Hi,

I have upgraded my HP Pavilion a219uk desktop with another 1GB of ram.

It currently has 256mb ram and can take 2Gb ram in two slots, 1GB of ram in each slot.

The ram the machine takes is DDR SDRAM PC2700 333mhz 184 pin which is what I have bought.

I have placed the 1GB of ram in the 2nd slot and it is installed and connected properly but when I reconnect the power and boot up it just makes a bleeping noise and fails to boot whatsoever.

If I change the memory into different slots then it will initially boot into Windows (with no bleeping noise) but then I get a Windows error message saying something about a hardware upgrade and windows can't start up. It then gives me several options to either:

boot up in safe mode

boot up in safe mode with command prompt

boot up to last right known correct configuration

or lastly

boot up windows normally.

When I choose the latter Windows initially tries to boot and gets to the Windows XP page and then once it finishes that it just reboots again to the Windows XP page and once it does that it reboots again to the Windows XP page and the process continues over and over.

When I take the new 1Gb of memory out of the ram slots and place the older 256mb of ram back in it's initial slot then the computer reboots fine and I can use it as before.

Any ideas as to what's causing this problem?

I am using Windows XP SP2 if it helps.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Benny

System manufacturer and model...or motherboard manufacturer/model if custom-built, please.

Reference page for you: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...350373&dlc=

IMO, the first thing to check when memory doesn't register properly is...take out all modules and then carefully reseat the biggest/newest by itself. Make sure that it's properly seated, try to boot the system. If system boots, check that module registers correctly in O/S (click on Properties for My Computer to see RAM installed).

If system does not boot, try the other module...by itself.

If the two modules together don't work...but they (or at least one) work independently, then you may have a compatibility situation.

I don't know where you bought this single module from...but not all RAM will operate in every system. For example, if you bought a high-density module (low-density tends to work with any system with proper spec), then it may only work in pairs or the motherboard may not like it at all.

Can you provide us any info on the module you bought, from your saleslip/packing list?

Louis

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs...440D80EA5CA7304

here's crucials 1 gig stick for that computer

Specs: DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64

Firstly thanks to both of you for taking the time to reply.

The product specifications are:-

Product Specification is here

Apologies but I should have made clear that I already tried the 1GB of ram module on it's own and it gave the same Windows warning page about a hardware upgrade so in short the new ram module won't work on it's own in either of the two slots or in any combination with the existing ram but once I put the existing ram back into it's original slot and on it's own then it boots up fine.

The module I bought is as follows:-

SAMSUNG 1GB PC2700 333MHZ 184 Pin DDR SDRAM

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

SIZE: 1GB (1024MB)

SPEED: PC2700 333Mhz DDR Memory

(Backwards Compatible with PC2100)

CHIP CONFIGURATION: 128x64

CHIP DENSITY: 128x8 (High Density)

VOLTAGE: 2.5V

CAS LATENCY: 3

Unbuffered, Non ECC, Non Registered

184 Gold-Plated Pins, SPD Support


Anyway I hope this helps.

Benny

that cruddy, almost all the 333 memory I have seen is cas 2.5, see if your bios will adjust to cas 3

cas 2.5 is slower than 2

cas 3 at 333 is slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwer than molasses on a wintern morn

Did you check the BIOS to see if your computer sees the 1gb?

Louis already pointed it out, but you have high density ram. See if you can return it or RMA whatever.

Well...I see "high density" and I've stated that some systems have problems with that, here's more info on that:

http://reviews.ebay.com/Myth-Low-Density-v...000000001236178

http://www.fixya.com/support/t109660-high_..._density_memory

FWIW: I have used high-density memory successfully on a couple of different motherboards...but I always used two modules of exactly the same type/manufacturer/etc.

I'm not saying that your high-density module would work if you had 2 modules being installed...but I think that chances would be better. Chances would be even better if you had low-density modules, IMO.

Which is probably why your old module works, while the new one doesn't.

Louis

cas 3 at 333

back in the olden day we had the same problem with pc/sdram/100 at cas 2 that wouldn't boot with cheapo cas 3 pc133

going into bios and setting cas to 3 solved the problem, but you had to have some cas 2 ram to boot to

FWIW: I just took a look in my BIOS and I can adjust the CAS for RAM to 3 (mine is 2.5). To do so, I must first disable the CAS by SPD setting, then drop down and adjust the CAS setting to 3.0.

Of course, I can't get any farther than this in my experiment because I don't have any CAS 3 memory and I want to be able to continue to boot/use my system.

If you are set on using the CAS 3 module, you might want to see if your BIOS allows such adjustment (using the 256MB module)...make the adjustment, save the settings in the BIOS, turn the system off...remove the 256MB module, insert the CAS 3 module...and see if it boots.

The problem that I see (potentially) with this...there's still no guarantee that single module is going to work AND you may not be able to get back in the BIOS to change the setting again if it doesn't work. I've not tried to access the BIOS with no RAM installed, so I don't know.

And...apparently, disabling SPD is not a good idea generally, http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/...i533524,00.html

Louis

Louis,

there would be no problem setting you bios to cas 3, you would be underclocking your ram and it would run at that speed easily, now if you tried going the other way and setting to cas 2, it would probably crash

the same principle applies to your front side bus, your cpu and memory might be designed to run at 133, but setting it to 100
would only slow it down, not keep it from booting or running

these changes are easily reversed by clearing your cmos and returning to default settings

it's best to know what special setttings have been made in your bios, I turn off a lot of stuff like serial(not sata), midi, game port and parrallel port to free system resources

when spd works, it's great, when it doesn't then manual is the way to go

Appreciated, sir .

I also disable my serial and parallel ports (since I don't use them) and the floppy (if I don't have one) in the CMOS settings.

Louis

I would have pulled the old 256 meg stick and stuck in this kit, even if the computer doesn't support dual channel, at least you would know the 2 sticks are compatible to each other

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820141215

I am always gun shy with buying the largest stick that a computer supposedly supports, you pay more and then it's often slower and you take a performance hit not really improving it.

Okay. Thanks to all of you who took the time to reply.

Obviously this is my fault for buying a high density module rather than a low density version so I will have to get another stick of ram.

It's not essential as I have a laptop with a good level of ram as well as another desktop.

The reason why I wanted to upgrade the ram on this desktop is that my son uses it to play his video games with and he needs more ram to do so and for the sake of a small bit of the folding stuff then it would have saved buying a completely new desktop.

Anyway thanks to all of you that replied.

Benny