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I.N.Cognito
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May 19th, 2001 11:00
Bad Ramm
XPS 350R EDBTO
I just removed the original 64 Mb stick of RAMM. My computer now runs faster than it did with the two sticks in place (128Mb)!
My computer came with 1 stick of 64Mb Ramm. I purchased Photoshop, and figured I needed 64Mb more. So I purchased that from Dell. This within a month or two of purchase (about 4 years ago). The computer always had the peculiar problem of periodically starting up with a "slow motion "opening sound. This would happen a couple of times a month. I called technicians, and wrote to the forum of this problem, and no technician could tell me what it was.Now I am convinced it was all along a bad stick of RAMM! What is the warrentee on this item???
I just removed the original 64 Mb stick of RAMM. My computer now runs faster than it did with the two sticks in place (128Mb)!
My computer came with 1 stick of 64Mb Ramm. I purchased Photoshop, and figured I needed 64Mb more. So I purchased that from Dell. This within a month or two of purchase (about 4 years ago). The computer always had the peculiar problem of periodically starting up with a "slow motion "opening sound. This would happen a couple of times a month. I called technicians, and wrote to the forum of this problem, and no technician could tell me what it was.Now I am convinced it was all along a bad stick of RAMM! What is the warrentee on this item???
Hi Larry,
Re your post below on the diagnostics, you need to insert the floppy in your drive and go to Start | Shutdown | Restart, in order to boot the system to the floppy disk; the message you were getting tells you that the tests must run in pure DOS, not protected mode, which is Windows. In addition, they must run below the level of the operating system, so to speak, so they want you to boot to the floppy disk, which stops any further operating system data from loading in. Difficult to explain; I'm sorry... In addition, if your system is already powered down, you can just put the Diagnostics floppy in the disk drive and power the system up. The important thing is that the system be started so that the floppy drive controls the boot, whether that be a warm or cold boot.
Try what Warren suggests--it gives a good real world test of your RAM. At some point, though, it would be a good thing to have both sticks of RAM firmly seated, then boot the system to the Diagnostics floppy disk and when it finishises booting, choose the test group for Memory. This gives you the sort of data that Dell is used to seeing when people call them about hardware difficulties. In addition, make notes of what you find when you:
a) watch the system boot, having pressed the Esc key if you have the big Dell globe appearing which covers the written result of your POST. If you've minimized this globe splash screen in your BIOS already, watch the RAM count and make note of what it counts to: it should say 128 MB.
b) change out the sticks, as Warren suggests. Determine if either or both give you the same error message or any other message at boot that you have been getting. Try just one stick in Slot 0 to begin with. Boot with first the original stick, and check the results. Power down and boot with just the other stick. This will determine if either of the sticks has a problem. Since you have already booted successfully with just one stick in Slot 0 and are happy with the result, you have determined that there is no problem with Slot 0 itself, and that is a very good thing. If you can get the system to boot well with either one of the sticks in Slot 0, then you will want to test the health of the other slot you're normally using for the second stick of RAM by adding the second stick into the mix. If both sticks of RAM are healthy in Slot 0, it stands to reason that both would be healthy in the other slot as well. If you boot and find trouble with RAM again (using both sticks), then the slot may be a problem. If, however, one RAM stick causes problems in Slot 0, most likely only the RAM stick has trouble. Hopefully this procedure makes some sense to you, but ask if it does not. Prior to calling Dell, you want as much firm detail as you can get, and that's the purpose of both running the Diagnosics test group for Memory and what Warren wants you to do.
Keep written notes; I don't know your warranty situation, I'm afraid, on the aftermarket RAM you bought; either someone else might know this, or you may have gotten some paperwork with it that can tell you. Possibly the info is available at Dell's website.
Kay
Hi Larry,
Excellent; it's a chore to do all this swapping in and out, but the more you know, the more you can tell Dell, and I certainly would tell them everything I found out. I've heard that, if your personal schedule allows for it, you want to call them at what is referred to as "off-peak hours." I've not heard a specific time period when this would be best, but my thinking is that weekends may be troublesome, and you want to shoot for late night or early morning, if possible, to be able to get to a tech support agent.
Good luck with it,
Kay
I.N.Cognito
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Posted May 19th, 2001 12:00
Thanks for the info Kay! It makes perfect sense. I should do this thourough check to make sure it is not the slot #1 that is defective.
The "aftermarket" Ram was purchased through Dell, so if it is defective, it is still their responsibility (as far as I`m concerned).
PS,...was just on the phone to Dell Support,........for 20 minutes, and no one picked up! Disgraceful!
I.N.Cognito
55 Posts
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Posted May 19th, 2001 12:00
Hi Warren. I`m pretty sure when I installed it, I did put the new(er) stick in slot 0, and the original in slot 1. (though I`m not sure why, as they are both 64Mb). The one I took out , assuming it is the original says "Crucial technology" (a product of Micron. The one remaining in slot 0 says Hitachi.
Yes, the Ram always counted to 128 OK. Now it only goes to 64 (of course).
Hi Larry,
Great news, sort of. The more you know, the better. This is telling you that the memory itself is good, but that the part of the stick which gives you the added speed discussed in the definition and Intel article I found for you may be bad on the one stick of RAM, so you aren't getting the speed you ought to get with it. It would be really coincidental to have both the stick be bad and Slot 1 be bad, so I think you may be finished with the tests you can perform at the moment, unless someone else can think of a need to test Slot 1. You seem to have enough to go on right now to call Dell, when you can find someone available within a decent amount of time.
Kay
Message Edited on 05/19/01 09:26AM by KayHI.N.Cognito
55 Posts
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Posted May 19th, 2001 13:00
Ran the diagnostics with both chips in,...passed all tests. ...but, the first thing I got was theSPD unavailable message.
Put the "bad" chip in slot zero and removed the good. First thing I noticed is that I get an hourglass (even if briefly) when I open anything. The other chip opened folders right away. Same with drop down menues.
Warren H.
501 Posts
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Posted May 19th, 2001 11:00
Try taking out the original memory from slot 0 and install the stick you bought in its place and see what happens. Also, on boot up, have you ever watched the memory count up to 128 with both sticks installed ?