Upgraded to 4GB Ram 64bit but doesnt work correctly

[blancglacier]

Hi,

I have recently upgraded my Dell Latitude D531 from XP 32 bit to Windows 7 Professional 64 bit.

Previously I had 2.5GB of RAM, however having undertaken a crucial scan it said I can now have 4GB of RAM. So, I ordered a new 2GB and replaced the 512MB stick.

Upon booting up for the first time and hit F1 to acknowledge that the RAM has been changed it loaded to the log in screen however I could see loads of white horizontal lines across the screen. I was able to login and the desktop appeared fine.

I then noticed that the audio was coming up saying it cannot be found. It had a red cross through the symbol in the taskbar.

I restarted on numerous occassions to no avail.

I took the new 2GB stick out and put the 512MB back in and all loaded without any problems.

Any ideas?

System
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model Latitude D531
Total amount of system memory 2.50 GB RAM
System type 64-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 2

Graphics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter type ATI Radeon X1200 Series
Total available graphics memory 1119 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 160 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 959 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.561.0.0
Primary monitor resolution 1280x800
DirectX version DirectX 9.0 or better

Network
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Adapter Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Network Adapter Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card

 

[DarkXeno]

I would take both sticks out and then try booting with just the new stick of ram in.
Also make sure all cards are seated tight.

 

[blancglacier]

I would take both sticks out and then try booting with just the new stick of ram in.
Also make sure all cards are seated tight.

Hi DarkXeno,

Thanks for your reply. I was going to do this but decided to back off for now, as its a pain to take off keyboard etc.

Instead I decided to look at the Bios. I was on revision A00 and realised there was A08 avaliable. I upgraded the Biso and all is working fine...so thats all it was. I somehow overlooked this.

Thanks anyways.

 

[DarkXeno]

Thats some great news there an easy fix is always good

 

[noe]

i've the same problem... There's no problem with 1 stick of 2Gb and the original 512Mb but when i put both 2Gb sticks it just won't boot just stays in the black screen... i could use some help!

Thanks

 

[Keiichi25]

i've the same problem... There's no problem with 1 stick of 2Gb and the original 512Mb but when i put both 2Gb sticks it just won't boot just stays in the black screen... i could use some help!

Thanks

Did the system 'beep' for you, do you even have any power going in?

Normally, if there was a memory issue, the laptop will give post beeps to indicate a problem. I would recommend giving a try of re-seating the memory and power it on again. The most common mistake with laptop memory upgrades is not seating the memory correctly and it isn't detected. The other common problem is something got unhooked when getting to the memory, and not hooked back up again, which would also cause some problems.

 

[noe]

i've the same problem... There's no problem with 1 stick of 2Gb and the original 512Mb but when i put both 2Gb sticks it just won't boot just stays in the black screen... i could use some help!

Thanks

Did the system 'beep' for you, do you even have any power going in?

Normally, if there was a memory issue, the laptop will give post beeps to indicate a problem. I would recommend giving a try of re-seating the memory and power it on again. The most common mistake with laptop memory upgrades is not seating the memory correctly and it isn't detected. The other common problem is something got unhooked when getting to the memory, and not hooked back up again, which would also cause some problems.

No beep and yes it does have power both the baterry and plug to electricity the thing is that the laptop works great with either one of the 2Gb sticks and 1 of 512M... and yes the system recognize the memory cuz it appear on the BIOS screen 3Gb and in system info the 4Gb but only usable 3Gb...

 

[Keiichi25]

Can you describe, point by point, what happens on Bootup then.

 

[noe]

when both 2Gb sticks and i turn it on just sounds the hard drive and that's it! the screen is black and it sounds like the fans are working but that's all, no beep nothing happens next. on the other hand when either one of the 2Gb and the 512Mb there's no problem at all... it works normally... thanks again for being so cooperative with my issue!!

 

[1Bowtie]

Did you check before you bought the ram that it was compatible, did it match the ram you already had.

 

[noe]

Did you check before you bought the ram that it was compatible, did it match the ram you already had.

i guess this could help...

Samsung 512Mb 2Rx16 PC2-4200s-444-12-A3

and

Kingmax DDR2-667 2Gb

 

[Lemur]

Just to verify, you have installed DDR2 PC2-5300, each stick 2GB.

 

[noe]

no right now i've installed:


Samsung 512Mb 2Rx16 PC2-4200s-444-12-A3

and

Kingmax DDR2-667 2Gb

and works with no problem

 

[Hopalong X]

Lemur

The Kingmax web site lists them as singles not a matched set.
I don't know if that would present a problem or not.

According to the spec sheet it should work with the 2x2GB sticks.

 

[1Bowtie]

I think the reason it's working with the 512 stick, it's running at the slower speed or the original ram, ram is real finicky when using different speed ram than it calls for

 

[spyknee]

Ram sticks should not be mixed. All ram should be the same manufacturer, same voltage and same timings.
And of course ram should be meant for your mobo. I burned up a mobo's ram slots using two manufacturers.!

When changing ram, you should put in only one stick and enter bios to configure mobo to your ram. Once mobo bios is set you can add the other sticks. Before changing any ram, you should enter bios and put ram bios in default, this will help with POST of the new ram stick.

Flashing the bios to a newer version would automatically reset the bios to defaults.

 

[ray1979]

Hi,

I have recently upgraded my Dell Latitude D531 from XP 32 bit to Windows 7 Professional 64 bit.

Previously I had 2.5GB of RAM, however having undertaken a crucial scan it said I can now have 4GB of RAM. So, I ordered a new 2GB and replaced the 512MB stick.

Upon booting up for the first time and hit F1 to acknowledge that the RAM has been changed it loaded to the log in screen however I could see loads of white horizontal lines across the screen. I was able to login and the desktop appeared fine.

I then noticed that the audio was coming up saying it cannot be found. It had a red cross through the symbol in the taskbar.

I restarted on numerous occassions to no avail.

I took the new 2GB stick out and put the 512MB back in and all loaded without any problems.

Any ideas?

System
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model Latitude D531
Total amount of system memory 2.50 GB RAM
System type 64-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 2

Graphics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter type ATI Radeon X1200 Series
Total available graphics memory 1119 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 160 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 959 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.561.0.0
Primary monitor resolution 1280x800
DirectX version DirectX 9.0 or better

Network
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Adapter Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Network Adapter Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card

both of the rams must be the same to work i have 4gb in 2gb each one the same make and had noprobles at all

 

[Keiichi25]

A rule of thumb for upgrading or changing memory in any system is not only making sure you have the right RAM for the motherboard you are using, but using the same manufacture, speed and size of RAM. Mixing different manufacturers of RAM or timing or both will introduce too many problems later, ranger from weird system problems, mostly related to memory, to just simply memory not working or showing up properly in the system.