would a system with 400 DDR RAM installed, refuse to work on a 266/333 mobo?

Hi

I have a nearly working SFF Qbic system... I get a screen up now (only just
put together and readying for OS)

After a few seconds of booting... CPU recognised and memory then a constant
beep.

I bought 1x 512Mb DDR 400.. on looking at the manual for the Mobo in the
cube (Soltek Qbic EQ3000W with SL-B8A SFF board) it say it accepts 266/333
memory. Could the system be refusing to use it?

I think I'm going to have to order some 333 memory for it.... but..what do
you think?


--
Regards


Alan

Sooty wrote:

" I bought 1x 512Mb DDR 400.. on looking at the manual for the Mobo in
the cube (Soltek Qbic EQ3000W with SL-B8A SFF board) it say it accepts
266/333 memory. Could the system be refusing to use it? "



I doubt that having DDR400 RAM is the cause of the problem. List the
entire system in detail, and people will be able to nitpick more.

On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 20:23:05 +0100, "Sooty"
wrote:

Hi

I have a nearly working SFF Qbic system... I get a screen up now (only just
put together and readying for OS)

After a few seconds of booting... CPU recognised and memory then a constant
beep.

I bought 1x 512Mb DDR 400.. on looking at the manual for the Mobo in the
cube (Soltek Qbic EQ3000W with SL-B8A SFF board) it say it accepts 266/333
memory. Could the system be refusing to use it?

I think I'm going to have to order some 333 memory for it.... but..what do
you think?


DDR400 (aka PC3200) memory is backwards-compatible. Your
system could have a memory compatibility problem, but that
problem would be some other parameter of the memory, NOT
that it's merely PC3200 instead of PC2700 or PC2100
(333/266).

Stopping boot to beep isn't likely to be memory at all
though, more likely a bios setting or fan RPM (missing,
board senses for fan RPM but the fan used has no signal or
it's signal RPM is below the threshold the mobo can detect),
overheat, some other type of hardware monitor(ed) sensor
value is beyond acceptable range.

You don't mention exactly what's happening though, "after a
few seconds of booting" is overly vague... we kinda need as
much info, precision, as possible. For example, how long
had it been on, exactly, and at what specific point in the
boot sequence?

If you left it sitting in the bios hardware monitor screen,
are any values going out of bounds? Does it
halt/crash/whatever/beep if just sitting at that bios health
screen?

After a few seconds of booting... CPU recognised and memory then a
constant
beep.


I think I'm going to have to order some 333 memory for it.... but..what do
you think?


DDR400 (aka PC3200) memory is backwards-compatible. Your
system could have a memory compatibility problem, but that
problem would be some other parameter of the memory, NOT
that it's merely PC3200 instead of PC2700 or PC2100
(333/266).

Stopping boot to beep isn't likely to be memory at all
though, more likely a bios setting or fan RPM (missing,
board senses for fan RPM but the fan used has no signal or
it's signal RPM is below the threshold the mobo can detect),
overheat, some other type of hardware monitor(ed) sensor
value is beyond acceptable range.

You don't mention exactly what's happening though, "after a
few seconds of booting" is overly vague... we kinda need as
much info, precision, as possible. For example, how long
had it been on, exactly, and at what specific point in the
boot sequence?

If you left it sitting in the bios hardware monitor screen,
are any values going out of bounds? Does it
halt/crash/whatever/beep if just sitting at that bios health
screen?


Sorry to have been so vague... The system Soltek Qbic EQ 3000W barebones is
brand new and the HD does not even have an OS on it.. not got that far. HD
is pre-format condition 80Gb ATA100 as specified and set to master on its
own ATA100 ribbon/channel. DVD is on its own ATA 66 ribbon. Could the DVD be
ATA 100? I ask? I have tried disconnecting both BTW.. with no change.

The pc from switch on takes about seven seconds to POST (still black/white
boot-up screen) Celeron is ID'd and memory is acknowledged as 512Mb.. then I
get a message about which device to boot from... CD or HD 0.. .can't get
past this point in which the KB is not effective ...even CTRL ALT DEL will
not work. Hard or soft reset needed.

All this time from switch on... I am pressing F8 to get into Bios to
actually do some setting.... I have an older (borrowed) Celeron 1.GHz
(which is on the approved Sotek list) and the fan it came with.

Your mention of the Fan's RPM sensor has given me an idea to try out the
'aborted' incompatible 2.4 Celeron D's fan instead. Could it be that the
old fan does not have RPM sensor feed?

Thanks for your help...

Sooty wrote:

" The system Soltek Qbic EQ 3000W barebones is brand new and the HD
does not even have an OS on it.. "



Err... that's your problem. What do you expect the system to do if you
don't have an OS to boot from after the POST screen loads?

--
Jan Alter

or

"Cuzman" wrote in message
...
Sooty wrote:

" The system Soltek Qbic EQ 3000W barebones is brand new and the HD does
not even have an OS on it.. "



Err... that's your problem. What do you expect the system to do if you
don't have an OS to boot from after the POST screen loads?




After a few seconds of booting... CPU recognised and memory then a constant
beep

There shouldn't be any constant beeping w/o an OS installed. It should just
sit there.

But what I would do is go to the bios and make sure the first boot device is
indicated as the CD-ROM. Constant beeping quite often is a memory problem.
Try reseating the RAM in a different slot. If no go then see if you have
another RAM chip around that you could try. DDR 400 is certainly backwards
compatible to 2700/2100, but you could have a bad chip in the first place if
it's new.

On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 23:32:55 +0100, "Sooty"
wrote:


The pc from switch on takes about seven seconds to POST (still black/white
boot-up screen) Celeron is ID'd and memory is acknowledged as 512Mb.. then I
get a message about which device to boot from... CD or HD 0.. .can't get
past this point in which the KB is not effective ...even CTRL ALT DEL will
not work. Hard or soft reset needed.

USB port keyboard?

--
WebWalker

The pc from switch on takes about seven seconds to POST (still
black/white
boot-up screen) Celeron is ID'd and memory is acknowledged as 512Mb.. then
I
get a message about which device to boot from... CD or HD 0.. .can't get
past this point in which the KB is not effective ...even CTRL ALT DEL will
not work. Hard or soft reset needed.

USB port keyboard?

--
WebWalker


Hi all

thanks all for your input.... I did say in the original thread that I had
not got to the point of putting an OS on because I could not get past the
beep. I couldn't get into the Bios to set it up!

Turns out that the beeping was overheating!.. the frame surrounding the CPU
on the mobo had come away from the base (where I could not see it initially
these SFF boxes are so cramped)
I found the overheating problem when responding to kony's thought of Fan RPM
sensor. I put the fan from the boxed, retail version, Celeron D CPU just to
try it out and discovered the problem when fitting that one.

The frame that you attached the fan assembly is secured to the mobo by four
nylon pins.. re-secured the two loose ones and hey a fully seated fan, now.
and no beep!


Thanks again