🚀 go-pugleaf

ZENON REPORT
August 27, 1992

Well, several people have asked for information
about ZENON Computers and experiences.  I promised
to summarize my experience for the net and here it
is so far:

First, for all you local-bus fans,  sorry but I
did not opt for the local-bus because I think the
technology is too immature and I was unwilling to
wait.  So I decided to get an EISA system instead.

The system that I ordered was basically the one
advertised as the Z-Win EISA Station.  However, I
had them remove the video card so I could put my
ATI Graphics Ultra in it instead.  Components:

  486/33
  32-bit EISA bus
  213 MB hard drive with EISA controller
  8MB memory
  5.25" and 3.5" floppies
  Mid-tower case.

The system arrived promptly.  It was shipped by
SEKA shipping and arrived on August 18.  I arrived
home and started unpacking.  I installed my video
card, and turned on the power...

Ok. Everything looks fine.  DOS 5.0 and Windows
3.1 are already loaded on the disk, everything
seems to be set up reasonably well, although they
did not partition the hard disk for me.  I
installed my ATI drivers and utilities, and set it
up to run in 1024x768.

The 32-bit disk controller is very fast (6.8 MB
sec) and makes the whole system seem very fast. 
Even Windows (which I have never really used
before) is very fast -- Windows pop up
instantaneously.  Of course I have plenty of
memory (8meg) or so I thought...

Well, I did not have much time to play with it
until the weekend (although my wife has been
typing letters and such on it).  The weekend comes
and finally I have some time to play...

Hmmm... How come my BIOS only reports about 4 MB
of memory???  640K standard plus 3072K extended.
Some used for shadowing brings it up to about 4MB.
I play with the BIOS utility, have it check all
memory on startup, reboot... can't find the other
memory....  Hmmm.  Run Checkit program, run
through all of the tests (that EISA controller
sure makes that hard disk fly!).... Still can't
find the memory.  Gotta open the case and check
for it.  Yup its there...  2 banks each containing
4 1MB SIMMS.  Read the entire motherboard manual
twice looking for a jumper or something... Shit. 
Call up my brother the PC genius (lives in
Milwaukee) and ask him.  He says something is
wrong -- maybe bad memory or just not seated. He
recommended that I remove the memory and reseat
it.  If that doesn't work then move it around. 
Well, I have free TECH SUPPORT so I decide to wait
until Monday to give it a try.

Monday.  Come home from work early -- Call ZENON.
No problems getting through, not put on hold or
anything.  Describe the problem.  He says
something is wrong -- maybe bad memory or just not
seated. He recommended that I remove the memory
and reseat it.  If that doesn't work then move it
around.  John, is that you? :)

Ok I remove/replace the memory. No luck.  I leave
bank 0 alone and move SIMMS around in bank 1.
Everything remains the same.  I call ZENON. Again,
no problem getting through.  Ok, try swapping bank
1 and bank 0.

I do so.  Turn on the power.  Nothing.  No beeps,
no video, nothing.  Try again.  Still nothing.  I
call ZENON again.  Busy signal.  30 seconds later
I try again.  No problem.  Ask for Henry, have to
wait a little bit.  He will call you right back.
OK, I said skeptically.   10 minutes later Henry
calls (good show ZENON!) and I tell him the scoop.
He asks about beeps.. no beeps.  He says "hold the
phone by the computer and hit reset"  I do.  No
beeps.  Big silence.   "Maybe those four SIMMS are
bad", I prompt.  "No." Pause.  "It should still
beep even if the memory is bad.  I will have to
check and call you back".  "OK, but I have to
leave soon" (Had to go get whomped in a softball
game). "If I am not here, leave a message with my
wife." "OK", he says, but it should just be a few
minutes.

Well he did not call before I had to leave, so I
get home and my wife told me he called and said
they were going to have to send me a new
motherboard and did I need a technician to install
it (as per on-site 1 year service).  "The whole
motherboard??????????", I say.  "Thats what he
said." She also asked Henry (the ZENON guy) when
he would be there tomorrow.  He gave her the
hours, and she said "My husband wants to talk to
YOU in particular, what time will YOU be there?" 
Good wife.  Same hours, but don't forget it is
Pacific Time.

Tuesday.  As soon as they open I call.  He says
that they will send me a new motherboard.  "You
don't think it is just the memory?", I say.  "No,
it can't be.", says Henry.  "All right, how long
will it take?", I say.  "Three or four days", He
says.  Then, "Can you install it yourself?"  "I
would rather not."  "OK, a techician will call you
and arrange it", says Henry.  Gave me some number
to give the technician for return of the old
motherboard.

That's it so far.  If I were ZENON I would have
first tried some new memory, but what do I know?
This may be better anyway since it only takes one
try.  I checked with him that there would be 8MB
new memory on the new motherboard. Anyway, their
support and response has so far been excellent.
Getting through to their support line has been
easy and they have responded very well to this
problem.  My only nit is why this did not come up
when they burned the system in?  I guess they did
not check the amount of memory.

Well, I will keep y'all posted.

--Thor
collard@capsrv.jhuapl.edu
dlc@ddsdx2.jhuapl.edu