Tyan S1680 MOBO - Adding SIMMs

[SOM]

I'm trying to breathe a little extra life into my son's computer which has a Tyan S1680 Pentium II PCI-ISA (1997) mobo with an Intel 440FX chipset and is running at 266 mHz. It only has 64MB of memory so I thought I would add another 64MB to improve things a bit. Unfortunately the SIMM banks are right underneath the casings for the hard drives and almost impossible to get at. The short story is that I broke one of the small springy things at the end that help snap the modules into place.

My question: Is it okay to just ignore that bank and put the new SIMMs into the next two banks? This would mean that banks 1,2,4, and 5 would be populated, 1,2 with original SIMMs and 4,5 with the new store-bought SIMMS.

I have searched this BB database and did not really find an answer. Any help would be appreciated.

SOM

[Fingers]

I'm not familiar with the S1680, but both Crucial (http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?model=S1680S+Tahoe+AT&DetailMB=Y) and Tyan's (http://www.tyan.com/products/html/prt%5Fa%5Ftahoeat.html) websites indicate that there are 8 SIMM sockets (4 memory banks, 2 SIMM socket to a bank).

Bank 0 = SIMM #1 & #2
Bank 1 = SIMM #3 & #4
Bank 2 = SIMM #5 & #6
Bank 3 = SIMM #7 & #8

Memory modules have to be installed in pairs to fill a bank, and both modules in a bank have to be the same size. I'm not sure if you can skip a bank, but I'm almost certain that you can not just skip one slot.

The Tahoe 1680S online manual in .pdf format can be viewed online here (http://www.tyan.com/support/html/manuals.html)

[SOM]

I apologize because I accidentally created a new topic and could not delete it or transfer it into this forum. My second message was:

I have the computer running now, but on start-up the auto memory-check only shows 64MB. As the start-up continues, I see the usual configuration info, and at the bottom of that info, where the memory is reported, only the first 64MB of memory shows as being installed it shows SIMM positions populated as 0,1,4, & 5. This looks good as I did skip bank three that was damaged and install the new SIMMs in 4 & 5. It then continues to load just fine.

So, now the computer runs okay except it does not recognize the $238.00 of extra memory I just put in it.

Again any help or advice on how to make the computer recognize this new memory would be appreciated.

Thanks for the info Fingers. According to your memory bank list it would appear that I have split the new SIMMs between Bank 1 and Bank 2 because I am using slots #4 and #5. I will change it to see if it will work using #1 & #2 and #5 & #6, bypassing slot #3 and #4. I will let you know if it works.

SOM

PS: By the way, sorry about my earlier incorrect terminology when referring to memory card slots and banks. I know how to properly refer to them now.

[This message has been edited by SOM (edited 04-30-2001).]

[SOM]

Thanks for the information Nighthawk (Tech Support Forum) and Fingers (Motherboards Forum).

I put the two SIMMs in Bank 2, skipping Bank 1 that has the broken snap guide. This is the memory configuration now:

Bank 0 = SIMM #1 & #2
Bank 1 = SIMM Empty
Bank 2 = SIMM #5 & #6
Bank 3 = SIMM Empty

So, Bank 0 and Bank 2 are populated and everything is working great. Memory check at boot-up confirms the computer recognizes the additional memory and says it is okay. Memory is reported as 128MB in the "My Computer" properties when running Windows 98SE.

Thanks again for all your helpful advice.

SOM