Dell 740 Memory slot issue

Question

Hello,

I have a Dell 740 and I recently purchased an additional Dell 740 for use in a cluster. I have 4 known good 2 gig memory sticks (8 gigs total) in my first machine. I have tried to install 8 gigs in the 2nd machine however it will not boot. The only way to make the system boot is to install the memory in slots 1 and 3 only (4 gigs maximum). Is there possibily a BIOS setting I need to change in order to install 8 gigs or is this just a problem with one of the memory slots?

I have also tried 4x 1 gig memory sticks but these only work in slots 1 and 3 also (2 gigs total memory).

Thanks.

dbutch1976 · Accepted Answer

Hello,

I fixed this one myself although to be honest I'm not entirely sure how. What I know for sure is that there are no dip switches, jumpers, or BIOS settings that need to be changed in order to set the motherboard to dual channel memory mode.

This change should be automatic, however for some reason it just wasn't working for me. In order to get it working, I placed 2 gigs of memory in slots 1&3 and turned it on, it worked.

Placed 2 gigs of ram in 1&3 and 1 gig in slot 2 - it worked.

Pleaced 2 gigs or ram in slots 1,2 & 3 - it worked.

Finally placed 2 gigs or ram in slows 1,2,3, and 4 - it worked.

I checked the BIOS and the setting had changed from single mode to dual mode. I have no idea why the BIOS would only accept a gradual increase in the memory, but there it is, I think the original motherboard will probably also work if I tried the same thing.

Thanks.

dbutch1976 · Answer

Any thoughts on this issue?  Are there any dip switches that need to be set or anything like that?

Jeff Hoffman · Answer

Have you tried using one stick of RAM, that is known to be good - in each slot, one at a time - to narrow things down? If it is a bad slot this should point you to it. Jeff :emotion-22:

dbutch1976 · Answer

Yes, the machine will work with:

1 known good stick of ram in slot 4

1 known good stick of ram in slot 2

2 known good sticks of ram in slots 2 & 4

It will not work with any configuration that has any memory in slots 1 or 3. It just seems like a defective memory slots, plain and simple. I was hoping this was something I could fix myself, but it looks like this board will have to be replaced.

Thanks for your input.

dbutch1976 · Answer

Hello,

I have recieved a second replacement motherboard and it is having the excact same problem. I have compared the BIOS's of a working and non-working machine and I see that the memory channel mode is set to DUAL on the working one and single for the two motherboards that don't work. None of the BIOS settings appear to be changable in regards to memory, so where can I set the other motherboard to dual??

Thanks.

dbutch1976 · Answer

*bump* Can someone please chim in on this?  Any advice would be helpful, I've tried everything I can think of.... Thanks.

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Dell 740 Memory slot issue

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