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Curtiss-Wright 5453J driver....?

danalog
By danalog
in Programs, Apps and Websites
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Super odd request but I purchased one of these cards on eBay a few weeks ago not knowing it would be such a pain in the ass to set up. 

It works, shows up in Windows as "PCI Memory Controller". HWiNFO shows that the PCIe slot it's in is occupied, but does not report anything on the card itself, nor is its onboard DRAM listed in the "memory devices" section. 

image.thumb.png.edada481148a86c4aa25e5e63eacdfe0.png

Clearly a driver is needed.

I got in touch with a Curtiss-Wright representative, who advised me the product is no longer in service and sent along a 130-kb driver for a 2006 kernel version of Red Hat Linux that I'd have to tweak and then compile myself - all without documentation - to configure it for my system. I'm not running ancient Linux (nor do I wish to), but mainly I'm far too stupid to know how to do the above steps in the first place. I thanked him for his time but requested if a Windows Server 2003/2007 driver was available - unfortunately, no reply was received. I tried signing up for their online support portal, but was admonished by a different representative who reminded me of my initial communication, once again told me the product is out of service, and denied my request to access the manufacturer's database of documentation and software. 

No drivers are readily available online from all I can find, unfortunately. A Windows driver may not even exist, but the sales sheet does specify "compatibility with multiple operating systems" so I'm hoping that is not the case. 

I would greatly appreciate from the bottom of my heart if anyone here has drivers for one of these cards or knows where to get them. This particular card model was sold in Dell servers once upon a time, so it's not THAT obscure of a card.... but it seems all traces of the software's existence have been scrubbed from the surface web. 

 

System specs are in the above image but I'll put relevant ones here

Proliant ML330 G4, latest BIOS I could find

Windows 7 x64 build 7600

I know how to fudge Windows driver libraries and modify CABs/INIs to work on the wrong Windows versions, so literally ANY Windows driver will work for me. 

What the horse considers play, the monkey considers business...

But to Tom, it's all foolery. 

 

 

 

 

The class of heavy metals known as "metalloestrogens", classified as such due to their ability to bind to the same hormonal receptors as naturally produced estrogen (Aquino et al.), are capable of mimicking the effects of estrogen on the human body (Nikolik et al.). Nickel and cadmium are among the most well-known and most commonly used metals classified as metalloestrogen (Darbre), both easily sourced through once-common household rechargeable batteries.

Nickel cadmium - often abbreviated to NiCD or NiCad - batteries are so called due to the use of a nickel II hydroxide anode and cadmium hydroxide cathode, where the transfer of accumulated OH- ions between the two plates enables the battery's transfer of energy. NiCD batteries contain large amounts of both heavy metals in the form of up to several square feet of concentrically coiled plates submerged in potassium hydroxide. Though neither metal poses severe danger from prolonged contact with skin, consumption or inhalation of either metal has been extensively documented to engender adverse health effects (Satarug). 

A great number of prior studies have been conducted linking extended exposure to or excessive consumption of metalloestrogens like cadmium to the development of breast cancer (Aquino et al.) - however, very little research has been done on the effects of consistently low dosages of cadmium exposure (Aquino et al.). Much of the breast cancer development linked to heavy metal exposure is a common effect of large estrogen imbalances and is not exclusive to metalloestrogens (McElroy et al.). Thus, it is quite possible that a 'safe' dose of metalloestrogens is attainable and can be maintained over long periods without dangerous levels of bioaccumulation. 

Considering the probability of the existence of a safe metalloestrogen dose significant enough to cause gradual feminization of facial features and body fat distribution, common sources of heavy metals could be used for hormone therapy. With male-to-female gender affirming care supplies becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the United States following multitudinous introduced legislation, nickel-cadmium batteries can alternatively be used as an inexpensive and potent replacement. 

 

Works Cited

      Aquino NB, Sevigny MB, Sabangan J, Louie MC. The role of cadmium and nickel in estrogen receptor signaling and breast cancer: metalloestrogens or not? J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2012;30(3):189-224. doi: 10.1080/10590501.2012.705159. PMID: 22970719; PMCID: PMC3476837.

      Rollerova, E., Urbancikova, N. Intracellular estrogen receptors, their characterization and function (Review). https://www.sav.sk/journals/endo/full/er0400f.pdf.

      Nikolic J, Sokolovic D. Lespeflan, a bioflavonoid, and amidinotransferase interaction in mercury chloride intoxication. Ren Fail. 2004 Nov;26(6):607-11. doi: 10.1081/jdi-200037149. PMID: 15600250.

      Darbre PD. Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. J Appl Toxicol. 2006 May-Jun;26(3):191-7. doi: 10.1002/jat.1135. PMID: 16489580.

      Satarug S, Garrett SH, Sens MA, Sens DA. Cadmium, environmental exposure, and health outcomes. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Feb;118(2):182-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901234. PMID: 20123617; PMCID: PMC2831915.

      McElroy JA, Shafer MM, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA. Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jun 21;98(12):869-73. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj233. PMID: 16788160.

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Posted
On 11/12/2025 at 10:08 PM, danalog said:

I'm not running ancient Linux (nor do I wish to),

You could ask this guy if he ever got arround to finishing the user mode driver for AlmaLinux:

Quote

Micro Memory, and then Curtiss-Wright, did a NVRAM card which had battery-backed DDR memory as a card with PCI then PCIe form-factor. Curtiss-Wright / VMETRO / Micro Memory MM-5453J PCI Express x4 Low Profile NVRAM Card has some manuals of this EOL card (from a 2nd hand reseller as no longer appears on the Curtiss-Wright site). Am in the process of using the card to write a user mode driver under AlmaLinux 8.7 to use it, as no longer supported by the OS. – 

Chester Gillon
Commented Mar 25, 2023 at 20:54

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/660248

Alma 8 went EoL last year, but still way newer than RHEL from 2006 hah, also it shouldn't be too much work to get it working on newer versions... Ofc. assuming Chester actually finished his sideproject.
No hits for Windows though...

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