Compaq Prolinea 4/33

Hi all,

Just saved one of these 1993 vintage PC's from being scrapped.

It runs OK except for a curious problem with it's four 72 pin SIMM memory
slots.

Slots 1 & 3 detect any 4M or larger SIMM as 4M.
Slots 2 & 4 don't detect any SIMM at all!

So the maximum total memory detected is limited to 8M.

The manual seems to indicate that in the 4/33, all the slots should be able
to use SIMMs of 4M & the diagnostic disk doesn't indicate any problems.

Any ideas?

Regards,
Mark.

Computers back then often had some strange rules regarding memory configuration,
and some computers even had jumpers to tell the motherboard how much memory was
installed.

A Micronics board from this era, for example, would accept only 4MB and 16MB
SIMMs, not 8MB or 32MB.

For all but the last 486 systems produced, memory must be fast page mode, not
the newer EDO used by most Pentium systems. Memory speed needs to be 70ns or
faster.

I would suggest trying different SIMMs, especially fast page mode, if you can
identify them as such. The system will accept a faster processor, either 66MHz
486DX2 or 100MHz 486DX4, operating at 5v. Newer 486s operating at 3.3v will not
work... Ben Myers

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 21:50:20 +1000, "Mark" wrote:

Hi all,

Just saved one of these 1993 vintage PC's from being scrapped.

It runs OK except for a curious problem with it's four 72 pin SIMM memory
slots.

Slots 1 & 3 detect any 4M or larger SIMM as 4M.
Slots 2 & 4 don't detect any SIMM at all!

So the maximum total memory detected is limited to 8M.

The manual seems to indicate that in the 4/33, all the slots should be able
to use SIMMs of 4M & the diagnostic disk doesn't indicate any problems.

Any ideas?

Regards,
Mark.

If memory serves, the max memory for the Prolinea 4/33s was 20 MB, same as
for the Prolinea Net 1 all-in-one. As always with SIMM memory, they should
be added in like pairs.

HH

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

Just saved one of these 1993 vintage PC's from being scrapped.

It runs OK except for a curious problem with it's four 72 pin SIMM memory
slots.

Slots 1 & 3 detect any 4M or larger SIMM as 4M.
Slots 2 & 4 don't detect any SIMM at all!

So the maximum total memory detected is limited to 8M.

The manual seems to indicate that in the 4/33, all the slots should be
able
to use SIMMs of 4M & the diagnostic disk doesn't indicate any problems.

Any ideas?

Regards,
Mark.

Pentium systems require 72-pin SIMMs in matched pairs. Some 486 systems do, but
most do not... Ben Myers

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 13:27:47 -0400, "HH" wrote:

If memory serves, the max memory for the Prolinea 4/33s was 20 MB, same as
for the Prolinea Net 1 all-in-one. As always with SIMM memory, they should
be added in like pairs.

HH

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

Just saved one of these 1993 vintage PC's from being scrapped.

It runs OK except for a curious problem with it's four 72 pin SIMM memory
slots.

Slots 1 & 3 detect any 4M or larger SIMM as 4M.
Slots 2 & 4 don't detect any SIMM at all!

So the maximum total memory detected is limited to 8M.

The manual seems to indicate that in the 4/33, all the slots should be
able
to use SIMMs of 4M & the diagnostic disk doesn't indicate any problems.

Any ideas?

Regards,
Mark.