64-bit Win7 can't handle 4 GB RAM without BSOD/reboots?

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  1. Posts : 12,177
    Windows 7 Ult x64 - SP1/ Windows 8 Pro x64
       #11

    Just for another option try installing it from a USB memory stick instead of a DVD.

    Can't hurt to try it, you can put it on a USB stick faster than the time it takes to burn a DVD.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 9
    Win 7 64-bit Enterprise Trial
    Thread Starter
       #12

    Tried Win 7 Upgrade Adviser


    One quick update...

    I installed the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser in XP and ran it. The only gripe it had was with the driver for the Gigabyte RAID controller. It said they'd need updating for Win7.

    I went back to Gigabyte's site and there are no newer drivers for it. What gets called a "Gigabyte" RAID controller is, in fact, a JMicron controller chip on the MoBo. At another site, I found someone else with the same MoBo who got the same gripe from the Upgrade Adviser. They were told that they could get he latest drivers available directly from JMicron at JMicron's Web site. I went there and downloaded the latest non-beta drivers. I fired up Win7 and tried to update the drivers, but I didn't have much hope for success when I noticed that the driver version already installed was the same as the version I was about to try to put in. Sure enough, Device Manager refused to update the driver, saying I already had the "best driver" for the device.

    That was the only gripe the Adviser had about the system.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #13

    I remember the JMicron controller being junk with buggy drivers back when I had a Gigabyte DS3. Do you use this controller for anything?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 302
    Windows 8 64bit Professional
       #14

    sbear said:
    One quick update...

    I installed the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser in XP and ran it. The only gripe it had was with the driver for the Gigabyte RAID controller. It said they'd need updating for Win7.

    I went back to Gigabyte's site and there are no newer drivers for it. What gets called a "Gigabyte" RAID controller is, in fact, a JMicron controller chip on the MoBo. At another site, I found someone else with the same MoBo who got the same gripe from the Upgrade Adviser. They were told that they could get he latest drivers available directly from JMicron at JMicron's Web site. I went there and downloaded the latest non-beta drivers. I fired up Win7 and tried to update the drivers, but I didn't have much hope for success when I noticed that the driver version already installed was the same as the version I was about to try to put in. Sure enough, Device Manager refused to update the driver, saying I already had the "best driver" for the device.

    That was the only gripe the Adviser had about the system.
    Your problem boggles my mind like a hot chick in a sweater in Southern California.

    On a side note, if you would LIKE to try Windows Vista Business I can toss you an ISO and a serial key. I never use Vista, but if you do a clean install of Vista update it, and then run the Windows 7 and do an UPGRADE, it just Might work.
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  5. Posts : 9
    Win 7 64-bit Enterprise Trial
    Thread Starter
       #15

    DeaconFrost said:
    I remember the JMicron controller being junk with buggy drivers back when I had a Gigabyte DS3. Do you use this controller for anything?
    Uh, the RAID array?

    There's also the SATA RAID functionality in the AMD chip set available on the board, but I guess it's a little late to change it now unless I want to blow away everything and start over.

    When (well, at this point, it's probably "if") I wipe the "Win 7 with a time bomb" and move to a "permanent" install of Win 7, I could switch to the AMD chip set RAID. But I don't want to do it now and lose everything, including the XP install I use every day. Especially since it's not a sure thing that it's the problem. The current JMicron array worked fine with 64-bit Linux and works fine with the current 32-bit XP install. Of course that was, in both cases, with different drivers.

    But, it's something to try when/if I reinstall from scratch when 7 is available. The issue is, if I can't have some assurance that something I can do will fix the issue, I'll either go back to 64-bit Linux and get my full 8 GB or just stick with good, old 32-bit XP. At the moment, I can actually get more usable memory (about 3.2 GB) using 32-bit XP than I can with 64-bit Seven where I'm limited to one 2 GB module.

    So I might wind up saying, "I'm sticking with 32-bit XP, so I can have more memory than 64-bit Seven supports on my system."
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 302
    Windows 8 64bit Professional
       #16

    sbear said:
    DeaconFrost said:
    I remember the JMicron controller being junk with buggy drivers back when I had a Gigabyte DS3. Do you use this controller for anything?
    Uh, the RAID array?

    There's also the SATA RAID functionality in the AMD chip set available on the board, but I guess it's a little late to change it now unless I want to blow away everything and start over.

    When (well, at this point, it's probably "if") I wipe the "Win 7 with a time bomb" and move to a "permanent" install of Win 7, I could switch to the AMD chip set RAID. But I don't want to do it now and lose everything, including the XP install I use every day. Especially since it's not a sure thing that it's the problem. The current JMicron array worked fine with 64-bit Linux and works fine with the current 32-bit XP install. Of course that was, in both cases, with different drivers.

    But, it's something to try when/if I reinstall from scratch when 7 is available. The issue is, if I can't have some assurance that something I can do will fix the issue, I'll either go back to 64-bit Linux and get my full 8 GB or just stick with good, old 32-bit XP. At the moment, I can actually get more usable memory (about 3.2 GB) using 32-bit XP than I can with 64-bit Seven where I'm limited to one 2 GB module.

    So I might wind up saying, "I'm sticking with 32-bit XP, so I can have more memory than 64-bit Seven supports on my system."
    I have a gift for you. Check your PMs in a few hours. I've got a spare 64bit Windows XP Professional & Windows Vista 64bit. I'm a college student and I get MANY serial keys for free. I could ask my teacher for another copy.

    If theres a will theres a way, don't give up hope.

    Oh and btw, Linux is by far faster at putting out drivers than Microsoft could ever be. My g/f's computer is running 64bit Ubuntu and she bought a brand new 295GTX Gfx card, and it was supported like right away.
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  7. Posts : 9
    Win 7 64-bit Enterprise Trial
    Thread Starter
       #17

    Well I tried...


    ...reflashing the BIOS back to a version two back from the current one since I already had the latest in the system with the "crash/reboot with more than 2 GB problem."

    No difference. When I put a 2nd module in the system, it goes into the crash/reboot cycle at the same point in the boot process. Win XP still works just fine with 4 GB.

    Oh well. I'll flash the system with the latest BIOS again and call this experiment a bust.

    At least, I'm back and able to post. My provider hosed up my e-mail service. That caused this forum to get a "daily summary" for this thread bounced when it was sent to me. Which apparently caused my account here to get suspended. Straightening out the e-mail and getting this account re-activated took until this morning.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #18

    sbear said:
    Uh, the RAID array?
    Notice the part where I said DS3. That's an Intel board, not some quirky AMD chipset. And as I was referring to, if I ever found a reason to use RAID on a desktop PC, it wouldn't be with the JMicron ports. They are notorious for having issues.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 9
    Win 7 64-bit Enterprise Trial
    Thread Starter
       #19

    Success!!!


    OK, I'm back.

    Specifically, I'm back because I solved the issue and now have 64-bit Win 7 running with 8 GB of RAM.

    I've solved the problem where my Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P would BSOD (blue screen) during install of 64-bit Windows 7 with a message about the BIOS not being fully ACPI compliant if there was 4GB or more of memory installed. Also, it would not boot with 4GB or more memory.

    You're asking yourself, "Self, why did he put that in the message? It's all in the thread above." Well, self, the idea is that after the search engines crawl this forum, someone else with a similar problem who does a search with Google, Yahoo, etc. will hopefully get this message high in their results.

    Anyhow, here's what fixed it...

    Sometimes, you can be a bit too clever. I was trying to minimize things as much as possible to try to prevent issues. I had various system peripherals and such turned off or disconnected to try and minimize the system as much as possible. The MoBo has eight SATA ports on it. Six are provided by the AMD chipset and two from an onboard "Gigabyte" (JMicron) chip. Either can be configured for "fake RAID" (software-based RAID). So I decided to connect my two hard drives to the two "Gigabyte" SATA ports and configure them as a RAID 1 array.

    The rest of the internal devices (DVD-RW drive, an old Zip drive) are holdovers from my last system and use an ATAPI interface. So when I set up the MoBo in the BIOS, I realized that I needed the "Gigabyte" SATA ports, but not the AMD ones since I had nothing connected to any of them. In the BIOS, I disabled the AMD SATA ports since they're just sitting there empty. Less is more, I thought. The more I simplify the system and get rid of stuff I wasn't using, the less likely it was that there would be problems.

    Wrong.

    Today, I went through the BIOS settings, just "trying things" to see if I could make a difference. Finally, I tried enabling the AMD SATA ports, that are still just sitting there, empty. Ta da! The system booted without a hitch. When I got into Win 7, of course, it detected the new device and wanted drivers. I installed AMD Win 7 drivers I already had on a floppy and everything seemed fine with 4 GB in the system. I tinkered around to confirm that it was the, "enable the AMD SATA ports," setting that was definitely the one that made the difference and once I was sure, I popped in the other two modules to bring the system up to 8GB, and it ran just fine.

    I'm going to wring it out over the weekend to be sure, but it looks like that solved the problem. I haven't tried a complete reinstallation to see if it solves the BSOD during install, but it certainly fixed booting with 4GB or more. And, even if it still won't install with 4GB or more, that's no big deal. I'll just pull three modules, install Win 7 and then put them back. However, I suspect that it's probably solved that problem as well since previously I could also get the same BSOD if I asked for a "repair" during boot after a failed boot. Now, that's gone, too.

    So, all I can say is it fixed the issue with my specific Gigabyte board. YMMV.

    Thanks to those of you who offered ideas over the last week or so! If someone else pops up here with a similar problem, you've got some new information that might help them.
      My Computer


 
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