Amount of ram won't change when adding more

[mrmoneymatters]

I am working on a machine that has two sticks of ram in it. It is a Biostar board (M7VIG)is the model. It is about two years old. No matter what I do the amount of ram won't change. In the bios is says I have 96mb. I have tried all combinations between the two sticks and it just doesn't change. Does anyone know what is going on?

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[BionicJohn]

In the bios is says I have 96mb. I have tried all combinations between the two sticks and it just doesn't change. Does anyone know what is going on?

One is 32Mb and the other 64Mb?

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[mrmoneymatters]

No, one is 128mb and the other is either 128 or 256. I even tried a third stick and it still says the same thing.

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[paskuda]

What happens if you leave just one stick installed and remove the other ? Is the memory still set at 96 megabytes, or does it decrease proportionally ?

 

[mrmoneymatters]

It doesn't do anything. No matter what I do it still says I have 96mb or ram. I have tried both slots, one stick, both sticks, no sticks.. which won't boot. Nothing changes the amount of ram.

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[garebo]

Just an off-chance as i dont recall ever seeing this, but is there a ram counter in the bios, like some setting in the bios where you can turn off the ram counter?
If i recall correctly some older intel mobos you can turn that right off and bios doesnt check or count the ram on bootup. So maybe you have a bios setting such as : quick or fast boot or some setting like that?
Also, you could try a bios re-set, changing the jumpers on the mobo from pin 1 and 2 to pin 2 and 3. If you do that you have to remove all power sources and let it sit a while. Consult your mobo manual as they are all different, some even have you reboot with jumpers set at 2 and 3 and some tell you it can damage your mobo if you boot up in that mode and so you have to put the jumper back to pins 1 and 2 on bootup.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[micker377]

On your board, the memory size is auto-detected. The only thing you can change is the DDR Dimm voltage. What type and speed of memory are you using? It may be a defective mobo.

 

[mrmoneymatters]

One stick says 16x64 pc100/133, thats all I know about it.
#2. brand unknown, mt8lsdt1664Ag-133b1 pc133 128mb
#3. Hynix pc133-333-542 128mb



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[micker377]

It is about two years old"

How did you come by this board? Could it have been defective to start with?

 

[garebo]

What is the make and model of the mobo? There would be bound to be a fix on the mfgr website for so glaring an issue.
Somebody, micker377, i think, mentioned ddr ram but it looks like sdram to me.
Maybe the board is more than 2 yrs old, did you get it new?



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[mainegeek]

mrmoneymatters,
My guess would be that both sticks of Ram are 128mb each and can not be paired. One clocks at PC100 and the other one at PC133. The 96megs that you see is the 128 minus the 32meg from the integrated (on-board) video.

 

[tommishuck]

one thing to check also is what is the max your MOBO will handle. They do have limitations. I worked on a PC the other day that I tried 6 sticks on. all the sticks are currently in other computers as they were all good. the PC would not read over 64MB. Needless to say we have since removed that PC from the fleet...

 

[mrmoneymatters]

It is a biostar M7VIG. It has slots for ddr and sdram. I am going to try and find some ddr to try, see if anything changes. This mobo is well capable of more than 96mb.

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[cdogg]

Where are you seeing the amount of RAM reported? Get a reading from the BIOS.

Second, you should realize that the generic memory you are using could be the problem. When a couple sticks aren't working, you should get your hands on one that you know will work. Buy from a vendor who certifies that theirs will work on your motherboard.

http://www.crucial.com

has a memory configurator to help you select the right memory.

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[mrmoneymatters]

It is the bios that is telling me there is only 96mb.

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[garebo]

For that new a mobo, it doesnt need a bios upgrade to handle the amount of ram, but maybe there is a problem with addressing ram that a bios update might fix. There would be bound to be a fix on the mfgr website for so glaring an issue.




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[mrmoneymatters]

The problem has been resolved, well... kind of. I decided to try one more stick of ram I had laying around, 256mb from Simpletech. Bam, it worked. I decided to put the other stick in, the one that is 128 but showed up as 96, the bios once again updated correctly. Now I am showing 384mb of ram. Next I took the 256 stick back out and it was screwed again, not showing only 96mb. I am still confused on why that one stick doesn't show up properly unless the other stick is installed.

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[garebo]

Could be that ram is simply defective. Try it in another mobo.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[cdogg]

Maybe you missed it the first time:

Second, you should realize that the generic memory you are using could be the problem

No offense meant, just thought I'd stick it out in the open this time around...

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[cdogg]

Actually, you can scratch the "could be" from that last post and replace it with "is". We know the problem is not the motherboard at this point since another stick works.

The plain fact is that some memory modules DO NOT play nicely with others. Time to replace them...

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884