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#1
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new 256Mb SDRAM won't work with other 256Mb SDRAM
Hi,
My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) I wanted to upgrade to 512Mb (256Mb + a new 256Mb, removing the 128Mb) Computer says "no" The orginal (working combination of) dimms were an unknown brand 256Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin memory stick plus an Amicroe brand 128Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin memory stick. This combingation has been working perfectly for years. The new memory stick I bought is an Amicroe brand 256Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin... so why won't it work with the unknown brand memory stick? My system is a 1.2GHz AMD Duron with dual booting OS's (Win98 and WinXP). For the purpose of this test I have only been booting in Win98 mode. These are the problems it causes - it can be any one of the following 5 errors or sometimes a different error message which I have forgotten the wording of. 1. I get a warning "bing bong" beep and the some message about BIOS ROM checksum error, almost immediately after switching machine on.; or 2. The computer will boot up to just before the desktop screen loads and then screen goes black with a Windows Protection error. restart; or 3. The computer will freeze during the anitmated "Window98 is starting" screen; or 4. The computer will freeze up at desktop immediately before the start/program bar appears at the bottom; or 5. The computer will boot-up and load the desktop and start/program bar then instantly crash to a BSOD with a "fatal exception 0E has occurred at 015f:BFFC686F 6. some other error will come up after the desktop loads but I can't remember what it is... Other things I have found - Each memory module (including the new 256Mb) works perfectly on it's own. The 2 original memory sticks work together in any combination in the 3 available slots The orignal 256Mb and new 256Mb will cause any of the above problems if inserted in any combination in the 3 slots. The orignal 128Mb and new 256Mb will cause any of the above problems if inserted in any combination in the 3 slots. If all 3 memory sticks are inserted in any sequence of order in the 3 slots, the problems will occur. My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? |
#2
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On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote:
Hi, My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) I wanted to upgrade to 512Mb (256Mb + a new 256Mb, removing the 128Mb) Computer says "no" The orginal (working combination of) dimms were an unknown brand 256Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin memory stick plus an Amicroe brand 128Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin memory stick. This combingation has been working perfectly for years. The new memory stick I bought is an Amicroe brand 256Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin... so why won't it work with the unknown brand memory stick? My system is a 1.2GHz AMD Duron with dual booting OS's (Win98 and WinXP). For the purpose of this test I have only been booting in Win98 mode. These are the problems it causes - it can be any one of the following 5 errors or sometimes a different error message which I have forgotten the wording of. 1. I get a warning "bing bong" beep and the some message about BIOS ROM checksum error, almost immediately after switching machine on.; or 2. The computer will boot up to just before the desktop screen loads and then screen goes black with a Windows Protection error. restart; or 3. The computer will freeze during the anitmated "Window98 is starting" screen; or 4. The computer will freeze up at desktop immediately before the start/program bar appears at the bottom; or 5. The computer will boot-up and load the desktop and start/program bar then instantly crash to a BSOD with a "fatal exception 0E has occurred at 015f:BFFC686F 6. some other error will come up after the desktop loads but I can't remember what it is... Other things I have found - Each memory module (including the new 256Mb) works perfectly on it's own. The 2 original memory sticks work together in any combination in the 3 available slots The orignal 256Mb and new 256Mb will cause any of the above problems if inserted in any combination in the 3 slots. The orignal 128Mb and new 256Mb will cause any of the above problems if inserted in any combination in the 3 slots. If all 3 memory sticks are inserted in any sequence of order in the 3 slots, the problems will occur. My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? Yeah - you bought the wrong type of 256MB DIMM for your system. www.crucial.com |
#3
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On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 09:40:54 -0400, daytripper wrote:
On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote: Hi, My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) snip My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? Yeah - you bought the wrong type of 256MB DIMM for your system. www.crucial.com Daytripper, you did not read the original message closely enough. The new memory module works okay by itself in his motherboard, just not in combination with his older memory module. To Fred (the OP), I have seen this behavior before. It can be very frustating. Your best bet is to return the new memory stick, and then take your computer to a competent technician and let him/her sort out your difficulties. My past experience is that if you have several memory modules in your parts supply, you just keep trying different modules until you find one that works with the existing part. |
#4
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On Fri, 8 Jul 2005 10:47:32 -0500, HenryNettles
wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 09:40:54 -0400, daytripper wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote: Hi, My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) snip My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? Yeah - you bought the wrong type of 256MB DIMM for your system. www.crucial.com Daytripper, you did not read the original message closely enough. The new memory module works okay by itself in his motherboard, just not in combination with his older memory module. Perhaps, but given the frequency of similar problems being due to the wrong dimm type, until proven otherwise, the jury is still out ;-) eg: When he ran just the single new dimm, did the system report it as only 128MB, perhaps? /daytripper |
#5
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daytripper wrote:
On Fri, 8 Jul 2005 10:47:32 -0500, HenryNettles wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 09:40:54 -0400, daytripper wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote: Hi, My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) snip My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? Yeah - you bought the wrong type of 256MB DIMM for your system. www.crucial.com Daytripper, you did not read the original message closely enough. The new memory module works okay by itself in his motherboard, just not in combination with his older memory module. Perhaps, but given the frequency of similar problems being due to the wrong dimm type, until proven otherwise, the jury is still out ;-) eg: When he ran just the single new dimm, did the system report it as only 128MB, perhaps? /daytripper It works fine as a 256Mb if it's the only memory strip in the machine. |
#6
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HenryNettles wrote:
On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote: My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? To Fred (the OP), I have seen this behavior before. It can be very frustating. Your best bet is to return the new memory stick, and then take your computer to a competent technician and let him/her sort out your difficulties. My past experience is that if you have several memory modules in your parts supply, you just keep trying different modules until you find one that works with the existing part. Is it possible the dimm I bought is just a dud? or would that also prevent it from working when used by itself? If I were to have it replaced for a new one (same brand), what are the chances I would have exactly the same problem? Or should I keep this one, buy another identical one to go with it, and ditch the no-brand one? |
#7
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On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote:
My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) I wanted to upgrade to 512Mb (256Mb + a new 256Mb, removing the 128Mb) Computer says "no" The orginal (working combination of) dimms were an unknown brand 256Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin memory stick plus an Amicroe brand 128Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin memory stick. This combingation has been working perfectly for years. The new memory stick I bought is an Amicroe brand 256Mb 133MHz 3.3V SDRAM 168 pin... so why won't it work with the unknown brand memory stick? snip My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. This is a VERY common problem these days when you deal with off-brand memory (ie there are good reasons why name-brand memory costs more and why if you ask just about anyone in this newsgroup they all suggest www.crucial.com for your memory needs). The problem is that the DIMM(s) is rather marginal. It works, but only just barely. As soon as you load up the memory bus with another DIMM it is just sufficient to cause things to break. Sometimes this can be solved by manually reducing the memory timings in your BIOS if you have such settings. Normally the BIOS sets its memory timings by reading the settings from the memory modules themselves (referred to as SPD). However on some motherboards you can override this and manually set timings. Set them to the slowest timings available on your board and see if that works. If that doesn't work... err, might I recommend www.crucial.com ? ------------- Tony Hill hilla underscore 20 at yahoo dot ca |
#8
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Tony Hill wrote:
On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote: I wanted to upgrade to 512Mb (256Mb + a new 256Mb, removing the 128Mb) My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. The problem is that the DIMM(s) is rather marginal. It works, but only just barely. As soon as you load up the memory bus with another DIMM it is just sufficient to cause things to break. Sometimes this can be solved by manually reducing the memory timings in your BIOS if you have such settings. Normally the BIOS sets its memory timings by reading the settings from the memory modules themselves (referred to as SPD). However on some motherboards you can override this and manually set timings. Set them to the slowest timings available on your board and see if that works. Holy crap - you're right!, I just stuck the dimms back in, changed the timings to 100 instead of automatic (I had also tried manually setting timing to 133 without success prior to reading your post), and it booted up without a hitch. Now, will it hurt the memory (or my computer) to be running the memory at under-speed? Is it likely to affect performance by much? If that doesn't work... err, might I recommend www.crucial.com ? Well, I will have to check them out too. I might get some dimms from there to try, running them at the correct speed. Thanks for the help. |
#9
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fred wrote:
Now, will it hurt the memory (or my computer) to be running the memory at under-speed? No Is it likely to affect performance by much? Yes. How much depends on your application, and which processor you have - I'm sure you said earlier, but I missed it. Netburst-architecture processors (P4, etc.) are particularly sensitive to memory speed compared to the other major PC processor lines (Athlon and Pentium-M.) -- Nate Edel http://www.cubiclehermit.com/ "I do have a cause, though. It is Obscenity. I'm for it." - Tom Lehrer |
#10
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You don't have enough memory banks to run 3 Double sided dimms or maybe even
2 doubles and a single.I'm not talking about slots. 3 single sided modules would probably work or 2 singles and a double. "fred" wrote in message ... daytripper wrote: On Fri, 8 Jul 2005 10:47:32 -0500, HenryNettles wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 09:40:54 -0400, daytripper wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:39:45 +1000, fred wrote: Hi, My computer had a 384Mb in to memory sticks (256Mb + 128Mb) snip My conclusion is that the new 256Mb memory stick refuses to work in combination with any other chip. Any ideas? Yeah - you bought the wrong type of 256MB DIMM for your system. www.crucial.com Daytripper, you did not read the original message closely enough. The new memory module works okay by itself in his motherboard, just not in combination with his older memory module. Perhaps, but given the frequency of similar problems being due to the wrong dimm type, until proven otherwise, the jury is still out ;-) eg: When he ran just the single new dimm, did the system report it as only 128MB, perhaps? /daytripper It works fine as a 256Mb if it's the only memory strip in the machine. |
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