last night. I now have a winning machine. Thanks all.

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Gather round the family, with a pocket full of shells.