Win xp Not Booting When Extra Ram Stick Added

[CacheUK]

I think he has said that *both* dimm slots work - he called them 0 and 1 instead of 1 and 2.... if not then i apologise and you are probably right! If im right then ... well that rules out your idea!

 

[majistic]

the ram is not compatible

 

[Lone Wolf]

Killian, i guess i learned something new today.

As far as the RAM modules being imcompatible, I dont' see how that can be the case. I know Comcrap (before it was bought out by HP) was notorious for using proprietary parts and anytime you wanted to add more RAM you had to buy it from Compaq. It doesn't sound like this is a compaq model were talking about.

I suppose there's a remote possibility that the module is mis-labeled, but even so, if by some small chance it's PC100 speed, I don't understand how it would cause a failure to boot.... Maybe if it was really different like EDO RAM vs. SDRAM... but mixing 100 and 133... I dunno... i tend to think one of the DIMM slots is defective. I could be wrong though.

 

[killians45]

Yeah, mixing mem shouldn't be a problem. I know the ol' MBD's use to have a bad time with using different mem sizes (256 and 128 or something), especially old gateway systems. So I doubt that myself. Mixing 100 and 133 shouldn't be an issue, as the system will just defualt itself to the lowest setting. Now mixing something like ECC/Non ECC would be a no no. I do agree though, I think the slot is defective OR the mem controller chip... either way, its gonna be a rpl of the MBD. However, just maybe some of the other stuff will fix it somehow if he's worried about saving money. I also dont think a BIOS flash would do it, either, but you never know. I've seen before where I said "well, that wont do a thing because they're independent of each other" and then get proven wrong! lol, supposedly things that are impossible to happen or an impossible solution always tends to creap up on me (DOS loop in XP????! How the hell does THAT happen!!)

 

[Lone Wolf]

Aggdaddy, i have been of a grumpy fart lately. Sorry, didn't mean to cause you any offense. I just tend to prefer takign the most logical step in diagnosing these types of problems and i probably came across too gruffly.

 

[mikesgroovin]

e-dard
Have you tried switching the RAM modules around (256 in slot 0 and 512 in slot 1)? If they work individually then I'd be more inclined to ask what brands they are. We can clearly pinpoint the problem to be that the two modules do not work together in that board. I don't think it would be the slot itself. Focus on the RAM modules....switch them out, try both indiviually in the one board in question and in another PC.

 

[Aggdaddy]

Wow, an apology. that's a first I have seen on any forum I've been to. Think nothing of it Lone Wolf. I think I jumped the gun too. On one of your posts you said this

"E-tard, In this case, save yourself some time and try the most plausible route rather than just taking a shot in the dark."

I thought you was taking a shot at me and I didn't realize it was a typo for the originator of the post "E-Dard"

I came across that hardware problem along time ago when AMD K6-2 450 was the top dawg in processors. Motherboards have evolved since then.

Anyway, I posted my two cents about it. I'm mostly a hands-on tech for a local bank.

 

[OIDanTheManIO]

to my knowlege, a 256 and a 512 cannnot be combined because of the fact that they are not a power of 2 when added together. if you had two 256's and one 512, that would be different.

 

[str8lazy]

to my knowlege, a 256 and a 512 cannnot be combined because of the fact that they are not a power of 2 when added together. if you had two 256's and one 512, that would be different.

Explain this???

 

[Lone Wolf]

to my knowlege, a 256 and a 512 cannnot be combined because of the fact that they are not a power of 2 when added together. if you had two 256's and one 512, that would be different.

Never heard of that 'power of 2' rule... that's a new one on me man.