I have to keep reseating RAM

[tuna_monkey]

My dad and I bought our computers from woot a little over a year ago. When they showed up one would turn on, but the monitor wasn't getting a signal. My dad called tech support and they walked him through checking all the connections and reseating the RAM and got it working.

I ended up with that computer and it worked fine for probably 8 months. Then my monitor stopped getting a signal. I pulled it out and reseated the RAM, but noticed that 1 slot doesn't work as well as the rest. You have to really push to get a little baby click. I didn't think much of it and got my computer up and running again. 4 months later (or so), same thing. Today it did it again and its only been 5 days since I fixed it last. I was willing to deal with it every few months, but if I have to do it every week I'm gonna have a problem.

So I guess my question is: does anybody have any ideas on how to get the RAM to stay if the lock tabs don't seem to be working well? Is there another reason it might need to be reseated? It doesn't seem loose, but since it doesn't seem to click right I've been assuming that's the problem.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Try running Memtest86+. Download and burn to a CD. Boot off it and let run for 2 passes. Overnight is preferred. Any errors, and you either have bad RAM or a bad slot.

How many RAM sticks do you have? I would try running one at a piece, in different slots, just to verify the slot is good or bad, not just the RAM.

 

[tuna_monkey]

Alright, I started memtest last night and when I got up this morning it had run for 12 hours and done almost as many passes with 0 errors. I was running late so I left it running and now I have a black stripe, a blue stripe, a green stripe, and a cyan stripe across my screen :/

Edit: but it starts and runs again just fine so I'll see what a few passes comes up with

 

[Matt77]

Just get a new MoBo if it doesnt stop.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

M4TT, don't ever make a suggestion like that again till you can with out a doubt, prove it is the motherboard being at fault 100% around here.


First, what could possibly be causing the sticks to work loose?
Do any of the fans cause excessive case vibrations?
Have you checked to see if there is any dirt down inside the slots?
If needed, take a very fine paint brush, and GENTLY run it up and down the center of the slot where the RAM goes to clear it of anything that may be causing issues. Use rubbing alcohol (91% or stronger medical grade only, NO dyes.) to help clean the slot, make sure you remove power, all devices, the battery on the motherboard, then press the power button to ensure all power has drained from the system before letting the alcohol touch it. Let it sit for ~30 minutes to dry.
Have you checked to make 100% sure, proof positive that the RAM sticks are being inserted in the proper direction? I have managed to brute force a DDR2 stick in backwards once, never clipped in properly.
Can you pinpoint the exact slot, or stick that is working loose?

What are your full system specs? Motherboard/RAM would be nice to know.

 

[-RockMan-]

My dad and I bought our computers from woot a little over a year ago. When they showed up one would turn on, but the monitor wasn't getting a signal.
So I guess my question is: does anybody have any ideas on how to get the RAM to stay if the lock tabs don't seem to be working well? Is there another reason it might need to be reseated? It doesn't seem loose, but since it doesn't seem to click right I've been assuming that's the probl
em.

I have a question for you, when you opened up your case, was the ram modules loose just a tad ?
If you reseat them, make sure you have your little fingers hold it on each side and push it down until you hear it click.
Like corro said, if its not going in check and make sure its not dirty and give it a good cleaning.

To me it sounds like one of your memory sticks is trying to die here.