RAM upgrade, laptop won't boot

andrewire

Hi.

I recently tried to upgrady my laptop's RAM from 4GB to 6GB by removing one 2GB card and installing a 4GB one, but laptop won't boot afterwards. I put the 2GB card back in again and it works normally.

Some technical stuff:

RAM type: PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 204pin SDRAM SODIMM
Processor: Intel i3 M350 @ 2.27GHz
Running Windows 7 Home Premium Edition / 64-bit

What could the problem be?

excaliburhc

im guessing 1 of 3 things
1) your system cant handle over 4 gigs - motherboard may not support - without details , cant gaurentee,

2) new memory is damaged - try just run the 4 gig stick by itself - does the speed and timings correspond to already installed laptop

3) chance you damaged clips / memory slot - try the orignal 2 sticks again and make sure it boots.

are there any beebs on turn on ? do you get power but nada else ?

andrewire

excaliburhc wrote: »

im guessing 1 of 3 things
1) your system cant handle over 4 gigs - motherboard may not support - without details , cant gaurentee,

2) new memory is damaged - try just run the 4 gig stick by itself - does the speed and timings correspond to already installed laptop

3) chance you damaged clips / memory slot - try the orignal 2 sticks again and make sure it boots.

are there any beebs on turn on ? do you get power but nada else ?

Hi excaliburhc,

1) According to my System Information this laptop can take up to 8GB

2) I tried it on its own and it did start but didn't go beyond the 'Dell' screen with the loading bar. Once the bar was full, the screen would go black for 2 seconds and the same Dell screen appeared again, with the empty bar.

3) I did and it works perfectly.

I think it might be a faulty RAM part which is odd since I bought the original and paid a lot more than a Corsair or Kingston thinking it would be a safe bet. BTW, it's a Samsung.

excaliburhc

does the timings / model match between your old memory and new ? i.e are both pc3-10666 ddr3 1333?

if you just use the 4gig stick are you able to enter the bios before it restarts ? if so does memory show as available and correct ?

if memory matches then it does sound like a bad stick.

sorry m8 .

could recommend trying memtest and seeing if you can diagnose the memory but it sounds like you cant get far enough for that to happen.

andrewire

excaliburhc wrote: »

does the timings / model match between your old memory and new ? i.e are both pc3-10666 ddr3 1333?

if you just use the 4gig stick are you able to enter the bios before it restarts ? if so does memory show as available and correct ?

if memory matches then it does sound like a bad stick.

sorry m8 .

could recommend trying memtest and seeing if you can diagnose the memory but it sounds like you cant get far enough for that to happen.

Yes the timings/model do match.

I was able to enter the BIOS once and clicked diagnostics. Then the blue screen of death appeared with the following message:


Running MATS Test
Testing 00_00109000h - 00_003FEFFFh (3032 KB) with 4 CPU
Test results: System error
Error code: 2000-0123
Msg: Memory - Integrity test failed

Does this mean the stick is faulty? I want to be sure before I go back to the shop. Thanks a lot!!!!!

excaliburhc

yep sorry m8 , generally Memory - Integrity test failed is a failed dimm.

(using dell as an example)
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/f/3524/t/19300172.aspx