Problem with new ram

I'm sure this has been posted before but I just cannot find it so any help would be appreciated.

I have an Acer Aspire One 532h that I tried to upgrade the memory on today with no luck. Tried to install a 2GB "PNY OPTIMA 2GB DDR2 667 MHz PC2-5300 Notebook / Laptop SODIMM Memory Module MN2048SD2-667" and it just wouldn't work. Was easy to replace the old ram but everytime I tried to fire it up all I could hear was the HD spinning up and the fan coming on. Screen remained totally blank with no bootup. Removed the new memory and put the old back in and it booted up just fine!! Tried it again and again no success. Running Windows starter and any and all help much appreciated. Thanks.

 

The AAOs can be finicky when it comes to RAM upgrades, only certain modules are compatible. Check the compatible memory thread and see if there's any RAM in there that's been reported as working. Short answer, you need a different RAM module.

 

Thanks. Just ordered some Crucial. Hopefully that will do the trick.

 

Hi ,
There are a lot of threads similar with this one but I could not find an answer, so if you could please help me...
On my netbook, Aspire one 532h-2789, I wanted to upgrade rhw ram memory to 2 GB . So I bought PNY DDR2 PC2-6400 (compatible with 800, 667 and 533 MHz).
After I pluged in the new ram the computer did not boot any more. I could only hear the fan running. I tried to place back the original ram memory (1GB) but the behaiviour is exactly the same...no boot, also no boot without any ram memory in...

DO you think you can help in this situation? ( i was carefull with esd and the new ram was place ok in the slot...)

Thank you,
Flavius

 

I decided to upgrade the ram in my old PC from 1GB to 2GB. The ram I had was Corsair XMS3200 400Mhz 1GB but I know how mismatched memory can cause problems so I bought a new set of (2) Corsair XMS3200 400Mhz 1GB (each). Yes, I know it's the same thing but I wanted to be sure nothing had changed since the original memory was years older and the version number was the only difference.

I removed the old DIMM and installed the new making sure I used the proper slots to maintain dual channel operation (Slots 2 & 4). Shortly after the Win XP loading screen starts there is a BSOD, the specific error is different almost every time but it is always related to memory.

I tried booting into the Ubunto partition and everything worked flawlessly. I then went ahead and ran Memtest86 for two full passes with 0 errors reported. Ok the hardware is fine and Ubunto is fine so the problem has to be in Windows XP and the RAM.

Next I tried running each DIMM solo in slot two (same location as the original) and both times Win XP loaded and ran flawlessly on the 1GB. Finally I placed the DIMMS in Single Channel Mode (slots 1 & 2) and on Boot the BIOS gives a message:
"The system is running in Single Channel Mode when you plug DIMM Module in DIMM 1. Please install 2 Ram Modules into DIMM 2&4 for Dual Channel Operation."

It then allows me to press F1 to continue. In this single channel mode Windows XP boots perfectly and allows access to the full 2GB of RAM. I could almost live with this if not for having to press F1 every time I boot or restart the system. I have even tried resetting the BIOS to defaults, and disabling the DIMM Interleave.

I happen to have another machine that also uses PC3200 400Mhz ram. It had (2x) 512k 400Mhz ram from Buffalo so I decided to try it.

The Buffalo ram works perfectly in dual channel (Slots 2&4). So then I tried adding in the Corsair ram into the remaining slots (1&3). Low and behold it all works but Windows only shows 2.75GB....I thought the limit was 3.75 for WinXP?!?!? Anyway, so I then try swapping the Corsair and Buffalo around so the Corsair was now in slots 2&4 and the Buffalo was in 1&3. It still works (2.75GB shown).

I did notice that while both the Corsair and the Buffalo ram are 400MHz the Corsair is listed as CL3 while the Buffalo is CL2.5. When I boot with just the Corsair installed I see "DDR 400 CL: 3 1T (timing)". Booting with both sets installed I see "DDR 333 CL: 2.5 2T (timing)". So combining the RAM is lowering the Frequency, the CAS Latency and changing the timing.

I just don't get why all memory configs seem to work with the system itself, and Linux based OS's but just WinXP chokes when using the Corsair only in Dual Channel mode. I can't help but think the problem lies in how XP is handling the CL and Timing settings.

The problem can't be bad Ram since memory tests, the system itself, and Linux based OS'es all recognize and use the memory perfectly (single or dual channel modes) and even XP can see and use it in single channel mode. The problem is that XP will not even finish loading in Dual Channel mode. Nothing in the system is overclocked or used out of spec.

System Specs:
Processor: AMD Athalon 64 3800+ 2.4GH
System Board: LanParty nF4 Ultra-D
Memory: Corsair XMS3200 400Mhz 1GB (x2)

I appreciate any help available.