I currently have two 512MB sticks installed. I want to add two more of the same. I used Crucial’s scanning tool, and it told me to buy their DDR400 PC3200. I bought two 512MB sticks and popped them in. My computer won’t boot. It just beeps at me.
Anyone know what might be up with this?
Motherboard = GA-K8NF-9
I have no idea if this is “Rev 1.x” or “Rev 2.x” and don’t know how to tell. Crucial recommends flashing the BIOS so that older systems can handle new RAM :dubious:. There are a few BIOS updates available, but I wasn’t able to determine if they were relevant to memory upgrades. The BIOS updates are here. I’d rather not flash the BIOS unless I have to.
The olds sticks are from Corsair. I’m pretty sure they’re the same kind as the new ones. The part number is CMX512-3200C2PT.
The computer boots up just fine on either or both of the old sticks. I’ve tried every permutation of 1,2 or 4 sticks, and nothing that involves one or both of the new ones will work.
It’s possible that the sticks are just bad, but it’s less likely that I recieved TWO bad ones. What else could be causing this problem? Thanks.
Try booting with only one new stick (and none of the other ones), try it in each of the slots. If that works, try the other new stick all by itself. Still work, good. Then there’s probably an issue with the new ones and old ones working together. If you can’t get it to boot with one of the new sticks but you can with the other, one stick is probably bad.
Oh, is it just a normal POST beep, or are there several beeps?
almost always, constant beeping indicates memory failure. It’s possible you didn’t put them in right, they aren’t compatible with your board, or they are dead.
Like the previous post said, trying booting with only one stick in DIMM1 (Usually the memory slot closest to the CPU). If it still beeps, try the other. You usually don’t get TWO bad memory sticks in the same batch.
What you need to make sure is that, if you are using dual channel memory it is installed properly. For instance, if you have 4 memory slots and the tabs on two slots are white and the other tabs are purple (colors vary), then the first stick of ram should be in the first white tab then the second stick in the second white tab.
And that is the right type of ram for your motherboard so that doesn’t appear to be an issue. Good luck.
The beep is the “no memory detected” beep, same as if I take ALL the sticks out. The computer will boot up on either of the old sticks if it’s in DIMM1. Either of the new sticks in DIMM1 gives the no memory beep.
That’s why I was asking about BIOS updates. The updates on the page I linked are:
For rev 1.x (I don’t know which I have):
Update CPU microcode (several of these)
Update CPU code
NVIDIA RAID mode default from enable to disable. If your system already use RAID mode , please enable relative settings in bios first
Disable PCI prefetch
For rev 2.x, some of the same, plus:
Fix sometime IRDA CMOS item abnormal
Add Flash part SST49LF040B-CA support
Support Nvidia 7900 PCI-E VGA cards
None of these seem like they’d have anything to do with RAM, but I don’t know much about this. The only reason I’m checking about the BIOS is that the Crucial support website said that new BIOS was necessary for newer memory sticks. I don’t know if this is true or not.
Be sure memory timings are set to Auto in BIOS setup … it’s possible they have been manually set to use the Corsair to full advantage.
Different brands of RAM usually work together OK but then again, sometimes they just don’t.
If you do decide to flash the BIOS (I would), be sure to print out the instructions first and be sure to follow those instructions exactly … every space, every period, every step. Don’t panic and abort in the middle; flashing takes a while. If it doesn’t work, try again … I have had to flash 5 or 6 times to get it to work.
The board version number will be printed in tiny letters somewhere on the board; the manual should tell you where to look.
I had something similar happen to me. The computer came with just one 512M card, and I later bought a 1G card. The salesman told me I could run both cards at the same time, but when I put the new one in the second slot, the computer wouldn’t boot, similar to what you describe here. I ended up having to just use the new card, which was unfortunate, but an improvement over my original situation at least.
Things like this are certainly scary, but memory issues seem to be pretty easily fixed if you just get the right cards in the right slots.
This isn’t an issue with the memory being incompatible with each other. The new memory is either incompatible with the motherboard or it’s dead. I’m trying to figure out which. The computer will not boot with just one of the new sticks in DIMM1, but will boot with one of the old sticks in DIMM1 (all other slots are empty.)
I’m not sure how I missed the pictures, thanks! I definitely have Rev 1.x. It doesn’t have that printed on it, perhaps because there was no Rev 1.x until a 2.x existed.
I will check the ECC thing and the BIOS settings when I get home. After that, I guess I’ll learn how to flash BIOS. Might have one of my friends check out the memory if I can find someone with a computer it’ll fit in.
After a month of waffling, I finally tried flashing the BIOS tonight. I think I broke it :(.
I used some utility from Gigabyte ("@BIOS") to load the latest BIOS. It got to about 50% progress, then told me that the flash had failed. I’d backed up the old BIOS, so I flashed that back, which worked fine. I restarted, and the startup hangs up on “Boot from CD:”
Bah
So either I screwed up the BIOS, OR I reloaded some default settings that don’t actually work.
I took the optical drive off the boot devices list, but the startup still hangs up saying it’s checking the CD.
Go into the BIOS, go to the Boot section and make sure your drive that has Windows loaded on it is listed in the boot priority list. If it is, perhaps move it up to the top of the list.
This is a long shot; but I was told to re-seat the video card FIRST when adding memory.
i.e., take all the memory out. Take the video card out. Put the video card back in. THEN put your memory in. A conflict with the IRQ can arise & prevent booting otherwise. This did happen to me once.
Wait, why “boot from CD?” Is that just where you are stuck? Is this XP? Because usually, it’s “press any key to boot from CD” and it defaults to booting from the hard drive if no key is pressed.
Have you tried the F8 menu? (press F8 just after booting, then try selecting “last configuration that worked.”)
You might also try this, it’s freakishly simple, but it worked for me after days of anguish once on a system I was building. Open the case. See the BIOS battery? (looks like a quarter. Not soldered in, removable.) Take it out. Leave it for 15 minutes. Put it back in.
This will reset the BIOS. Perfectly harmless, whether or not it works. You will have to reset the clock tho.
Be sure you don’t have a CD in the drive while trying to boot.
Sounds like you used a flashing utility that works while running Windows – which means you only get one chance. Better to use a CD or floppy based utility so you can try again if it fails – and they do fail – it is sometimes necessary to try several times.
See if there are instructions in the manual for your board on how to clear the CMOS … probably a jumper somewhere or doing something like unplugging the computer and holding in the power button for several seconds.
If the computer is more than a couple of years old I would try putting in a new motherboard battery.
I’ll mess around with it some more tonight. I was indeed using a utility from windows. Unfortunately, the documentation from Gigabyte was very obviously translated into English by a non-native speaker.
I do have a floppy drive on this PC, so updating from the BIOS menu (which I can access just fine) might be the best bet.
Oh, also, it’s not actually hanging up while looking at the optical drive. That’s just what it says on the screen (even after I removed it as the third boot device.) The (empty) floppy drive’s light is on when it freezes. I’ll try removing that too, although obviously I’ll need it back if I’m going to flash from it.
More tonight, or tomorrow if my meeting goes late. Thanks!
I’m able to boot off of an Ubuntu Linux CD. I’m posting from the problem computer right now. Still can’t boot into windows. I’m assuming I didn’t fry the BIOS, but that I just shouldn’t have “loaded default CMOS” or whatever I did.
It’s Award BIOS, btw, if that matters.
This might be important. When I select “Standard CMOS Features”, the IDE Channel 0 Master has my optical drive listed. When highlighted, I see on the right portion of the screen, “[Enter] for detail hard drive settings”. Does this means it thinks my optical drive is my hard drive? That might explain some of my problems.
I think the first thing you need to do is put the old memory back in if you haven’t done that already. You know that works, so at least we can rule out that.
Next, in the BIOS, is your hard drive listed at all or just the optical drive? Also, I assume at no point did you remove any IDE cables or mess with any jumpers, right? Even if you put them back in the same place…or did you?
All I ever touched were the RAM sticks. The old ones are in there now. Powering on with any of the new ones produces an immediate no-memory-found beep (same as if I remove all sticks.) The ONLY thing different from when everything worked fine last week is that I tried flashing to the newest BIOS version. When that didn’t work, I reflashed the old version, then (stupidly?) reset the CMOS parameters to “optimum default” or something.
I didn’t actually assemble this PC. I paid monarchcomputer.com to do it. They went out of business.
I vaguely remember something else that was odd when it worked. You know that little icon that appears near the toolbar clock when you plug something into a USB drive? The one that you click before removing said drive? Well that was always there, and it had my hard drive listed. I’ve never seen that before. I’m wondering if the monarchcomputer folks installed things funny.
I’ll look at things again after work, and wade through the manual some more. The manual is a real treat: “Please note that any interruption during updating will cause system unbooted.” (that’s one of the more intelligible sentences)
I found Monarch did a pretty good job; I bought two computers from them … hated to see them go … but who knows.
The fact that you can boot Ubuntu means there is definitely still hope for a do-it-yourself fix.
Anyway, I’ve been looking through that manual – yeah, some hilarious English. Here is what I would do – keeping in mind that messing with the BIOS always entails the chance of total system failure … that’s why the manufacturer specifically doesn’t recommend flashing BIOS unless you already have problems.
I would use the jumper near the battery to Clear CMOS – that resets it to factory defaults that should work. The manual says the jumper block is not included so you will have to either scrounge one from an old computer or a computer store, or temporarily take one off some other jumper on your board (being very careful to remember exactly where it came from), or get creative and try shorting the pins with pliers or aluminum foil or some such. Just short those pins somehow, wait 10 or 15 seconds, then remove the jumper.
It appears that the default setting (which you have just restored) may not enable “Boot Up Floopy Seek” [sic] under Advanced BIOS Features, so, clear the CMOS, let it boot, then boot again and go into BIOS Setup and be sure it is set to seek the “floopy” and that Floppy is the first Boot Device.
Now do another test boot and if all seems well, do the flashy thing. Let it boot with the defaults, then you can go ahead and make any changes you want on the next boot.
Should work, but like I said, sometimes you just have to try several times to get the flash to take … why is one of the unsolved mysteries of the universe.
Another idea, which would take a lot more time, would be to create a Windows LiveCD to boot to Windows and try the online flash again.
I had already successfully reflashed the old BIOS, which I’d backed up before trying to flash the new. I think the issue is the the default settings don’t work for my setup.
Turble, I’ll try manually clearing the CMOS. The manual said that removing the battery for 10 min will also work.
It’s not clear to me what this does exactly. I’m assuming it’s different from “load optimum defaults” (something like that) in the BIOS menu?
