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Thread: memory upgrade k7s5a

  1. #1
    Senior Member Greg Harper's Avatar
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    memory upgrade k7s5a

    built this baby with 256mb ddr2100 and it works fine till I try to upgrade to 512mb with another stick. Do I need a bios update? I've tried several differnet 256 sticks and the system recognizes them but won't boot pass the display screen. xp denotes a page-fault(memory error) while win 2000 calls for a bios update but I'm not sure which is right. I don't want to flash bios if it's not necessary because everything works great with 256. Any body run into this. I'm running a dual system boot with xp and 2000 and amibios
    gch306

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Rocketmech's Avatar
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    Have you tried reseating the ram several times in each slot and clear CMOS ?
    Adding more DDR will add more load to the P/S , and a weak P/S will cause problems for sensitive DDR timing. You could set to run at 100/100 to check this or disconnect some devices.

  3. #3
    Ultimate Member AllGamer's Avatar
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    try rocket suggestion to run the RAM at 100/100
    and see if that helps

    all i can say is that this mobo is nothing but trouble when it comes to upgrades and new stuff.

    also on the BIOS reset everything to default

    usually a RAM upgrade does not nead a BIOS upgrade, but in your case, it might help

  4. #4
    Senior Member Greg Harper's Avatar
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    thanks guys. I tried the run at 100 deal and it worked . The system came with a warning to run at 133/133 if the board had an 1800 or higher athlon which it does but apparently they don't know what an upgrade will do. Things are much faster now. I just came upon this site and have but one thing to say. Sure wish I had the time to find out what I don't know. When I started building this thing I knew a lot and now I don't know anything. Guess I'm getting techhiemer's disease.
    Have a great day
    G Harper
    gch306

  5. #5
    Ultimate Member AllGamer's Avatar
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    By the way

    Welcome to SysOpt

    i didn't notice you were new

  6. #6
    Member Roy Wilkins's Avatar
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    guys, educate me . what do you mean by
    "try to run the RAM at 100/100"
    ....thx

  7. #7
    Senior Member Greg Harper's Avatar
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    we mean go to bios and set under cpu pnp setup the cpu speed to 100 which will set the cpu frequency to 100 and the dram frequency to 100 if that's what's needed. You can also go to 100/133 or 133/133 which is what my supplier told me that doesn't work. Hope that help
    G.Harper
    gch306

  8. #8
    Member Roy Wilkins's Avatar
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    got it, thx... Harper

  9. #9
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    Greg, put the latest BIOS in (AFTER reverting to the one-DIMM configuration), then go set SDRAM timing to "Normal". Also (on the same BIOS setup page) you need to set RAM bus termination to On, as required for DDR RAM.

    AllGamer, any mobo is trouble when you don't know anything about what you're doing ... besides, I bet you never touched one yourself.

    regards, Peter

  10. #10
    Senior Member Greg Harper's Avatar
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    Well, I guess I'll try the flash deal. I've got three 256 mb ddr sticks and two of them work and the third brand new one doesn't however I can't say it's not a bios problem. When combined with the other two I get a acpi.sys file error in win 2000 and in xp. My amibios version is 1.21.11 as of 3/25/02 and you'd think that would cover this but maybe the k7s5a is too old to handle it with an 1800 processer. Thanks for the info Peter.
    Have a good day
    G. Harper
    gch306

  11. #11
    Banned Antix's Avatar
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    Well what version of the K7S5A do you have? 1.x wasn't made to work with the Athlon XP's, but the 3.x was. ECS notes that the K7S5A can handle XP's with the 1.x, but I think the 3.x was made because of this problem. The latest BIOS for the 1.x is 10-16-01, the one for the 3.x is 06-26-02

    http://www.ecsusa.com/ecsusa/www.ecs...ort/cpu_k7.htm

    Update: I just answered my own question. 03/25/02 is a 3.x BIOS, but check the revision on the mainboard anyway as a 1.x can use that BIOS.
    Last edited by Antix; 09-05-2002 at 05:57 PM.

  12. #12
    Ultimate Member Rocketmech's Avatar
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    Both rev. 1x and 3x use the same Bios updates. I have a very early rev. mobo, unmarked, was updated with 6/26/02 and working fine.
    Go with Peter's advice and flash with only 1 ddr in a working slot . Be sure all is working prior to the flash . Then set the config like he says . If all goes well then add the extra ddr , 1 at a time . BTW, I and others have found that Crucial Ram works best with this board. The manual should have had an insert or page regarding recommended ram. Anyway , something to consider.

    Also, if the system will run at 100/100 and not 133/133 , then my earlier suggestion is that the P/S is suspect/weak. I would try another recommended P/S.
    Last edited by Rocketmech; 09-06-2002 at 12:03 AM.

  13. #13
    Banned Antix's Avatar
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    So far I have gotten the following brands to work in my K7S5A:

    Micron (division of Crucial)
    Hyundai aka Hynix
    Xerox
    LD

    Just some other brands to watch for.

  14. #14
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    Antix, no, it's just the very first v1.0 that doesn't run Athlon XP, but any 1.x that came after those does. The difference between 1.x and 3.x is the sound equipment, the 3.x ones having a 4-channel C-Media 9738 codec on.

    regards, Peter

  15. #15
    Banned Antix's Avatar
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    ahhh...ok, thanks for clearing that up.

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