HUGE RAM Problems..!

[Tazo]

It all started when.....I went to start Diablo II and got something about corrupted files--very strange, I thought...I moved on to firefox, and then that decided to spontaneously crash as well (FIREFOX.EXE has encountered an error, please tell Microsft, etc...). I dropped a few F-bombs, and then restarted. To my amazement, my BIOS check was saying 256 MB, even though I have 1016 (1 gig stick). I recently removed my 256 stick and put in a 1 gig instead. Now, after it tells me I have 256 MB ram when I have 1016, it says RAM R/W FAILED or something similar. I moved the 1gig stick to a different spot, rebooted, same error. I put in my 256 old stick instead, and walah...248 mb says the BIOS, and my computer starts fine. What is going on?!

[Kp]

Sounds like a malfunctioning RAM stick.  You might be able to make use of it if you clock it down.  Or it might just be bad - I've seen it happen before, particularly with new sticks.  The burn-in ends up burning them out instead.

[Tazo]

Fucking great. Second bad experience I've had with newegg in the past month.

Thanks Kp.

[MrRaza]

You can also run various utlities to check your RAM, I'm not sure of the programs name off hand, but I'll get back to you tomorrow.

[Tazo]

Hm, not sure if this means anything-perhaps my system is improperly configured? I entered BIOS setup and it said that Slot 1 for memory contained 1 gig..  whats the dealio? my system still detected 256mb ram...im thinking it somehow got misconfigured.

[shout]

Could be your ram controller. This started happening to my brothers computer, needed a new motherboard.

[Tazo]

How would I check that?

Edit: Also, the exact error is

RAM R/W test failed
Press <F4> to continue

[Grok]

Also possible you ordered the wrong upgrade.

Post your motherboard mfr and model here, as well as the mfr and description of the 1g RAM stick you bought.  Someone might check the compatibility for you.

[Tazo]

Also possible you ordered the wrong upgrade.

Post your motherboard mfr and model here, as well as the mfr and description of the 1g RAM stick you bought.  Someone might check the compatibility for you.

Well it worked fine for like 2 weeks, but I'll find and post.

Heres the memory specs for my model

http://configurator.memorystock.com/result.asp?MsClsID=100&MsClsName=&Mnfid=803&MsMnfName=&mn=%A0eMachines+T3624&modelID=49179

and heres the 1gig that i ordered

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820211131

[shout]

I did not look at the compatiblility, but it seems the RAM controller is not writing/reading to the RAM correctly. I would try returning the RAM.

[MrRaza]

Try MemTest86, a stand-alone memory diagnostic tool. Good utility, but takes some time to complete all the tests. You will also need a CD-R or a floppy disk to boot from it. I would so suggest reading over the possible problems people have had, with the program and with memory in general. http://www.memtest86.com/#problems

[Kp]

Also, post its results back before taking any further action.  I have a system where one of the Memtest86 tests fails every time (but all the other tests pass), and the system runs fine with both Windows and Linux, regardless of load or memory consumed.

[Tazo]

Ok, just installed to my linux partition, ill get those results back to you guys.  Thanks for all your help so far!

[Tazo]

Wooowww.. I ran it for 39 minutes and got bored. It finished 1 full test and was doing it again, figured I had enough data..

[Memtest86 via LILO Boot Loader]

Total Errors: 17,224
Test 0 - 0 Errors
Test 1 - 53 Errors
Test 2 - 704 Errors
Test 3 - 2819 Errors
Test 4 - 671 Errors
Test 5 - 354 Errors
Test 6 - 12429 Errors
Test 7 - 193 Errors
Test 8 - 1 Error
Test 9 - 0 Errors


I ran my 256 stick (which came with my computer) for awhile and it outputted 0 errors. I have requested an RMA from newegg, thanks for your help guys.

[topaz]

Do you only have that stick, or are you dual-channeling it with another stick? That might be the cause of the problem.