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was: PANIC! Echoplex freaks out.: is : Relax ,EDP is robust



Bad RAM happens (as a sr. engineering manager of data storage devices,
I know). 

The echoplex is very tolerant.  

I have 2 EDP, both with mixed, previously owned, RAM.  Both work fine. 
bret


---Kim Flint <kflint@annihilist.com> wrote:
>
> At 1:44 PM -0700 6/20/98, Douglas Lawrence wrote:
> >Mattias-
> >
> >I think the fact that our problem is the same is not just
coincidental. It
> >seems Oberheim (and others) say that *any* 30-pin memory is good to
use in
> >the 'Plex (parity or non-parity). Somehow I doubt that, but that's
just from
> >my experience in the computer industry where memory is very hardware
> >specific.
> 
> I don't think its very fair to imply some sort deceptive tactics on
the
> part of Oberheim or any other manufacturer making such a claim.
Until this
> email thread and another mail I got this week, I've never heard of
anyone
> having such a problem with a particular type of simm on the
echoplex, and
> it's been out for 3 1/2 years. (5 years if you count the Paradis
LoopDelay,
> which had a similar memory controller design.)  I'm pretty sure I
would
> have heard about it if there had been a problem! In the past, all the
> different simm types have worked just fine, so there is no reason why
> Oberheim wouldn't tell their customers that. If you've come across a
vendor
> selling a type of memory that doesn't work, you would serve the world
> better by contacting Oberheim and letting them know about it. Then
they
> will be able to inform their other customers, as I'm sure they would
be
> more than happy to do.
> 
> My experience as an EE designing products for the computer industry
and the
> music industry is that the ordinary DRAM typically used on 30 pin
simms and
> the simms themselves only come in just a few basic varieties, and
that it
> is pretty easy to design a memory controller that handles them all.
That's
> what the echoplex and other memory oriented music products do, which
is why
> manufacturers say they handle all types of simms. The echoplex memory
> controller was designed to handle parity/non-parity simms, any speed
faster
> than 120ns, and all the different possible DRAM chip configurations.
When
> we designed the echoplex, we tested all the varieties available and
> everything worked fine. And as I noted, no problems have been
reported to
> Oberheim since, at least that I know of. It's possible you guys have
come
> across something new, which Oberheim should be informed about.
> 
> In the days when 30-pin simms were common on computers, some computer
> manufacturers elected not to use universal memory controllers for
their own
> mysterious marketing / cost / bad-engineering reasons. That tended to
> confuse people buying for music industry products, where manufacturers
> tried to do their customers a favor by going to the extra effort to
do it
> right. Unfortunately, various memory vendors and music stores have
been
> known to take advantage of this musician confusion and sell "special"
> memory for a higher price, which is almost always BS.
> 
> With newer computers the situation does get more complicated, since
newer
> DIMM memory comes a wide range of flavors and you really do need to
make
> sure you are getting the right kind, because the technology is quite
> different. But that generally wasn't the case in the 30-pin simm
days. And
> it's generally not the case for products still using 30-pin simms
now. But
> it does add to the confusion, unfortunately.
> 
> It seems to me more likely that somebody is either dumping defective
memory
> on the market or somebody is suddenly making 30 pin simms with a
different
> type of DRAM on them to clear inventory. (either of which would not
be at
> all suprising given the current economic crisis in South Korea, where
> Samsung is located. A lot of ugly stuff has been happening in the
past few
> months, because companies in SE asia are doing anything to get
dollars into
> their bank accounts as quickly as possible.) It might be wise to buy
memory
> from reputable dealers to avoid these problems, at least for now.
> 
> kim
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> Kim Flint                   | Looper's Delight
> kflint@annihilist.com       | http://www.annihilist.com/loop/loop.html
> http://www.annihilist.com/  | Loopers-Delight-request@annihilist.com
> 
> 
> 

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