Older Computer repair help! "164-Memory Size Error"Another weird prob!

chas9000 · 12 Jun 2014

Hello! I've been having this problem for awhile now, ever since I started repairing an old 2000-2005 pc. Not sure on how old, but old. I'd say at least a decade by the old ribbon cables and the DDR DIMM memory. I have two very similar builds of this. Both have a single core intel pentium processor with 3.0 cps. Both 1.5 gb of ram. Both strangely enough had windows 8 on them and they worked pretty well for youtube and facebook. But I thought "DIMM can go up a bit higher." So I took two 512 MB from the other one and replaced the ram cards in the one I preferred aesthetically. So I did and it worked, it said it now had 2 gb of ram. Good, right?

But I dropped this project because I already have another computer which I'm using now that is from this century. Now I have an emptry corner in my house that could be filled with a desktop, an extra one at least. So I dug up these old computers and set the one I liked up. But when It booted, it flashed the "Intel pentium inside" screen, then flashed to a black screen that wrote: "164-Memory Size Error | The system memory size is different from the last startup. The most common reason is the removal of memory from the system board. Pressing F1 will record the configuration. If this message persist, verify that the memory modules are installed correctly." It also beeps once after about two seconds of startup.

But this message does not last long, it shortly cuts to a black screen and does nothing. Fans slow down and everything goes idle. I checked the CPU and besides old dry thermal paste everything seems to be fine. I tried upping the power supply exponentially to no avail. I tried using other HDD's. (Which is difficult considering they take the ol' ribbon cables.) And no change. Even stranger is when I try using the other desktop that is very similar it says the same message. And beeps the same. My goal is to have a secondary functioning computer useful for youtube and facebook. Web browsing things. Does anyone have any idea what my problem is?

(I also of course moved and exchanged cards repetitively.)

TVeblen · 14 Jun 2014

Did you press F1?

F1 should bring you to the BIOS settings. There you can check to see if the correct amount of RAM is reported. If it is then go to the exit tab and choose Save Changes & Exit.

If that does not work then you may need to perform a ClearCMOS procedure.

3D Jed · 14 Jun 2014

Try a new mobo battery. It's probably 10+ years old. Although I have run computers without a battery, you can get weird startup config messages. Also webpages often won't load if the time + date have reverted to generic.

chas9000 · 19 Jun 2014

I did swap out the Power supply, what do you mean battery? My computers don't run off a battery. It's plugged into the wall. Also I can't press F1 before the screen goes black and idle. I tried pressing F1 but nothing happens.

TVeblen · 19 Jun 2014

Yes, your computer has a battery. It's on the motherboard. It's a CR2032.

Type "motherboard battery" into a search engine and then look for images.

You need to find that to perform the ClearCMOS procedure.

3D Jed · 19 Jun 2014

As TVeblen said, it's a small 3V cell battery - stores the BIOS info and keeps the clock time/date. Removing for 2 min + reinserting resets the BIOS. You then have to set the time/date. Make sure you insert the right way. Yours may need replacing. Costs about £1 in the UK.

BTW re: beeps - 1 beep is normal and means hardware OK. Some pc's have a beeper, some don't.

edit - should have said keeps the chip alive that stores the BIOS info etc

Britton30 · 19 Jun 2014

After replacing the CMOS battery, restore the RAM to its original and see if it will boot. With such old equipment mis-matched RAM may not be tolerable to the motherboard.

computergeekguy · 19 Jun 2014

Well all computers laptop desktop clear back in the dos days would have some form of battery. The point of the battery is this. Back in the day ram wasn't permanently burned like flash drives per say (with the exception of some rom). It required power 24/7 to keep the data in the ram. For most of your computer you don't care if it loses power as you shut it down. But for the cmos and bios it is VERY IMPORTANT that they don't lose power, hence the little button battery. Newer computers if it loses power you can just reload the settings but in the dos days you might have an old "eisa" controller. If you lose power power to that bad boy "and you don't have the drivers to reinstall them" you got nice pile of worthless silicon.
I had to do a repair of an old dos comp with an eisa controller about 6 months ago after the battery died . My floppy with the drivers had a nice scratch going through it. The internet has no driver for you to download so i had to painfully reconstruct the floppy sector by sector to get it to run. Even that had some short combings but I eventually got it.

chas9000 · 21 Jun 2014

So i cant fix it?

Britton30 · 21 Jun 2014

Well, what have you done, anything?