installed extra ram, won't boot

[PJL]

What does the BIOS report for the memory? You should be able to enter the BIOS before it attempts to load the operating system. If you don't boot into the BIOS at all then it's a memory incompatibility issue. Doesn't the ASUS board require the same type (speed) in the respective slots? Mine does.

 

[Wullail]

My guess then is if they are a matched pair that the new one is a faulty stick of ram.

 

[shmu]

I tried it out in my other machine, and it does the same shtick. the computer doesn't beep or boot, it doesn't get to bios, just power turns on and that's all.
I will return it. it's a shtick stick.

 

[popeye]

Yea, I was going to say put the new stick in the slot that the original one is working in. See if it will boot with just the new stick in that slot. If not, you can bet either bad stick or incompatible.

 

[shmu]

Hi, I tried one more thing, and there were some results.
I took all the ram out of my old computer, and put in just this stick.
result: it beeped and beeped, but didn't get to bios.

This doesn't surprise me so much, because the mobo on the old pc is used to seeing 533 mhz, whereas the new stick is 1333 mhz. Sounds to me like the bios might need to be updated to make it work.

now, I am not about to flash the bios on my old pc just to test out this memory stick and see if it boots, but this is my question:
should I still assume the stick is defective, or does the beeping show that it is not?

 

[davehc]

That dredged something from the back of my mind! Have a look here, it might help?

POST Beep Codes

 

[CountMike]

Wait a second, 533 MHz should be DDR2 and 1333 DDR3, they do not even fit in the same slot. Unless you mean that 533 MHz is reported like that in let's say CPU-Z or other program like that and being DDR (double data rate) it means 533 * 2 = 1666 MHz so DDR3 1333 MHz should work on it. In case that other MB is one of the rare beasts that has both, DDR2 And DDR slots you would have to take out DDR2 memory before plugging in DDR3.

 

[shmu]

thanks for chart.
this is the one I heard:

1	The memory refresh circuitry has failed

now, question is like this: does it mean a defective memory stick, or a bios that doesn't know what to do with a perfectly fine stick?

on the new computer, where I want to use it, the memory stick does not cause any beeping at all.

 

[shmu]

count mike, you are right: " Unless you mean that 533 MHz is reported like that in let's say CPU-Z"

yes, that's what I mean. So, the apparent verdict is that the memory stick should have worked, but didn't. correct?

 

[CountMike]

Well, it's just a polite way of saying: " Your memory stick is screwed, take it back and get a new one". New processors have memory controller incorporated so the other one would not wok either.

 

[caperjack]

that is good advice!
In this case, I was smart enough to turn off the switch on the back of the tower. I remember that when I tried to turn the computer back on, I was a little dismayed at first when nothing at all happened, until I remembered to turn the switch back on.

maybe the stick is just plain defective? on the other hand, I would hate to go back to the store to exchange it, and come back home to find myself in the same no-go situation...

just want to add ,turning off the switch is first step ,you then need to hold In the case power button to drain the power from the motherboard .then add the ram ,just a good step to add .

 

[CountMike]

that is good advice!
In this case, I was smart enough to turn off the switch on the back of the tower. I remember that when I tried to turn the computer back on, I was a little dismayed at first when nothing at all happened, until I remembered to turn the switch back on.

maybe the stick is just plain defective? on the other hand, I would hate to go back to the store to exchange it, and come back home to find myself in the same no-go situation...

just want to add ,turning off the switch is first step ,you then need to hold In the case power button to drain the power from the motherboard .then add the ram ,just a good step to add .

Already made that clear, you would be amazed how long only power supply can hold charge, Even with not to overpowered PSU my computer does not turn off if power is cut for even more than a second, lights blink, monitor shuts off but computer stays on even as there's a lot of stuff going on. I repair PSUs occasionally and some times find a good charge in output circuit days after it's been switched off.

 

[shmu]

mike, if you understand something about power supply, let me ask you:

I once got a UPS but was disappointed with it. The electricity in my house was always going off when someone plugged in a wet clothes-iron or who knows what, we have 220 volts over here, so everyone has a safety-switch in the main electric box of the house that shuts down everything instantaneously when there is a short-circuit anywhere.

I found that the UPS was not quick enough to react to that kind of power outage. It only worked for a general power outage, you know, when the whole street goes dark.

What will work for my situation, if anything?

 

[MasterChief]

You need to upgrade the circuit breaker box if there is no more available room for new breakers.

If there is room, then you'd need to have an electrician run more power lines so the power isn't overloaded on any one circuit. The main reason for the circuit breakers is for the wiring (or failure in something plugged in causing short circuit.) There is only so much power that can safely be carried by NM-B cable. If too much, it can get too hot and melt the coating or cause a fire. So, that's why the circuit breaker trips - before anything like that is allowed to happen.

As far as a UPS, what you are asking about simply takes $$$. The more you spend, the better. Anything cheaper obviously is not going to cut it.

 

[CountMike]

Another MUST for electrical wiring especially in the houses is GROUND, it is important not only for safety but for operation of whole system. Too manu houses, specially older ones do not have or is to old grounding and what can make that even worse is that there is no proper Neutral wire coming in so ground is used instead. In my neck of woods, there is 3 phase coming in, between any two phases there is 380v, neutral or gronud and any phase is 220v nominal. So you can see that if ground is questionable and us used instead of neutral you could easily end up with low voltage and a lot of fluctuation when something that pulls a lot of power is plugged in on the circuit that is on the same phase.
As far as UPS is concerned, what MasterChief said is right. Cheaper and older models use electro- mechanical relay to switch UPS to battery and do not regulate much. Better ones use electronic, solid state circuit and react instantaneously to preset voltage drop and have reasonable voltage regulation.
Another thing that might help even more is a voltage regulator which has a "bootstrap" transformer" to make higher voltage and than regulate it down to required voltage. It does not retain power when there's no input but is continuous and can handle "brownouts" and over-voltage. They might be cheaper too.

 

[Wullail]

Here is something that might help people looking for RAM , you don't need to buy the memory from them...but the app on the front page it's pretty good for recommending what's compatible with your system.


RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, SSD at Crucial.com/uk