Memory Mystery: Please Help! Need Hdwe guru

[zapp22]

Hi team
I have another newish to me Windows 7 project underway. This is a Aopen Minicube, a budget-clocker popular with that tweaky crowd.
It is running Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit, Activated/Validated/Updated.

The system has a sort of hybrid Mobile/Desktop design. Very feature rich with lots of gadgets. It is running rather well with only 512MB of Mem so I am trying to load to max 2x1GB memory modules. Thought it would be easy. NOT!

The motherboard is an Aopen UX915G-M using Intel's mobile version 915G/M chipset, and a Pentium M running 1.86GHZ @533MHz FSB. The memory in it now is Buffalo branded, 512MB, 1.8v, and though I cannot tell anything unique about it, it works, and a larger 1GB Kingston DDR2 I tried in it fails, though both on the surface have the same specs. The Kingston KTB-8400A 1.8v part fires right up in my Dell Optiplex GX520. The Buffalo is a single-sided board, 8 chips. Running SIW, I get the following detail for the installed memory:

Running System Info Windows [SIW] it detects this for the memory module:
Max Capacity: 2048
Max Size 1024
Mem Slots: 2
Non-ECC
DRAM Frequency: 266mhz
Memory Timings: 4-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Mftr: Melco
Capacity: 512MB
Speed: 266 MHz [DDR2 533]
Mem Timings: 4-4-4-12-16 at 266.7MHz, at 1.8v Data Width: 64 bits EPP SPD Support: No XMP SPD Support: No
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Can someone please help me figure out the specs of what I need to order? Aopen has thus far been of no help. They don't even list the motherboard on their support site, and the references to it on the web, while positive, are not helpful for this purpose.

thx
Z

 

[stormy13]

You can't find the motherboard because it was never sold separately, it only came in the XC Cube,

N. America & Latin

Do a search using MZ915, and you will find it. using that model number according to Kingston at this from them should be compatible,

Kingston Technology Company - Kingston Memory Search - Search Results for:

 

[zapp22]

interesting. But that's not likely the right model. The components are different.
This one uses the motherboard I mentioned: it has the Realtek ALC880 part [looked at it myself to be sure].

Its probably a EY915 or EZ915. It has a PDS 'Vista XCE' tag on it. I don't think they stayed in biz very long.

I had noticed that Belarc Advisor, Everest, SIW seemed to come up at odds over just what the animal is/was. Do you know anything about the BIOS on this beast? I dare not change it or Windows will de-activate and be lost forever in a puff of bios smoke.... But it doesn't seem quite correct for the board. It doesn't have any control whatsoever for the Four [4] SATA ports, but they work sorta auto ... I figured out which one is "0" and we're ok there I think. but not even mentioned anywhere. Also, the BIOS doesn't tell you what its version is, but the above utilities all agree on its being a Phoenix/Award Version 6.whatever from 2005. Further the BIOS gives nary a clue about the system its running on or its mboard. never seen anything quite like it....

 

[zapp22]

Actually, you're right, Stormy.
looks like the specs are closest to the MZ915-M. What I found on aopen's site matches everything except the rev of the Realtek part: they are showing ALC888 on the one found there.
However.... edit: here we go. this japanese listing is identical except that they don't mention the card readers. could be oversight. At any rate, I see nothing that would make the RAM spec unusual.
http://translate.google.com/transla...ch?q=Aopen+XCcube+%22ALC880%22+ux915G-M&hl=en

 

[zapp22]

PLEASE - is there an engineer in the house?


Well, actually, I have good news / bad news and a question due to the foregoing. I finally figured out closely enough what model system this is, and looked up memory parts as suggested here and elsewhere. I acquired two 1GB Kingston KVR533D2N4 modules. Checked the labeling on both. I installed one in the Aopen minicube, by itself. System failed to boot, as it has with all others except the Buffalo part that came with it. Rechecked my seating a couple of times, but no-go. Then I inserted its twin sister, and it booted right up. So I concluded I had one bad module.

Then I took my running Dell Optiplex GX520 that uses similar DDR2, opened it up and put the supposedly "Bad" module in it, and it of course booted right up. I have not yet run a full memory test suite on either but will today.

Couple of questions: is the Intel 915/M chipset and/or Pentium M processor known for these idiosyncrasies with memory? In the ordinary case of things misbehaving like this, what's the course of action? Slower memory clock? or faster? Use of low-density memory? [i have no idea if that buffalo part is considered low-density or not. There's nothing on the Kingston site that tells me whether the two parts I just acquired are low-density or high].

I'd hate to sell this thing to someone downstream only to have it intermittently fail due to edgy timing on memory.

any clues/advice?