64KB RAM failure - What does it mean?

Question

Dimension 5150 is the model.

It's my wife's machine, and when she came home she asked why it wouldn't respond (her computer was on but the screen wasn't responding). After poking about, I went to reset it, and when I turned it back on I got a series of angry beeps. Consulting the Phoenix BIOS error beep codes, I see that 1-3-2 is '64KB RAM failure'.

Thing is, that's not really very helpful. Can anyone tell me what it actually means, and what (if anything) can be done to fix it?

RoHe · Answer

Unplug PC from the wall and press/hold power button on tower for ~15 sec. Open the case, chase out all the dust bunnies and carefully reseat the RAM modules in their slots. The first 64K are on the module in slot 1.

If it still won't boot, unplug, and press the power button again. Remove the module from slot 1 and swap in the module that was in slot 2, leaving second slot empty. If it boots, then the first RAM module failed and has to be replaced.

Ron

europa303 · Answer

Something else to check:  Restart, and watch the 4 diagnostic lights on the front panel, 1-4.  These will flash on and off during a restart.  Do any remain lit, giving further info on the fault?  See this:   : Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

psychoalpha · Answer

I apologize, I should have updated. I've had the flu this week, so having trouble staying focused.

The initial suggestion turned out to be correct. She had 2GB RAM in 4 sticks of 512mb, and the one in slot 1 is no longer good. Once I isolated it I tried placing it in each of the other slots (all 4 sticks are identical maker/model/etc). It's definitely that stick of RAM.

I've already ordered 2 1gb sticks to replace the broken one and its mate, so she'll have a total of 3gb. :)

Thank you so much for the help. :)

RoHe · Answer

Did your flu bug kill the ram? :D Glad you got things sorted out. Feel better! Ron

psychoalpha · Answer

Hah! No chance. It's only PC4200, which is fairly cheap these days, luckily. :) And I feel a TON better today, thanks. :)

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64KB RAM failure - What does it mean?

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