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Inspiron 660s Memory SLOT Failure?
Here's a VERY strange problem: Inspiron 660s w/ two 4G DDR3 DIMMs installed was up and running when it suddenly turned off with flashing amber power light and two-beep code indicating memory problem. When power cycled,the same symptom occurred (flashing amber & two-beeps).
Troubleshooting showed DIMM1 slot was bad (Item 9 on p.15 of User's Manual).If either 4G DIMM card was installed in the DIMM2 slot (Item 11 on p.15) the system would boot OK.
Both slots populated: Flash/beep.
DIMM1 slot populated with either 4G DIMM: Flash/beep.
DIMM2 slot populated with either 4G DIMM: Boots OK.
After "fixing" the system by de-populating the DIMM1 slot, full Dell Diagnostics (online version) were run with all PASS results. Memtest86+ passed as well.
QUESTIONS:
How could a memory *SLOT* (not memory card) suddenly fail in the middle of operation? The system was up & running but nothing was being done on it at the time of failure. Did a part of the chipset fail?
Is there any way to fix this problem short of replacing the MoBo?
Thanks.