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 Ί            Classic Above Board: Common TESTAB Problems                  Ί
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 ARCNET & TESTAB, INSTALL

     With an Arcnet board installed, TESTAB will show a pattern of bad
     chips, or perhaps will show the entire Above Board as containing bad
     chips.  Also, the discontinued INSTALL and SETUPAT programs will report
     bad memory and may not install the expanded memory software. This is
     not a conflict with the Above Board and the Arcnet board, it is a
     conflict between the way these software packages ascertain information
     about the computer and the way the Arcnet card responds.

     Solution:  Remove the Arcnet board when running TESTAB, INSTALL or
     SETUPAT, then put the Arcnet board back into the computer when finished
     running these software packages (NOTE: Always make sure the computer is
     turned off when removing or installing computer components).

 SIGMA COLOR 400 & INSTALL, SETBOARD, TESTAB

     INSTALL, SETBOARD, and TESTAB cause a blank screen soon after loading
     if a Sigma 400 is present in the system.  EMM works fine with the Sigma
     400.

     SOLUTIONS:
     SETBOARD; there isn't one. The display will go away although the
     program is still active.  It is not practical to walk through SETBOARD
     without seeing where the display is, since SETBOARD is smart enough to
     choose it's current selections from the way the board is currently
     configured.

     INSTALL; it would be necessary to manually install the Intel software
     without the use of the INSTALL program, or use a different video
     adapter.

     TESTAB; Sigma 400 will cause a blank screen after asking operator to
     choose either 1 - for a PC system, or 2 - for an AT system.  It then
     (invisibly) diplays the switch settings for the AB with the LOWEST I/O
     port address, and asks a question.

       For a PC system:  "Do you want to continue? (Y or N)"
       For an AT system: "Is there a piggy attached? (Y or N)"

     If the operator chooses a response to the above question, the program
     will continue and the screens will become visible again.  The remainder
     of the test program should run correctly.

     If the program fails to continue, then it is possible that the system
     is not totally IBM compatible, and the invisible screen contained the
     error message, "Your system is not totally IBM compatible."

 ZENITH Z449 & INSTALL AND TESTAB

     *Field reports* of compatibility with Above Boards.

     Tech Notes:
     TESTAB and the discontined INSTALL programs aren't compatible with this
     graphics board.

     If a customer is trying to install the Expanded Memory Manager
     (EMM.SYS) using the old INSTALL program, it won't work. They will have
     to install EMM.SYS into the CONFIG.SYS file manually, or use our newer
     software (SOFTSET).

 GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING

       1.           Set AB for all expanded memory before running TESTAB.

       2.           On SOME systems, TESTAB may show bad chips when all are
                    good. Install EMM before running TESTAB. EMM tests all
                    memory at boot-up. If no problems are found - disregard
                    TESTAB's results. Often booting from a clean DOS
                    diskette (without a CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file)
                    will allow TESTAB to see the Above Board correctly,
                    (TESTAB is sensitive enough that drivers and TSRs in
                    memory that are polling for activity can cause TESTAB to
                    show chips as being bad, when they are not).

       3.           TESTAB usually can't run correctly with 327x emulator
                    board installed. May be able to reconfigure system or AB
                    to run TESTAB. Manually choose the page frame for
                    TESTAB. Remove any emulator boards from the system
                    before running TESTAB.

 TESTAB VS EMM - WHY DIFFERENT RESULTS?

     TESTAB is written to do a very thorough test of the chips.  EMM has
     memory testing capabilities, but in the interest of speed on boot, the
     tests run very quickly.  So, sometimes the EMM tests may catch things
     that TESTAB won't see because of the speed. Conversely, TESTAB may find
     things that EMM doesn't find due to the thoroughness of the testing.

 KEYBOARD LOCKUP

     TESTAB looks for a board at any one of our listed I/O port addresses.
     If another board is occupying one of those port addresses (even though
     it's a different address than the Above Board is using), TESTAB sees
     that it isn't an Above Board and could lock up the system, (depending
     on a variety of computer environmental issues).

     SOLUTION: Change I/O port to one not listed for Above Boards or remove
     the other board from the system until TESTAB has completed (NOTE: make
     sure the computer is turned of when installing or removing any boards
     from a computer).

 ODD-EVEN COLUMNS FAIL TESTAB

     If customer has even & odd columns showing bad when running testab,
     have the customer check for:

      ώ  Network boards or other 16bit boards that may conflict with Testab.
      ώ  Bent legs on their memory chips.

     Have customer remove the network board, then run testab and replace any
     memory chips with bent legs.

 ALL CHIPS FAIL EXCEPT PARITY ROW

     With an Above Board 286, Plus, or Plus 8 check the PC selection chip.
     If any of the pins have been bent over or broken off, depending on
     which pins, SETBOARD may run just fine, but TESTAB will come back with
     this error.

 TESTAB SHOWS A PATTERN OF BAD CHIPS

     The use of memory chips listed as "incompatible" DOES NOT cause
     "pattern" failures, (where every other row or column of chips shows bad
     on TESTAB).  The same holds true where ALL chips on the board show bad.

     As far as we have ever ascertained, the ONLY failures you can expect
     from using known incompatible chips are intermittent parity errors. DO
     NOT replace all the chips when you see "pattern" failures, that will
     NOT solve the problem.

     Pattern failures can be caused by several things, including certain
     network adapters, etc., or a logic failure on the Above Board, or even
     booting from the hard disk before running TESTAB (where a lot of
     drivers and TSRs could be interferring with the TESTAB results, always
     boot from a DOS diskette without a CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file
     prior to running TESTAB).  To determine what is failing remove all but
     the graphics adapter, disk controller and AB from the system and then
     run TESTAB.

     If you still see a failure, suspect the Above Board, the slot the Above
     Board is in, or an improperly installed chip (upside down, shorted
     legs, etc.).  If the board has been populated by the customer or
     dealer, they should depopulate it to the factory configuration prior to
     returning, anyway, so have them examine the chips as they remove them
     for bent legs.

     If a piggyback is installed, always remove the piggyback to try to
     isolate the problem.  If the problem persists, it is on the Above
     Board. If it goes away, you have a chicken and egg case, but likely the
     Above Board is at fault, since it contains all the addressing logic,
     etc.


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End of file                 Intel FaxBack # 1264          August 26,1992