Dell Inspiron 5559 Memory Upgrade Issue

Actually that RAM is still available at Crucial according to this page on their site. So the first question is do your RAM modules match identically to those at their site? The proper RAM is DDR3L-1600.

Yes, they match the part number and specs exactly. And, no, they are not available from Crucial. The site you linked to is a basic informational page, not an ordering page. If you click on the Compatible RAM button from the link you attached, you'll see that the add to cart button is grayed out for the 8GB modules, meaning you cannot order them from Crucial. You have to click on the Where to Buy button, which brings up Amazon, Newegg, and B&H, none of which are actually selling them themselves; just 3rd party sellers  through their sites. The modules I received look legit, as much as any part can look legit, and they say Crucial and have the right part numbers, but I have no way of verifying if they are actually legit, or good.

Try removing the CMOS battery for 15 minutes then reinserting. Actually considering the age of the 5559 it may be wise to purchase a brand new battery (CR2032) and replace it. My Latitudes are around the same age as your 5559 and both needed new CMOS batteries. Before removing the old battery make note of the BIOS settings.

Hi bfollowell.

Did you manage to fix your memory upgrade problem? I have the identical problem with my attempted Inspiron 5559 upgrade (8Gb (4+4) to 16Gb (8+8). I ran a scan of my laptop with the Crucial app which recommended DDR3L-1600 and directed me to Amazon so I bought two matched 8Gb modules last week (Crucial RAM CT2KIT102464BF160B 16 GB Kit (2 x 8 GB) DDR3 1600 MHz CL11 Laptop Memory). 

Followed good practice with respect to static discharge, then powered off, battery out, on/off button depressed 5s, unclip old RAM, carefully seat new RAM, reclip, restart). Now all I get is a blank screen with power LED flashing. Shows 2 amber followed by 4 white which apparently indicates Memory/RAM failure. I've swapped round all combinations of old RAM and new RAM in both slots exactly as you tried. The old 4Gb pair still work fine but the new 8Gb modules will only work if one is installed at a time in the A slot with nothing in the B slot. That suggests the 8Gb modules are not faulty but that they are not in fact paired/matched or are just not compatible with the 5559 in some way. 

I've also tried updating the BIOS and some switching on/off multiple times as suggested by some other posts but still not working.

Getting  ready to return them but Crucial seem a well respected supplier so still keen to try to understand what's wrong before playing put luck with another supplier.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks for your thoughts JOcean.

Just replaced the CMOS battery with a new one after waiting 15mins and tried starting up with the 2 new new 8Gb modules installed. Still does not work, just sits there with blank screen and 2 yellow, 4 white flashes on the power LED. Runs fine when I put the the old 4Gb modules back in.  

Puzzling as I've never had this kind of problem when I've upgraded the 2 or 3 laptops I've done in the past. 

Hi All,

Same thing, have 2 4gb memory modules (samsing) and tried to change to 2 8gb modules, curcial.

Same result as everyone else!

Anyone able to get it to work.

I do see 8gb modules from samsung on amazon.

But do not want to spend more money just to find out it doesnt work.

Would be nice if someone out there who was able to upgrade could chime in!

Hi sonofgas

No luck here I'm afraid. I tried talking it through with customer care at Crucial who were keen to help but could not give me anything more to work on other than what I'd already tried. Pointed to another Dell Community page with a power down cycling approach which seemed to work for one person but not for me (see post by Rdmendoza) 

https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/My-laptop-wont-boot-after-adding-new-ram-on-my-inspiron-5559/td-p/7256949

Perhaps it will work for you and would have been useful to know if bfollowell got anywhere after his original post above. Anyway I've spent to long on this already so will be returning the 8Gb modules for a refund.

Good luck

I never got any further with mine, at least not successfully. My first memory was replaced and I received it Wednesday afternoon, only to have the same results that I received the first time around.

My laptop works perfectly with the original Samsung 4+4 that it came with, so I really have no reason to think that there's anything wrong with my laptop. Either they're just not all 100% capable of being upgraded to 16GB, or maybe the memory I ordered was counterfeit and there was some spec that was off enough to keep them from working.

Like @sonofgas, I'd like to upgrade mine, but I'm not willing to shell out more money just to have the same issues.

All the comments about upgrade the BIOS, remove the CMOS battery, hop on one foot with your tongue out while inserting the RAM, I just don't buy it. I've been into computers for far too many decades to believe that things could be that complex for something as simple as upgrading the memory. I've done it too many times on too many devices and had it go without a hitch. There is definitely something else at play here.

Thanks bfollowell for your update which is useful... though disappointing

It does sound like we all have the same problem but you've saved me the hassle of taking another chance with Crucial or bothering with another supplier and will just have to live with the existing  8Gb (4+4) Samsung RAM I already have. Will probably replace the original HD with an SSD to give a bit more life to the old 5559 which I'm still rather attached to.

I acquired this one from my sister and brother-in-law. It had died on him after a few years and they also had an old MacBook Pro that had coffee spilled into it and they asked me to take them and wipe the hard drives and get rid of them. I decided to play with this one and it was just the hard drive that was dead. I replaced it with a 1TB Crucial SSD and it's doing great. A lot of people replace the optical drive with a HD caddy and put a second SSD in there but I doubt that I will. Even though it's doubtful I'll ever need the optical drive, for what I use this laptop for, it's doubtful I'll ever need more than 1TB either. While I did want to upgrade to 16GB of memory, it really does fine for what I use it for. It's just been frustrating since it was supposed to be able to go to 16GB and it was so easy to upgrade, but then apparently can't be upgraded to 16GB.

Hi All,

Success!!!  My system had SAMSUNG memory.  So I purchased 8 gb of samsung memory (originally I tried noname then crucial).

It worked first time.

I am no running 8gb + 4GB:

I am going to purchase another 8gb samsung and will let you know how it goes!

I believe you have to use the same manufacturer's memory as originally installed.

Good Luck All!

Hi All,

I got my second 8GB Samsung Memory and it works with no issues!

Hope this helps all the others who want to upgrade their memory.

Hi sonofgas

That's interesting to hear and I'm glad it worked for you.

I might give it another try with Samsung RAM. Could you tell me the spec and supplier you ordered from as I can't see an obvious one to go for on Amazon. It sounds like you ordered 2 separate 8Gb modules rather than a matched pair but they worked well together when you did install them. Is  that the case? 

Cheers

That's awesome news! Thanks for sharing.

I'd like to know that actual Samsung part number of your memeory and possibly who you bought it from as well, if you're willing to share.

Thanks.

From Amazon: Samsung 8 gb DDR3 1600 MHZ SO-DIMM  

Model: M471B1G73DB0-YK000