Thanks for the fast responses! A couple of people thought this was
inappropriate for sun-managers (they suggested sun-spots instead). Sorry
if I offended anyone, but I thought that the people who read this list
would be more likely to have actually done a memory upgrade themselves.
What I wanted was first-hand experiences, not "...I heard that somebody did
an upgrade and had a problem, but I can't remember what it was...". In any
case, I apologize if this doesn't belong here.
My original question asked for recommended sources for 3rd party memory for
SS2s and IPCs. I also wanted to know what to watch out for when doing the
memory upgrades myself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The general consensus was that there are many good 3rd party suppliers, but
you have to be careful when buying memory for the SS2 (especially), because
of timing issues. Timothy Smith (tgsmith@spdev.east.sun.com) wrote the
following:
Be careful where you get memory for SS2s (and IPXs). The timing
tolerances for the SS2 memory are very tight. In fact they are so
tight that there are only a couple of vendors who build memory that
meets the tolerances.
The critical specs are CAS precharge time (tCP = 10ns) and access time
from CAS precharge (tCPA = 45ns). Most vendors build chips with tCP
in the 12-15ns range.
If you buy memory that doesn't meet the specs you will get parity
errors. A parity error in user space will result in the process being
killed. A parity error in kernel space will cause a panic.
Make sure you get memory that meets the specs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone said that as long as you observe the speed issues (80 ns means 80
ns! for the SS2) there should be no problems. Ajay Shah
(ajayshah%alhena.usc.edu) sent me an article that included a list of memory
suppliers. Most of these were mentioned by at least one other person, so
I'm including the list (updated by me):
Shop Tel. No. 1Meg 4Meg
Unknown 818-706-1745 ? ?
Unknown 800-678-3726 ? ?
Unknown 800-766-SIMM ? ?
Unknown 800-533-1744 ? ?
Acropolis 408 946 6947 49 275
Andataco 800 334 9191 57 275
Apex 800 654 8222 67 390
Artecon 800 872 2783 60 315
Chip Merchant 619 268 4774 55 220 (has a 800 number too)
Clearpoint 800 253 2778 60 320
Computer Logistics 800 388 9270 ? ?
Dataram 800 822 0071 ? ?
Eakins Open Systems 415-969-5109 ? 271
Falcon 800 326 1002 65 320
Helios 614 451 3865 54 312
Impediment, Inc. 617 837 8877 ? ?
KMO Technology 408 945 7751 41 225
Megastor 714 770 4360 59 305
Parity Systems 216 836 0247 51 288
Peripherals Design 404 263 0067 69 435
Peripheral Outlet 800-332-6581 ? 235
Rave 919 676 2637 ? ?
R-Squared 800 777 3478 ? ?
Solflower 408 456 5055 ? ?
Spectron 206 827 9317 ? ?
Technology Works 800 688 7466 45 289
Third Wave Computing 800-284-0486 ? 250
Workstation Tech's 603 890 6700 78 410
Workstations Plus 800 735 5777 ? ?
Based on the frequency of mention, Clearpoint, Parity, and Technology Works
appear to be very popular. People had very good things to say about
Clearpoint.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding the actual installation, several people said that Clearpoint
provides excellent instructions. Hal Pomeranz
(pomeranz@isis.dccs.upenn.edu) writes:
Just call Clearpoint (1-800-CLEARPT). They give a lifetime guarantee
on all of their memory products and their prices are competitive. I've
seen places selling chips for $5-$15/SIMM less than Clearpoint without
the warranty, but that savings flies out the window when you have to
spend your time tracking down and replacing a bad SIMM.
When upgrading the memory in Sparc workstations, remember that you have
to buy SIMMs in groups of four of the same type and that you can't just
slot them into empty slots willy-nilly-- there is an order you have to
obey. The documentation you get with the Clearpoint memory will tell you
the right thing to do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to all who responded. I would like to list everyone individually,
but there are just too many.
-- Ken Erickson ken@kericks.chi.il.us (domain) ...!gargoyle.uchicago.edu!clout!kericks!ken (UUCP) (708) 268-8009 Home (708) 990-8060 Office ---------------------------------------------------- "Given ten seconds to perform a one second task, the wise man will first think for nine seconds." ----------------------------------------------------
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