[DTLMG]

I hope you guys/gals arent getting mad at all the posts I am doing in this section, but while recovering from neck surgery I found fixin puters is something i can do while having the recovery restrictions.

My question: I did a fresh Install on a Dell 8110 (express Service Code H8LL291) I have SP3 installed, reinstalled all the drivers and updates, Flashed the BIOS to A01 as dell site tells me this is the latest and greatest, When upgrading the memory from 512 MB to 2GB things got crazy... I pulled out the memory module, left one in and rebooted and it reads 1GB memory in system Specs. I add one of the old memory sticks (256 mb) it reads 1.25GB memory. OK All good there!

I add the second 1GB stick and computer goes into the BSOD does a memory dump and says only 256k of memory?

I have tried different 1GB sticks of memory and the end result is always the same.

THIS IS A CELERON D processor

Is there a setting in the BIOS im missing somewhere?

Thanks friends!:trink39:

 

[D-Dogg]

Typically the memory must be the same across pairs of slots. You cannot mix a 1 GB and a 256 MB DIMM in a pair of slots.

 

[DTLMG]

Figured it out!, it wasn't because I had a 1gb in one slot and a 256mb in the other.

The issue was I had two different manufacturers of memory. I had a Kingston stick in one slot, and a Crucial in the other slot. Put Crucial in both slots and wala. Works great now!

 

[ProfGeek]

Figured it out!, it wasn't because I had a 1gb in one slot and a 256mb in the other.

The issue was I had two different manufacturers of memory. I had a Kingston stick in one slot, and a Crucial in the other slot. Put Crucial in both slots and wala. Works great now!

Yes, for best results, buy your memory at the same time and from the same place, as motherboards are very particular about them being a matched set.

 

[Vonrow]

yeah sometimes different brands don't get along...what's a LOT more common however -even if using different brands together-- is that **each* memory module must have a matching ECC or Non ECC nature, and the Clock speeds on each module need to match. (sometimes BIOS on mobos will look at each module and the slowest one will "set" the speed for the faster memory. Just don't bank on every board being able to do that)

Also, the majority of mobos out there will automaticly "set aside" a portion of the system's RAM to feed the onboard video chipset. Have a 512 meg video chipset? Then cut 512 megs of system RAM, ie: A single 1gig memory module minus the dedicated 512 megs to the video chipset = 512 left to the system; even though you installed a 1 gig module. What you would see in this case when the system boots, would be 512, not the 1 gig you installed.

More specificly, on my own machine I'm using right now: My mobo reads a max of 3.5 gigs of RAM. I have a 250 meg onboard video chip that is disabled-yet the dedcaited pipeline to my RAM persists. As my BIOS boots the system reads 3.25gigs, saving 250 meg for that silly onboard chipset . In my case, the RAM modules are mixed brands, but have matching DDR PC2-6400 clock speeds. (a Kingston 2 gig, and a Crucial 1.5 gig)

but in a nutshell, there's just a lot of geekery when it comes to "upgrading & installing" memory chips in computers. Some things work, and others not so much.