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CDonBay

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ram

I have a pentium 865 mhz processor old packard bell iconnect computer that i have upgraded the ram on but when i add the 2 modules of 256mb ram the system will not boot properly and restarts just before the starting win xp page. when i put only one moduloe in, the system boots but the computer only recognizes 128mb ram.

Please help
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shariati
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hi , Try updating your Bios..
and make sure that the Ram modules BUS is as same as the one mentioned in your mainboard manual...

Good Luck
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CDonBay

ASKER

i have already updated the bios and am sure that the ram is the correct one for the motherboard; gigabyte ga-6wmm7 revision 1.4
send me your Ram module info and specifications...
Avatar of Lee W, MVP
It's possible your motherboard doesn't handle chips over 128 MB in size.
We have the same board... :)

According to the webpage shariati mentioned, it should support up to 256MB. Well, since this is not the case for you, try other RAM. TwinMOS and Samsung has worked well also for me.

The page did indicate that while the board would support higher FSBs, it wasn't guaranteed. I'm still using Kingston PC100 SDRAM, two 256MB sticks of them and my system runs fine. It might just be because you're using PC133.

Good luck!
Sorry, that last sentence didn't necessarily mean you're using PC133. Should be:

"You might be using PC133"

Sorry for the confusion.

=)
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ASKER

i'm using samsung 256mb pc133 ram and yes that url was my motherboard. if it was that it did not support pc133 why was there a 64mb pc133 stick of ram origianlly in it? and why doesit not boot with two sticks of 256mb and restarts just before winxp loading screen?
You probably need double sided ram. The issue, I understand is that older machines will not recognise the newer larger chips, if the stick has 8 x 32Mb chips then the PC may have problems, you need to find a stick with 16 modules (of 16mb), these are usually configured with 8 modules on each side of the stick. These are becoming hard to buy new, and even if you can find a seller they are quite expensive, I've got some from Ebay.
smiffy13 is most likely correct.  The vast majority of PIII chipsets do not support high (quad) density SDRAM.  Some will support double density, and most require single density.

For 128MB stick, quad density has 4 chips, double density has 8 chips, and single density has 16 chips.

If your mobo will support 256MB sticks, then it will handle double density SDRAM.

Nearly all SDRAM currently sold is high density.

Your best bet is to use the Crucial memory configurator.  Crucial still sells low density SDRAM.

http://www.crucial.com/
Avatar of CDonBay

ASKER

i do not think think this is the problem. could it be a problem with the smbios?
I agree with Smiffy13, your issue is related to your system not being able to handel high density ram, Go to the store (bestbuy, compusa, circit city, ect.....) and find ram that says it compatible with both PC100/PC133.  This type of ram will be of the older type and will work in your computer.  
First use Sisoft Sandra to determine the available memory Banks per slot for your mainboard's memory controller, Mainboard Information>Memory Controler. Next use Everest Home Edition to examine the SPD Module Size of the Memory. It will state the "Rows" of the module. If you have only one Bank per Memory Slot(2 memory Banks), your mainboard can only use single Rows memory modules.
T
Greetings!

This should be th issue with the compatibility of the RAM. Purchase an OEM memory module
It ain't a BIOS problem.  Look and heed.  If you have 256MB SDRAM modules with 8 or fewer chips, they will not work with your chipset (mobo) period.  No way around it.
Your motherboard has an Intel i810 chipset.
It does NOT support high density memory.
It does NOT support high density memory.
It does NOT support high density memory.
A 256 MB memory module with 8 chips is high density memory.

Just to be clear:
It does NOT support high density memory.
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willcomp
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If it can boot from a cd, you may try downloading and burning memtest 86+ http://www.memtest86.com/#download0
or the Ultimate Boot CD http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html << download the full version with the exe self-extracting archive, it's smaller and better.

PS Ultimate Boot CD already has memtest 86+ as well as a huge variety of other testing, repairing, and benchmarking utilities.

Boot the computer from the CD and run the diagnostic while using your new memory modules.  Find out at which amount of memory it starts to pour out errors.

Also, 64 to 128 MB is doubling the memory, and you may choose to live with that, and get a refund for your other memory module.

Or, you can take both back to the store, and save money by simply buying a 128 mb module.
What is a "pentium 865 mhz processor"?
????
?
probably 866 reported as 865.