On 10 Jan 99, at 16:00, Gordon Tyler wrote:
> I am considering purchasing 8 x 4 MB RAM simms to replace the 4 x 1
> MB RAM 30 pin simms. Does that seem like a wise move to bolster
> performance? I know it isn't cheap.

  I see these advertized locally for about $13 apiece -- that's about
$100 for 8, but I remember how hard it once was to find them for $30.
  While Win95 is supposed to work with only 4MB, and FreeBSD can run
with 8MB, generally any 32-bit OS is going to be happier with more.
8x4MB is the maximum a lot of 486es support, and it should be enough
for average client use -- it's a little lean for a server.

> I want to get a larger hd; is there a size limit, given that this is
> a clone mb with an American Megatrends AMIBIOS from 12/92? I think I
> need a minimum of 100 MB to use Linux GUI & I'd like to order the
> maximum storage the bios will support.

  Unless there's an updated BIOS available, you may be limited to 504
MB hard drive size.  There are third party software packages to get
around this, but I don't know how compatible they are with Linux.  You
*may* still be able to find ISA/VLB IDE/EIDE controllers with on-board
BIOS updates to fix this, or you could consider going to SCSI (probably
not on your budget...).


David G

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