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Author	Topic: Is there a memory test software for the IIGS?	659 Views

• dw
  
  Community Member
  2 posts

  Is there a memory test software for the IIGS?

  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.
  
  

• Alex Lee
  
  Administrator
  96 posts

  Re: Is there a memory test software for the IIGS?

  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

• dw
  
  Community Member
  2 posts

  Re: Is there a memory test software for the IIGS?

  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.

• Mitchell Spector
  
  Community Member
  26 posts

  Re: Is there a memory test software for the IIGS?

  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. :)

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