>
> You write something out, you read it back in, it's still in the
> cache, so you're not actually ever reading from the SIMM again. There is
> an instruction to clear the cache, but I don't know if it would be
> implemented on all platforms because I really don't see the point in
> having such an instruction. :)
Well sometimes. Many caches are write-through, which solves a lot of
problems. Some Cyrix chips can have write-behind enabled, but due to other
hardware "bugs" (reserved word, normally used for software), many such
systems fail when running multitasking operating systems.
One thing is certainly true. Power-on-self-test and check-memory routines
are just for "show". You could lean a lot more by seeing if the system
boots and can then do something useful for several days.
I designed the operating system for a CAT-Scanner. The "Program managers"
insisted that, before anything useful is accomplished, a complete suite
of test routines be run. I have never, ever, seen these routines report
any errors. However, I have seen many systems fail because of errors that
the test routines were designed to find!
Cheers,
Dick Johnson
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Richard B. Johnson
Project Engineer
Analogic Corporation
Voice : (508) 977-3000 ext. 3754
Fax : (508) 532-6097
Modem : (508) 977-6870
Ftp : ftp@boneserver.analogic.com
Email : rjohnson@analogic.com, johnson@analogic.com
Penguin : Linux version 2.1.11 on an i586 machine.
Warning : It's hard to remain at the trailing edge of technology.
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