New RAM causing a strange boot problem...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dom
  • Start date Start date
D

Dom

Heres my PC spec

2.53ghz Pentium 4
GeForce FX 5500 256mb
DVD Drive
CD ROM Re-Writer
80GB harddrive.
Windows XP Home

Up until recently I had two sticks of 256mb DDR RAM. Everything was fine
until...

I went out and bought two sticks of 512kb DDR RAM (pc3200 400mhz). Installed
and it all worked fine. Windows recongises 1GB RAM. Great. Had a fun time in
half-life online...bed time comes ... Shut down...

Turn the PC on the next day and it doesn't start. The machine sits there all
powers up and fans start - harddrive light is constantly on - but not
reading data. Also the screen is blank. No start-up at all and the greeen
monitor power light does not come on just the amber one. Screen remains
blank.

If I hold down the computer power button for 10 seconds the machine will
shut down. I press the power button again and the machine boots up fine.

Now it does this all the time. After I have booted up fine and shut down
normally the machine refuses to boot back up again the next time until I
press press the power button down and do a hard re-boot.

I have taken the memory out again and replaced with the old memory and the
PC works fine again. However replace the 512k memory and the issues start
again.

I have tried swapping round the memory in their slots but this has no
effect. I have tried one new memory stick (512) and one old memory stick
(256) and this works fine. However if I have one 512 stick in or both then
it gets the problem I described above.

I do not know how to check for stuff in BIOS but I have been playing about
with power settings and still not having joy.

HELP !!!!

--
Thanks,
Andrew Makinson

www.evcomputing.com
www.iowcomputers.net/websiteforum/index.php
 
Dom said:
Heres my PC spec

2.53ghz Pentium 4
GeForce FX 5500 256mb
DVD Drive
CD ROM Re-Writer
80GB harddrive.
Windows XP Home

Up until recently I had two sticks of 256mb DDR RAM. Everything
was fine
until...

I went out and bought two sticks of 512kb DDR RAM (pc3200
400mhz). Installed
and it all worked fine. Windows recongises 1GB RAM. Great. Had a
fun time in
half-life online...bed time comes ... Shut down...

Turn the PC on the next day and it doesn't start. The machine
sits there all
powers up and fans start - harddrive light is constantly on -
but not
reading data. Also the screen is blank. No start-up at all and
the greeen
monitor power light does not come on just the amber one. Screen
remains
blank.

If I hold down the computer power button for 10 seconds the
machine will
shut down. I press the power button again and the machine boots
up fine.

Now it does this all the time. After I have booted up fine and
shut down
normally the machine refuses to boot back up again the next time
until I
press press the power button down and do a hard re-boot.

I have taken the memory out again and replaced with the old
memory and the
PC works fine again. However replace the 512k memory and the
issues start
again.

I have tried swapping round the memory in their slots but this
has no
effect. I have tried one new memory stick (512) and one old
memory stick
(256) and this works fine. However if I have one 512 stick in or
both then
it gets the problem I described above.

I do not know how to check for stuff in BIOS but I have been
playing about
with power settings and still not having joy.
Click to expand...

Was the old memory slower, PC2100/PC2700?

Perform a bios reset with all power removed from the pc then
reboot, enter the bios and choose load optimised defaults, save
and reboot again (and enter the bios if you need to set up
anything specific to your needs).
 
Dom said:
Yes the old memory was slower...

The old 256mb were both 266mhz

How do I perform a 'Bios reset with all power removed from the
pc?'
Click to expand...

Look in the manual for your motherboard (it maybe described as a
cmos reset), it's usually a jumper that you have to move for a
second or two. Post back here with the motherboard details or
google for the manufacturers site and search for the manual there
if you don't have it.
 
My manufacturers website has this to say about the motherboard...

a.. Supports 2 memory slots.
a.. Serial Presence Detect (SPD) support.
a.. Supports a maximum memory size of 1 GB (using 2×512 MB memory modules).
a.. Support only 2.5 V DIMM DDRAM configurations.
a.. Unbuffered type support.
a.. 266 MHz DDR interface.

if I have 2x512 MB memory modules running at pc3200 400mhz does that mean
this board does not support them?

--
Thanks,
Andrew Makinson

www.evcomputing.com
www.iowcomputers.net/websiteforum/index.php

Dom said:
it's a "GA-8SIMLNF" motherboard

gigabyte don't seem to have any bios updates or information about it
though...

--
Thanks,
Andrew Makinson

www.evcomputing.com
www.iowcomputers.net/websiteforum/index.php
Click to expand...
 
My Gigabyte board does not have a CMOS jumper. To clear the CMOS, you remove
the battery located near the BIOS chip. Do this with power off (disconnect
power supply). Leave the battery out for at least 30 seconds. Replace,
reconnect power, reboot into BIOS and set your preferences.

"Support only 2.5 V DDRAM" may be part of the problem. Depending on the type
of RAM you are using, it may need more than that. I'm running 1GB Mushkin
PC3500 and had to up the V from 2.5 to 2.6 to get it to run stable.



Fitz
 
How would one 'up the voltage' ? It does read like a power issue...
Click to expand...


Since the board ran fine *while* it was running, memory
voltage itself is only one of the potential issues. It
could be a motherboard design problem, failing capacitors in
the memory regulation circuit, or a poor power supply.
Possibly a bios bug too, you might check on bios updates.

Check the system with memtest86 for several hours.

It would be good to try 2.6V if the board is running it at
2.5V currently. There would be a setting in the bios,
wording may vary but something akin to "memory voltage" or
"vdimm" or ??? The range for the setting should be a
tipoff, it's typically around 2.5-2.8V, sometimes extending
a little higher but IMO, you should not need nor use above
2.7V, it should work at or below that if it's going to, if
the memory is properly spec'd.
 
i've looked in the BIOS settings (F2 from bott-up) but there is no section
to set memory voltage.

The memory is elixer memory and the site says that I should be running at
2.6v but if I have no way to change the memory voltage should I take the
memory back to the shop?

As I say it works fine and stable every other time I boot the machine which
is more a pain than annoying.

i'm not a techy so if you are explaining what I need to can I request you
put it into plain english please.

Thanks

--
Thanks,
Andrew Makinson

www.evcomputing.com
www.iowcomputers.net/websiteforum/index.php
 
i've looked in the BIOS settings (F2 from bott-up) but there is no section
to set memory voltage.
Click to expand...

It is possible to have someone use a multimeter to check the
currently used memory voltage (if you know someone with this
skill/ability), OR it "might' be visible in a bios health or
hardware monitor page. It could be that your board is
already using 2.6V.

The memory is elixer memory and the site says that I should be running at
2.6v but if I have no way to change the memory voltage should I take the
memory back to the shop?
Click to expand...

Yes if you find no other recourse, return it sooner rather
than later if there is a purchase-warranty in effect.

As I say it works fine and stable every other time I boot the machine which
is more a pain than annoying.
Click to expand...

If it's a problem with the power or motherboard, it could
easily be that you will face the same situation with
different memory too, but until you try different memory it
is an unknown variable... since you don't have the other
memory yet and any memory bought "should" work, it seems in
your best interest to return it and get a different
make/model of memory, not an exchange for exact same memory.

i'm not a techy so if you are explaining what I need to can I request you
put it into plain english please.
Click to expand...


The bios setting should be fairly easy to spot, there aren't
a lot of different voltage settings in a bios, usually one
for CPU, chipset, AGP, and memory. Not necessarily all (or
even any) of those but if it's there you should see it, it
would be only a matter of which was which, understanding
what Gigabyte had named it but still the choices would be
voltages like 2.5, 2.6. 2.7, etc.

SInce you bought it from a shop, you might see if you could
take in the system and (while you're there hopefully) they
could try different memory, that is, without charging a fee
to do it.
 
I couldn't find your exact model on the Gigabyte website, but I looked at
the manual for a couple of GA-8SILXXX boards. It has a BIOS option specific
to Gigabyte. Try this:

Boot to Bios, hit "CTL" and "F1" at the same time. It will add an additional
options to the BIOS- Look for Voltage/Frequency Control and/or Advanced BIOS
Options.

This should be in your manual in "BIOS Setup" as a footnote after the
Control Keys and The Main Menu information.

Fitz
 
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