computer memory

hi,

can anyone help with this,

I tried to upgrade the RAM in my laptop, done this before in desktops, no problem.

I have 1GB (2 x 512 units) in there are the mo, manufacturers max is 2GB, I read in a forum that the motherboard could support 4GB, so a bought 2x 2GB on ebay

I put the new units into the laptop and nothing happens when I press the power on button, the harddrive light flashes, on light stays on and screen is blank.

So I thought maybe the forum is wrong and I removed 1 unit, so its at the 2GB recommended by the manufacturer, still not working.

I think maybe the memory has to be in pairs, but Crucial.com says it does not have to be.

I cannot test the ram in another machine. Does anyone think its faulty?

thanks
amt

Well, if you put the old units back and it still won't power on... you f***ed up

What also helps with laptops when they won't power on is removing the battery, not having it connected to the PSU either, and press power on a few times (or hold for a few seconds). Then reinstall the battery and connect to the PSU and power it on again.

Seen lots of laptops crashing (mostly after not changing to wall power when the battery is almost gone), and working again after above procedure.

If the manufacturer says it will only support 2GB max, then is is likely to be BIOS limited. Has nothing to do with the chipset, only shadowing and cache limits in the manuf. BIOS.

Hope this helps,

Void(EN12-82)

Oh and yeah, no need to install memory in pairs in a laptop... should at least work with 1 x 2GB (just as well as with 1 x 512MB)

Laptop make and model and new memory speed would help

for example
1 if you have got 667 and your board only supports 533 then that may be the problem or even worse it may be ddr 1 or sdram but if it was any of the different types then they wouldnt fit as the slot formats differ between them all

2 the board needs a bios update to allow it to see over 2gig thus allowing the memory to be used as already pointed out though you should be able to use the modules 1 at a time so put 1 2gig in and test then put the other in and do same dont put both in at once

3 before you removed the memory given that it is a laptop and i seen it before, did you ensure it was turned off and not in standby or hibernate mode, given its a laptop need to double check this as will run on battery in these modes safest option to take battery out


if it works with the old memory in and you are unsure of memory type and speed goto www.belarc.com and download the advisor tool its a free system summary tool, will give a brief detailed list of the computer setup and capabilities and best of all its free

cheers guys

laptop is working fine with old original ram

its a Sony VGN-FZ18L

thanks

just read this again see you got the ram from ebay you sure its working at all

667 ddr for laptops aint that hard to get and depending on where you go its reasonable in terms of price aswell


test each module individually and if they aint working my money on they dead if ebay buys.

dont trust ebay for computer parts but then i do have access to trade accounts for my parts but ebuyer or overclockers are good on price another to look at is aria pc aswell i use a few like if local supplier aint got in stock

One thing to watch for is that as well as a maximum total amount of RAM, the motherboard will also have a limit per bank. In other words, even if the total supported is 2Gb, you can't necessarily use a single 2Gb stick, you might need 2x1Gb.

With most modern boards which support dual channel operation there is a small performance advantage to using two sticks of memory as bandwidth / throughput is higher.

According to crucial, your laptop (well the 18m version of it atleast) will only support 2gb max, 1gb per slot. So even by removing 1x2gb, the slot is still overfaced.

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listpar ... 0VGN-FZ18M

For future reference its worth using crucials site, good compatabillity finder, good quallity memory and usually next day delivery.

If you had of got it to work, its also worth noting that 32 bit Windows OS's will only see 3gb max anyway, to see 4gb you need to go for a 64bit OS.

Other thing I've noticed over the years is that Crucial is good memory, but there's something funky about it where it does not like mixing with other brands of the same type...so just use all Crucial if you're going that route. I've used a dozen or so different brands and the only incompatibilities I've encountered is with mixing Crucial w/ another brand....and at one point I had 14 desktops and 6 laptops at once...I know it's sick. Down to 7 desktops & 2 laptops now.