MEMORY IBM PS/2 machines make use of several different types of memory that are proprietary from the rest of the industry. Here's a brief primer on the different memory technologies that PS/2's employ.

DETAILS Three different memory technologies are used on PS/2 machines: Standard Parity Memory Error Correcting Code - Parity Memory Error Checking and Correcting Memory Standard Parity Memory Standard parity memory support is implemented on all PS/2s. The standard however, is IBM's own. This type of memory has 32 bits of data and 4 bits of parity information. The 4 bits of parity are able to identify when an error has occurred but do not have enough information to locate it so the system is halted on error. This type of memory will fail to detect double-bit errors. Error Correcting Code - Parity (ECC-P) Memory Machines such as IBM's Server 85 are able to use standard parity memory to implement what IBM calls ECC-P. Here, the correction procedure is a function of the memory controller and firmware, with the feature being enabled via the system reference diskette. To enable the correction of single-bit errors IBM developed an algorithm which scans the data stored in memory. The algorithm generates a unique 7-bit pattern for 32 bits of information, an 8-bit pattern for 64 bits of information, and so on. When ECC-P is enabled the controller reads/writes two 32-bit words and 8 bits of check information using standard parity memory, thus being able to get a 64-bit word with 8 bits of correction information. This gives the ability to correct single-bit errors as well as the capability to detect double-bit errors. Effectively, this provides equivalent functionality to ECC memory via use of parity SIMMs. Error Correcting Code (ECC) Memory Certain model PS/2s have ECC circuitry support and give protection against memory parity errors. ECC SIMMs differ from standard parity memory SIMMs in that they have additional storage space to hold check information on the bytes of information stored. When data is stored in memory, the data is scanned using an algorithm developed by IBM. The scan generates a unique 7-bit pattern representing the data stored and this is stored in the 7-bit check space. If a single bit has changed (the most common type of memory failure) the scan will always detect it, automatically correct it, and record its occurrence without incident to to operation of the machine. The scan will also be able to detect all double-bit errors, which occur much less frequently. With double-bit errors however, the ECC unit will only be able to detect and record it. General Usage Guideline Machines using parity memory (standard parity or ECC-P) do not require that the memory be installed in matched pairs. Due to IBM's support for memory interleaving though, better system performance will be realized if the SIMMs are installed in pairs. Machines using ECC memory require that the memory installed in matched pairs. Additionally, simultaneous use of different memmory technologies (ie. ECC and ECC-P) is not allowed.