[ale] Hardware problems solved :-)

[Jim Seymour]

Just a quick note of thanks to all that offered their knowledge in 
helping to find the problems with the new system. It was asked that I
post the end result to the list. All of the hardware purchased was okay
and nothing needed to be replaced. The problem was that the bios was
setting the memory timing wrong.

Asus A7N8X-X motherboard - Load all optimal settings in bios. Defaults
to using "Memory Frequency" by SPD. This seemed to set a wrong memory
speed. Huge errors in memtest86. Changed the "Memory Frequency" to Auto.
This corrected the memory speed and resulted in very few memtest86
errors. Setting to Auto also changed the memory timing from 8-3-3-2.5 to
7-3-3-2. The memory was claimed to have a CAS Latency of 2.5 by 
Kingston. Changed CAS Latency to 2.5.

Repeated tests by memtest86 show no errors and the system is rock solid. 
In the end the memory settings were 7-3-3-2.5. The cpu is an Athalon 
XP2600 (barton) and the memory is Kingston KVR400X64C25/512. If anyone 
would like more specific info I can provide off list.

Also have discovered the Armagetron 3-D game that came with Debian 
testing. It's a cool motorcycle make the other guy wreck game.

Later,

Jim