No Sound After RAM Upgrade

[Dj SharK]

Hi. I'm having a little issue. I think this might be a long read so please bear with me as i try to explain this as best as possible.

I have only 2 RAM slots ( not planning to upgrade anytime soon ). I have 3 RAMs though.
1 x 2GB | 1 x 1GB | 1 x 512MB

Whenever i have the 2GB together with 1GB, i'll have no sound.

2GB + 1GB = No Sound
2GB + 512MB = Sound Works
1GB + 512MB = Sound Works

I've switch slots and it doesn't work too.

My Motherboard is Biostar P4M90-M7A. I'm using an on-board sound card ( Realtek HD Audio ).

When i have my 2GB + 1GB, everything is gone from Playback Properties ( except for my USB sound card ). - Refer to image 1
Right now, i have my 2GB + 512MB and sound is back to normal - Refer to image 2

I've tried reinstalling my sound card driver and it doesn't work.

Need to point out that all 3 RAMs are identical in brand, model, etc.

Any solutions would be helpful.


Cheers

 

[baarod]

Please screen shot of device manager with 3gb installed?

 

[bassfisher6522]

Have you tried switching slots with the 2 gig and 1 gig sticks.
I see that you have....

 

[bassfisher6522]

What model mobo do you have?
Is this a branded PC or a custom build?

 

[TGSoldier]

Can you list the right motherboard model please?

 

[Dj SharK]

Please screen shot of device manager with 3gb installed?

It's not that easy right now. But last night when i had 3GB installed, i did take a look in Device Manager and there's no 'yellow mark' anywhere. And under audio, there's only "USB PnP Sound Device".

What model mobo do you have?
Is this a branded PC or a custom build?

Can you list the right motherboard model please?

It's custom build. No brand.
Sorry about the mobo. I just found the package box and here's the right model.
Biostar P4M900-M7 SE - BIOSTAR :: P4M900-M7 SE :: Specification

On the site, it shows v7.x but when i checked mine using Belarc Advisor, it says v1.0. Model number is wrong too. :shock:

 

[Dj SharK]

Somebody? Anybody? Everybody?

Some help would be nice.

 

[CommonTater]

Somebody? Anybody? Everybody?

Some help would be nice.

No promises... but you sound so desperate

If you are running x-86...

Grab a copy of Ultimate Windows Tweaker, a TweakUI for Windows 7 & Vista | The Windows Club There's a lot of good tweaks and settings in it. In particular at the bottom of one of the pages is a tweak to enable more than 2gb under x-86 Windows. What it does is remap the I/O space a bit higher in memory so there's no collision with installed ram.

 

[Aphelion]

If you are running x-86...

Grab a copy of Ultimate Windows Tweaker, a TweakUI for Windows 7 & Vista | The Windows Club There's a lot of good tweaks and settings in it. In particular at the bottom of one of the pages is a tweak to enable more than 2gb under x-86 Windows. What it does is remap the I/O space a bit higher in memory so there's no collision with installed ram.

Good call CT! The 3MB combination and the audio device are likely fighting for address space.

-----If possible, disable Dual Channel memory support in the BIOS.-----

Has the OP checked to see if the 2GB & 512MB chip combo are actually showing up as 2.5GB RAM. Also, BIOStar is not known as a high end Motherboard..:shock: the I/O chip programming may just have a problem with the 3GB combination.

Ap

 

[MadMaxData]

-----If possible, disable Dual Channel memory support in the BIOS.-----

Also a good call. I have a BioStar socket 939 motherboard and it ONLY runs in dual channel mode. There's not even a way to disable it in the BIOS. However, when I saw the OP has already tried a mismatched pair of modules, I concluded the dual channel mode wasn't the issue, so I didn't post that suggestion.

 

[Dj SharK]

If you are running x-86...

Grab a copy of Ultimate Windows Tweaker, a TweakUI for Windows 7 & Vista | The Windows Club There's a lot of good tweaks and settings in it. In particular at the bottom of one of the pages is a tweak to enable more than 2gb under x-86 Windows. What it does is remap the I/O space a bit higher in memory so there's no collision with installed ram.

I sure am running x86 OS.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try them tonight when i'm available.

-----If possible, disable Dual Channel memory support in the BIOS.-----

What is Dual Channel Memory Support anyways?
Is that feature a bad thing or will it make any difference ( memory/performance/etc wise )?

Has the OP checked to see if the 2GB & 512MB chip combo are actually showing up as 2.5GB RAM

Yes, i've checked. Been using 2GB and 512MB for a while now since i cannot get sound to work when i replace 512 for a gig memory. Sound works well on a USB Sound Card with 3GB though. I've always thought it has something to do with the on-board sound card i'm using. Not too sure myself.

Also, BIOStar is not known as a high end Motherboard..:shock: the I/O chip programming may just have a problem with the 3GB combination.

Well, i'm not exactly in need of a really good MB as i don't play any games. All i do on my PC is surf the web and watch movies + listening to music. This setup is working pretty good (so far - fingers crossed ).

Nevertheless, thanks. I'll try them tonight and will post an update.

 

[Aphelion]

What is Dual Channel Memory Support anyways?
Is that feature a bad thing or will it make any difference ( memory/performance/etc wise )?

It won't make any difference to you as you need matching chips, two 1GB or two 2GB. Basically... dual channel support doubles the original memory bandwidth.
Some BIOS formats allow it to be enabled/disabled.


Ap

 

[Dj SharK]

It won't make any difference to you as you need matching chips, two 1GB or two 2GB. Basically... dual channel support doubles the original memory bandwidth.
Some BIOS formats allow it to be enabled/disabled.


Ap

I just checked in BIOS for "Dual Channel Memory Support" and can't find anything
that's even close. I guess that option is out.

I'll be able to try all the other suggestion when the little one is asleep tonight.

 

[Dj SharK]

Grab a copy of Ultimate Windows Tweaker, a TweakUI for Windows 7 & Vista | The Windows Club There's a lot of good tweaks and settings in it. In particular at the bottom of one of the pages is a tweak to enable more than 2gb under x-86 Windows. What it does is remap the I/O space a bit higher in memory so there's no collision with installed ram.

Don't think i'm seeing that option. There's one that says "Enable Support For 4GB Of RAM on 32-bit Windows OS".

But i'm not using 4GB or more than that.

 

[MadMaxData]

I just checked in BIOS for "Dual Channel Memory Support" and can't find anything
that's even close. I guess that option is out.

I've already mentioned that earlier. BioStar boards only run in dual channel. Crazy, I know, but that's the way they are.