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Max Ram for 6100 > 72 MB?

Apple says, maximum RAM for the PowerPC 6100 Macs is 72 MB (8 onboard + 2*32 MB).

I've read ages ago on a different board on the web (forgot which...) that this was because back then, there were no 64MB Simms easily available, but supposedly, it's possibly to get an 6100 (and like) to run with 2*64 MB + 8 MB onboard = 136 MB total.

Who has any information on this? Can this rumor be confirmed? What are the risks in trying if it works?
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aschuth

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Thanks for your response!

I tried meanwhile to contact Newer Technology, and they haven't replied yet. Supposedly they even had a ready-to-buy module (I remembered the original source http://discuss.info.apple.com/archive/powearch.nsf/ccb088a1de6aac738525631c0067846b/8625676E0076FCDD86256806000C9ADD?OpenDocument ), but they didn't comment on my query yet.

Here http://discuss.info.apple.com/archive/powearch.nsf/ccb088a1de6aac738525631c0067846b/8625676E0076FCDD8625678F004F6D40?OpenDocument somebody says they don't . another response in that discussion say they do - buit doesn't mention if larger than 32MB works...

I assume standard EDO Simms would work, too - what do you think?

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Been to a Mac store today, per chance talked to another 6100-owner. He said he'd heard about upgrading with 2x64MB EDO Simms, but that those machines would then be crashing very often... Huh?

He also said that the "cheaper" processor boards are not really a big improvement, that seriously improving stuff adds up to be as expensive as buying a new box, and that level 2 cache were only available as 256 kb for the 6100. Check http://www.mindspring.com/~l2co/InfoPric.html - seems he was wrong at least on that count...
Well...according to NewerTech you can do it...Thats all i know. I havent heard about stability issues at that level but that doesnt mean they dont exist. Yes it is probably wiser to just buy a new box and forget the ram. A 6100 is worth less than the ram you would put in it.
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The costs to replace it with ANY new machine are, however, higher by far, and way beyond the budget.

I need to get some more performance out of this box without shelling heaps of cash out.
The RAM and possibly a 1 MB L2 cache would be the limit for at least another year.

What else might be worth looking at?

Ram Doubler?

Speed Doubler?

Norton Utilities?

An OS newer than the installed OS 7.5.5 Rev. 2?
You could go to 8.1, dont bother with ramdoubler its not a performance enhancer, speed doubler is a ram hog, and Norton is always a good idea but it wont make you run faster. Ram wont make you run faster either but youll be able to open more apps at the same time. Not really much of a boost for a 6100. You CAN get G3 upgrade cards for 6100s but i dont have any reviews of them.
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OS: Somebody said OS 7.6 would be better because it's not occupying so much RAM while enhancing caching routines and all the good stuff;
anything newer were either not working, or taking up too much RAM.

What do you think about that?


RAM: I assume that more RAM would reduce the need to swap to hard disk as much as it does now, thus speeding up work (though not speeding up the Mac as far as benchmarking would show).
The goal, after all, is to increase work efficiency.
Machine performance upgrades are only a means to that end.
If more Ram makes working easier and faster (switching between apps, reducing the annoying wait for stuff to swap), it's what I want.

What do you say?



No Speed Doubler, no Ram Doubler. Message acknowledged.

Norton for maintenance, ok. Defragging should help some, too, I guess. ;=}

Main apps used are MS Word, Quark 3.3.1, Photoshop and some Excel, by the way. Typical work is text processing, scans, DTP.
I favor 8.1 over 7.6. With that much ram you can afford it and the advances were worth it.

As far as reducing the swap space its not going to make any noticeable difference on a 6100. Its going to be slow no matter how you look at it. Switching apps isnt going to be any faster.

Norton is always good.

With photoshop you may see a difference just because its a ram hog. If youre going to be doing alot of DTP youare going to want a faster HD though.
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OK, now: where do I get OS 8.1 from (German edition preferred)?

And I heard there are some issues about current/former Norton Utilities releases and compatibility with current/former OS releases...
The current release of norton has no problems with any OS. OS 8.1 German....well...youre going to have to go to germany for that one...
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Norton Utilities: What release would that be? I heard you could run the current Utilities only off the CD, but not install, and there were some mismatch-stories around about not supported file-systems (like my friend who destroyed his new OS9 setup with the old Utilities)...

OS 8.1 German: Let's assume I were located in Germany, and that the main user of that machine prefers German-languaged apps and OSes. Do you think its downloadable on the Apple site?
No it wont be downloadable from apple...You MIGHT be able to get a retro copy from apple germany.

As far as Norton the current version has no problem with running from an installed version and works with all OS versions. Nor does it have file system issues.