11 Apr
2007
11 Apr
'07
12:28 p.m.
On 4/11/07, Angel Martin Alganza <ama at ugr.es> wrote:
It's a Compaq Contura 410CX, a 50MHz Intel
i486DX2, acording to
http://www.laptopmemoryupgrade.com/memory/CompaqContura410CXMemory.html.
Hmm... then you don't have the problem I have with the PS/2-E, in that
a true i486 has a full 32-bit address bus (the 486SLC has 24 bits).
There is no CPU architectural requirement that should hide 4MB of RAM,
but perhaps there's something strange about the laptop or perhaps your
memory. The above link suggests that you can have up to 20MB of RAM.
Do you have one 16MB module, or might you have two 8MB modules that
don't play nice in the same box (i.e., 4+8 gives 12, but to get 16 or
20, you need to start with a 16?)
On a more historic note, it seems that your CPU isn't quite as classic
as one might think. I guess until a week and a half ago, one could
still place orders for *new* 486 chips...
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/18/intel_cans_386_486_960_cpus/
I don't know specifics about the Contura line, but I do know that
laptops could be quite fiddly with regards to memory configuration.
You might see if you can still locate docs specific to your model and
look up valid memory arranegments and check it against what you have
installed.
-ethan