noob asking about internal memory

Hi all,
I just bought a mpc500 with a memory fault at start up (I like fixing things).
So I have ordered a 2gig cf and 128 mb ram for the machine.

When I take the battery compartment cover off to reveal the expansion slot there is nothing in it at all (just the memory receiver),my question is does the mpc500 have some internal memory on the pcb anywhere or does it rely on whatever gets put in the ram slot?


cheers

Paul

There's 16MB of internal memory, not sure exactly where on the board it's located.

What's the memory issue at startup? I hope it's just that you're trying to load a program that exceeds the internal 16MB's rather than something broken.

Hiya,

1 At start up I get ''MPC 500 start up''

2 then it goes to ''sodimm test 16m pass 1 : 50%''

3 then it goes to ''memory problem check the memory''

between step 2 and 3 something flashes up on the screen but it's too brief to read.


any ideas before I start surgery?

cheers
Paul

I don't have a 500 but I'll let you know if I find anything that might help you.

That's odd that it says 'sodimm' on checking the internal 16MB as that memory isn't on a sodimm stick like the 128MB you want to upgrade to. I guess it makes sense to the extent the 2 memory locations ultimately go into the same memory bus internally.

It's sounds like something may be wrong with the internal memory and/or pcb internals as you feared. Just a guess though. Hopefully a 500 owner who had that error message in the past can suggest something.

Hiya,
I did the surgery and find that the memory chips on the board are

ICK4S641632E IC (SDRAM) 64MB SDRAM IC3,4 2off

This is according to the service manual and I have verified this with a visual inspection.

looks like somebody might have been playing around trying to go over the pins,it was very messy when under the magnifier,spent a few minutes cleaning up what seemed like potential trouble spots,and might go over the pins myself tomorrow,too tired right now.

cheers
Paul

Good to hear you're used to the world of bent pins and such things, no fun but that kind of knowledge definitely helps with drum machines that are essentially Pentium III's on the inside.

I found 3 old threads on here where people had the same issue. In those cases it was the 128MB sodimm that was the issue, but bent pins definitely was mentioned.

Hope you get it sorted without needing a new board or anything major.