Dell Desktop (Dimension 2400) won't recognize 2gb Ram, Help Please

Check out this page from the Dimension 2400 Service Manual:  Advanced Troubleshooting (Dimension 2400) 

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

.  See if you can repeat the configuration that gave you the beeps and try to fit the pattern into the table given.  Also, check out the diagnostic lights on the back of the computer to see if that provides any useful indication.

Is the computer using integrated video, or is there a separate video card in one of the PCI slots?  Most folks just used the integrated video on these machines, but one of the things that can cause problems is a video card with 500 or more megabytes of RAM.  I know of a few folks that had to forego the 2 GB RAM and use 1.5 GB instead to avoid this situation.  If the computer is using the integrated video, however, this cannot be the problem.

Hello Mary,

 I've used Crucial before but that's a mute point.  Each stick of Ram works perfectly in the computer as it stands, so that should indicate it is not a compatability issue?  The problem is both sticks will not work in conjunction which would seem to be a computer setup issue....

My Mother-In-Law may give one stick to her close friend (same computer) if I cannot get both sticks to work, so a loss is avoidable.  Otherwise, I have contacted the supplier in regards to my issue.

Do you know of anything, patches/bios, that might rectify the issue?  This seems to have been quite common on this computer with some able to fix it........

Thanks, Ralph

Hello Jack,

Thanks for your assistance...

A) When I install both 1gb sticks (2 gb total) into the desktop and reboot, nothing comes on the screen.  I get two yellow and two green troubleshooting lights, which indicates "Memory modules are detected, but a memory failure has occurred".

B) When I install a single 1gb stick the computer runs perfectly.   I also tried installing a 1gb sticks and the original 256mb stick, but the computer shut down Windows and stated mismatch.  Is there any way of making the 1gb and 256mb sticks work together, if I cannot get 2gb to work?

C) The Dell utility and Properties tab, list the chipset as being Intel 845G chipset family (82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV) which is apparently integrated?

D) I have not tried to troubleshoot with the beep sequence again.  It did that when I removed the internal battery (in attempting to reset the NVRAM) and installed both 1gb sticks.  Upon rebooting the computer beeped a number of times but nothing came up.  After I removed one of the 1gb sticks, I then rebooted and as I recall the configuration screen came up, I made no adjustments and just let it continue booting up.  It apparently went through and re-discovered hardware as well as resetting the clock to 2005.  

E) BIOS is listed as A.05.  She has about 40gb of hard drive available so no issue there.

WHAT NEXT TO TRY?

Crucial is the best place to buy memory for Dell computers because they guarantee it will work. Check the specs of the memory here: www.crucial.com/.../listparts.aspx

It is best to match the chips and not mix them.

IMO,1 gb should be enough memory for the 2400--a simple solution.

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The Ram I installed is supposed to be low density.  This is a pic of one of the sticks

1GB 184p PC2700 CL2.5 16c  DDR333  Infineon M23N1364-55

This is High Density NON INTEL compatible ram. High Density DDR RAM sticks will, like their Low Density counterparts, usually be double sided with eight 512 Mb chips per side.  The difference is that each chip, instead of being organised in a low density configuration the RAM is organised with high density data width.  Having 16 physical chips does not guarantee Low Density.    128 MEG X 64  1 GIG DIMMS 2 Gig Dimms are not supported.

RECOMMENDED UPGRADE

1GB  
DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64 •   •  Part #: CT323835

 

DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200

Memory Type: DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200, DDR (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 2GB 
Slots: 2
Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.* 

Reading through the posts of our fellow forum members I see that there is a concern that you have high density memory.  With a Dimension 2400, however, if the memory is high density you either get no operation at all (computer just sits and beeps at you) or you get a report from BIOS that you have 1/2 the amount of memory you think you have installed.

Dells are funny with memory, and your problem is probably related to the latency timings on the modules.  I've sometimes gotten a stubborn configuration to work by swapping the positions of the modules.  In the case of the 1 GB + 256 MB, I would place the 1 GB in the first slot (the one nearest the processor).  For a pair I would just try exchanging the modules in the two slots.  If you can get neither of these to work, and removing the battery to have the computer redetect its hardware has not helped (noted you've done this at least once) you have probably just had an unlucky memory purchase.  A Dimension 2400 does not need matched modules, but the latency specs must match well enough that the controller can find a common data rate for both modules.  Failing that, the computer just don't work.

UPDATE:

I decided to re-install a 1gb stick with the original 256mb stick, being sure the larger was first, and the computer works perfectly with both.  It recognizes both as does the Crucial utility.  So she has 1.25 gb ram as it stands now and everything appears to be working perfectly.

I think Jack is right.  If these were actually high density ram then there would be issues of some sort no matter.  As it stands, both 1gb sticks run perfectly fine.  The computer just will not accept 2 x 1gb.  I purchased the sticks from a reputable seller.  They were guaranteed certified brand new straight from the distributor.  I do have the option of returning for a refund or swapping them out.

Unless there is any other suggestion in rectifying this: I think my mother-in-law will be happy with having 1.25gb on her machine.  It runs significantly faster than it did before I can say easily!  She would opt to give the other 1gb stick to her close friend who will then have similar specs on her Dell 2400.

God Bless  

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Thanks for the suggestion Muto.  I ran 6 passes of memtest on one of the 1gb sticks over a two day period and it is error free.  I'm running the program on the other stick now and thus far shows no errors as well.

The computer has been running very well since I added the new Ram and is significantly faster than before.  I wouldn't even get on my Mother-In-Laws computer when visiting them, as you couldn't even navigate the web it was so slow.  She would actually read the newspaper or such when doing so in waiting for pages to load.  It is now blowing through webpages/video as I'm accustomed to.

Thanks for all help!

I had this same problem over the last couple days in a Dell Dimension 2400 desktop.  After much experimentation, I found the following (2x1GB) memory cards worked for a total of 2GB with BIOS and Windows XP both seeing all 2GB of memory.

    ======================================================================

    HYNIX PC3200U-3030  1GB DDR 400Mhz -CL3 HYMD512646CP8J-D3 AA 64x8 128x64LD   (worked)

    ======================================================================

My first attempt to upgrade was using the Consair memory cards listed below which did not work.  No matter what I did, these cards were never recognized by BIOS or Windows.  If I installed these Consair cards in either slot by themselves or both Consair cards together then the computer would beep 6 times and stop beeping, not boot, the ABCD lights in the back would be lit up as follows:  [A=green, B=orange, C=green, D=orange], and nothing would show up on the display.

If I placed either of these Consair cards with a known working (512MB) memory card then the BIOS and Windows XP would not see the Consair card, it would only see the known good memory card for a total of 512MB.  I tried with the Consair in the slot closer to the processor and also vice-versa, same result. 

For ALL of these attempts I also tried taking out the coin battery (CR2032) out after each attempt as suggested in this thread, same result each time.

    ======================================================================

   Corsair Brand 1GB Low Density PC3200 400Mhz DDR Memory     <----- didn't work!

   Chip Configuration: 128X64 Unbuffered, Non Ecc, Non Registered  

   Chip Density: 64X8 (Low Density)

    ======================================================================

I don't know why one brand (Hynix) would work and the other (Consair) would not.  Everything seems the same to me in the specs between the two types of memory sticks.   I started thinking that maybe the Consair memory arrived bad but I put it in another desktop (HP Pavilion a1530e) and it worked perfectly just doesn't work in the Dell Dimension 2400.

=====================

Summary:  So if you are having trouble upgrading a Dell Dimension 2400 desktop to 2GB of memory then try using "HYNIX HYMD512646CP8J-D3"  (2 sticks of 1GB each).  These worked for me.