RAM Problem ???

[bdog]

I recently bought a 128mb stick of Siemens pc100 ram from cody bear. I put it in my system (soyo6vb133 , p3 450@600 ram at 100, viper 770 ultra, win2k or 98). The problem is that with this ram in there the system randomly reboots. Sometimes I can be on the computer for 30 minutes and then rebooot, sometimes it happens only after a few minutes.Once it gave my wife a bsod and said something about a memory dump and beeped(sorry no better description, but I didn't see it) Any suggestions on what might be the problem? Or how to test the ram? Codybear is being very helpful and is willing to return my money, but I want to see if there is something I am missing before I return it as he said it worked fine for him.

[codybear]

somebody has got to have some ideas
or suggestions

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bttp

[This message has been edited by codybear (edited 01-14-2000).]

[This message has been edited by codybear (edited 01-14-2000).]

[AuraEdge]

Long shot but maybe the contacts arent clean?
Not sure what kind of solvent you should use to clean the contacts, but try wiping the contacts with something. (rubbing alchohol? get a second opinion first, dont wanna kill any RAM here)

I have a 128mb stick of Siemens PC100 in my comp right now (-7ns), no probs @ 142 FSB
maybe its a Via memory underclocking prob. If you have the same 7ns stick, maybe you could try it at 1/1 FSB/RAM ratio. (I havent used this stick on that board tho...worth a shot however)

[Mntsnow]

I too am wondering if there is a incompatablity problem with that brand of stick and board. Bdog, Have you tried the stick in other slots? What happens when it's in there by it's self? and as AuraEdge mentioned make sure the contacts are good and clean (I prefer to use a eraser head) I have seen and heard of people using "rubbing alchohol and such but I personally worry about damaging the pcb.

Mntsnow

[user0005]

My friend has the same motherboard and it died. It freezes at the start up and its known that the Soyo VBA133 is defective, and they discontinued making it. Its very hard to find one these days, cause my friend was thinking about swapping it. My suggestion is get a better motherboard, like a Abit.

[Target]

Bdog,

I have two utilities that may help you.

The first is DIMM-ID. Its a test util that will determine what the DIMM is, and its rated speed.

The second utility is a memory testor called Goldmemory. I have not had occasion to use it yet, but this is what it says it will do (quoted from the program readme file):

The great tester GoldMemory v4.50 will find these errors in use:

- memory fail

- incompatibility between memory moduls and a motherboard

- a processor or a motherboard function not properly

- incorrect memory setting into the BIOS

- wrong working temperature of memory, motherboard, processor

- other errors from this state

If you would like me to send them to you, drop me an e-mail and I will get them right over to you. Hard to say what happens to components when they're shipped, maybe something happened in transit.

~Target

[bdog]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try the ram by itself and see what happens. I will check the contacts while I have it out. I sent an email to target to get the utilities. User 005, Please don't post here and bash my mobo. I replaced an ABIT BX6r2 with soyo and couldn't have been happier. It is more stable and runs my p3450 almost 100 mhz faster than the abit could. Also the mobo runs fine with my generic ram. Don't see why the siemens would be a problem,

[bdog]

I tried the ram by itself and so far it is working fine. I will try to "torture" the system to see if it is for sure ok, but I think it just might not like my other ram. Any possible reasons for this? My other ram is generic pc100 but it does 129 fsb and I have never had any problems with it.

[Mntsnow]

Bdog, I cant give you the reason why the 2 brands of ram wont work together http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif But I can say I have seen it more than once where 1 brand wont work with another but will just fine with a 3rd....Just one of the trials and tribulations we go thru playing this game! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Mntsnow

ps. glad to hear it's atleast working by it's self and its not a dead stick!

[Target]

Bdog and Codybear. CYM, I have sent you both the utilities I mentioned.

As Mntsnow mentioned, I too have seen different brands of memory not willing to "play nice" with each other on the same board. Unfortunately, I don't know either why that type of situation occurs.

Anyway, if you test those sticks of yours, post the results here, I'm curious to see what the issue is.

Good Luck ~Target

[bdog]

I ran the goldmemory program and here is what happened:
tested siemens ok
test my ram ok
test siemens and my ram ok

So tried again in my system
run siemens ok w2k and 98
run my ram ok w2k and 98
run siemens and my ram 98 registry error not boot up, w2k frequent reboots

Strange

[codybear]

thanks for all the time and trouble and I believe the problem is fixed. It seems that the stick was good but not compatible with the ram currently in the system

[This message has been edited by codybear (edited 01-15-2000).]

[Target]

Did Goldmemory give you any results or definitions at all? I mean, it said it would tell you if there were incompatabilities....

Did it actually provide a diagnosis of any kind?

[bdog]

Nope, I had to boot into straight dos to run it. It showed memory bandwidth, and then it tested from 0 to 100 % and said PASS. It then returned to dos prompt. It did the exact same thing for all three memory configurations.

[Target]

Well Bdog, I'm sorry that the util wasn't able to provide you with more information, but if its correct, it sounds like the sticks are both good and that maybe the only time the issue manifests itself is when the Windows code is loaded.

I re-read the thread looking for more clues, and didn't really see anyone discussing the memory setup within your bios. I know on mine, it allows me to configure things like CAS latency and timings, precharge control, ECC, etc..

Have you tried to mess with those types of settings in your bios? I am wondering if your bios doesn't auto detect them and default to the lower setting of the two sticks, and might require you to manually set them. If that is the case, I'd set them to their lowest latency (3), turn precharge off, turn off ECC, etc. I know you may have already thought of this, but didn't see it discussed so figured I'd mention it.