HELP! Upgraded RAM & now machine won't boot

Hi. Got my AAO yesterday, along with an extra 512Mb RAM board. Followed the available instructions, opened the case up and installed the RAM, put everything back together OK. I now have a bit of a problem.

The AAO runs through the BIOS OK and I get the Acer blue splash screen, but then nothing other than a black screen with the cursor on it. I can move the cursor around using the track pad but the screen is black. :?

Wondered if it could be the OS so I put Mandriva onto a USB key (will install this later....) and it was running through set up OK off the key but said it had a problem (missed the actual message but it involved an X). I was then taken into the graphics setup report and asked to start an agp service.

Anyone got any ideas? I really don't want to have to tell the wife I've bricked my AAO within 24 hours of getting it!

Thanks.

 

Have you removed the newly/extra installed ram to see if that's causing it?

 

Yes, but still no joy. Same condition.

Having read around I'm going to strip it at lunchtime and try reseating the SDD connector. I thought I'd got it well seated but a couple of posts suggest it needs a good shove into the connector to get it to seat properly.

D'you think it's worth me putting the RAM back in while I'm in there? At least then I'll have a machine that doesn't work quickly?!?!

 

OK, I've now got my AAO back up & running with 1024Mb RAM & an 8Gb SD card in the expansion slot. Had to run the recovery via USB but it got it backup & running.

The problem I have now is that every so often the AAO will shut down. The screen goes black but the power button is still lit green & the orange light on the WiFi panel is still on. I have to hold the power button for 5 seconds and then restart. Bit frustrtaing when you're working on something & it just dies! Any ideas?

 

You know how it is, anybody's guess. Where did you get your RAM? Logically if this wasn't doing it before, and is now and the thing you changed is RAM, then maybe download MEMTest and see if there is a conflict. I used crucial to get my RAM. I let it scan my system and picked out my RAM. I know there is a lot to it, but you might want to go back in and retrace your steps, make sure that everything is seeded properly. I know I had a problem getting the upper left part of my mobo back in and it had to slide under a metal lip. Make sure your Wifi and the new ram stick is snapped in, but be gentle. Otherwise take the new stick out and see if it has the same problems. If not it might just be an incompatible stick of RAM. Sorry, not much help.

 

Thanks sedelliott,

I got the RAM with the AAO from Acer Direct and saved £10 by installing it myself. It's not something I'm new to - I've built PCs before, but with Windows. This is my first encounter with Linux...

I think you might be right in your suggested approach though. I may well strip the RAM out over the weekend and see if that makes a difference. Bizarrely, the machine seems to be running OK at the moment when it's plugged into the mains and not on battery power!!