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Author | Topic: Is there a memory test software for the IIGS? | 7170 Views |
27 February 2011 at 8:28am
I have just recently acquired a Woz Ltd Edition machine ROM 01. I'm having problems loading programs I download from this site and they don't work properly on my IIGS. My IIgs has a 1MB card in it however it is reporting only 1067KB in the BIOS setup. When I run the system without the card the BIOS reports it has having 256KB onboard. Something isn't right.
What I have been doing is downloading a few games on my Windows PC from this site and using a program called CiderPress to convert the 2MG files to DSK files. I then import those DSK files on my old Mac II which I then use Disk Copy 4.2 to make the 800KB diskettes for the IIgs.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
28 February 2011 at 12:33pm
It's actually perfect timing you're asking for a Memory Test Software for the GS, because developer Geoff Weiss has just released version 2 of his memory test software:
http://mmt.gwlink.net/
The ShrinkIt (SHK) archive is at the top of the page.
You should be able to use CiderPress to unarchive Mega Memory Tester (MMT) and get it to a floppy via your Mac II.
It does look like something's screwy with your IIGS memory - with a 1 meg card installed you should be getting approximately 1.25 meg of RAM.
I don't own one myself, but if you search for Vince Briel's 4 meg RAM card for the IIGS, that's the most affordable solution for increasing RAM. Then there are cards that appear on eBay of course.
Hope that helps!
- Alex
28 February 2011 at 6:47pm
Thanks for your reply. I will be sure to check that out. As it turns out the memory card's jumpers were improperly configured. The card was half populated and supposed to be 512KB. However when I put the card back into the system and started up with correct jumper settings I would get Fatal System Error messages. I was able to remove the defective RAM chips with an IC extractor. Now I have only 256KB on the card giving me a total of 512KB. I looked at Briel's 4MB card. Unfortunately he is out of stock now.
As a side note, the IIgs box I have also came with a highly sought after IIGS ROM 00 board which actually works. The person I acquired the system from upgraded the board to a ROM 01 but was kind enough to include the old ROM 00 board. I currently have the ROM 00 board on eBay.
Thanks again.
2 March 2011 at 1:29pm
A bit of important advice when dealing with the Apple IIGS Memory Expansion Card...
- There are only 3 valid memory configurations that will work:
A) 256K (only built-in memory present--all sockets empty)
B) 512K (only TOP row of sockets populated)
C) 1024K (all sockets populated)
- For configuration "A", remove both jumper blocks. "B" only short *bottom* jumper pins. "C" short both sets of jumpers pins.
The card should look something like this with 512K:
____________________
|[AAAAAAAA] [BBBBBBBB] \
|[XXXXXXXX] [XXXXXXXX] |
---------------------|______|
You can populate it with 256Kx1 DRAMs (usually labeled "41256-15"). They only have to be 150ns or faster and must use CAS before RAS in the address order. Probably harder to find these than it was in the past. I still have a dozens of them (new) in shrink tubes when I bought out the remains of TMS Peripherals Apple II stock. Plus several dozen more pulled off of 8088, 286 and 386 motherboards.
Yep, testing the memory is a great idea. Incidentally, if you have AppleWorks GS, there is a memory test program on the 'Utilities' disk (though given the choice, I'd try something more modern). The built-in self test will test at least the on-board motherboard RAM. Press Apple-Option-Control-Reset and wait several minutes.
ps - There's no such thing as a ROM 00 motherboard per say. The ROM firmware chip plugged in (equivalent of a PC BIOS) is what made it either a ROM 00 or ROM 01. The '00' is 342-0077-A, while the '01' is 342-0077-B. Funny I still remember those part numbers in my head. :)
24 February 2014 at 2:11pm
Hi,
Just trying to create the memory test disk. I've tried using ADT-PRO to create the diskette but it seems to load AppleCommand only and not the memory test program.
Could you let me know how I can create a Prodos disk with your program so I can test my expansion card?
Thanks,
Rob
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