From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Sep 3 00:49:53 1996 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id AAA11769 for hackers-outgoing; Tue, 3 Sep 1996 00:49:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from lassie.eunet.fi (lassie.eunet.fi [192.26.119.7]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id AAA11764 for ; Tue, 3 Sep 1996 00:49:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: from marathon.tekla.fi by lassie.eunet.fi with SMTP id AA16914 (5.67a/IDA-1.5 for ); Tue, 3 Sep 1996 10:49:40 +0300 Received: from tahma.tekla.fi by marathon.tekla.fi (5.65/20-jun-90) id AA25764; Tue, 3 Sep 1996 10:49:38 +0300 Received: by tahma.tekla.fi (5.65v3.2/20-jun-90) id AA03513; Tue, 3 Sep 1996 10:49:37 +0300 Date: Tue, 3 Sep 1996 10:49:37 +0300 From: sja@tekla.fi (Sakari Jalovaara) Message-Id: <9609030749.AA03513@tahma.tekla.fi> To: FreeBSD-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: anyone have a memory test? Sender: owner-hackers@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > Triton II based boards support ECC or parity checks. But you need > parity memory too, which costs a bit more, and some suppliers don't have > it commonly available. You also need the right revision (aka stepping) of the Triton II. The known steppings are: the 82439HX chip: stepping A1; the chip reads SU087 (or no id). Does NOT support ECC. stepping A2; the chip reads SU102. Has ECC. stepping A3; the chip reads SU115. Has ECC and "snoop ahead". the 82371SB chip: stepping A1; the chip reads SU052. No USB (universal serial bus). stepping B0; the chip reads SU093. Has USB. If you really need (or just want) ECC on Pentium you'll want to check that your motherboard has a chip labeled "82439HX SU102". Chips that don't do ECC don't grok parity either. I believe that the HX-A2 stepping has been shipping since around July 96 (SB-B0 for less than that?) Older motherboards with A1 stepping chips don't have ECC or USB (contrary to some MB vendors' claims.) Sales literature and BIOS "enable/disable ECC" settings prove nothing. This all applies to the Pentium / Triton II (430HX). Lobotomized Triton II for low-cost systems (430VX) doesn't have ECC or parity. Triton (430FX) never had ECC or parity. All revs of the PPro Natoma chipset (440FX) have ECC and parity. I think the PPro Orion (450GX, 450KX) has ECC but I'm not sure - Orion has always been so buggy it can be safely ignored. ++sja