Re: IIgs memory test

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

<paulrsm@my-deja.com> wrote:

> Where can I get a IIgs memory test utility?
> 
> A few days ago I posted a question about setting up a IIgs RAM drive.  It
> turns out that if I set up a 64K RAM drive, I do get a RAM5 volume, but it
> does not work with a 800K RAM drive.  I got the GS with an original Apple one
> megabyte memory card with 256K on board.  I filled the board with chips from
> an old 286 PC memory card.  I assume that some (or all) of the memory is bad.
>  The IIgs does pass the self-test.

The self-test doesn't test any RAM on the memory expansion card, only
the motherboard RAM.

One possible suggestion before running down the memory tester path:

Are you using a ROM 1 IIgs?  If so, did you set both the "minimum" and
"maximum" sizes to the same value?

If you only set the "maximum" size, and leave the "minimum" set to a
small value, then the system will only reserve the amount of RAM
specified for the "minimum".  If something else comes along and
allocates memory before you save files to the RAM disk, then there may
not be enough memory left to allocate the rest, and you will get an I/O
ERROR.

In addition, this causes memory fragmentation, which is a Bad Thing
(tm).

On a ROM 1 (or ROM 0), you should _always_ set the RAM disk minimum and
maximum sizes to the same value.

This isn't an issue on the ROM 3, since it only has one parameter to set
the RAM disk size.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P O Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand