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Help! - serious weirdness
m_s:
I have now run the MS Memory Tester and Memtest and Memtest86 (as Carol suggested), and it's finding no problems at all. I switched the memory sticks over, but the problem persists - I'll follow your lead and take both out next, Mouser, and then replace. When I ran Everest, I noticed that there seems to be a difference between the modules, as you'll see below (sorry for including this in the post, since it's pretty long and bulky). This info means little to me - but does anything leap out at a more savvy reader?
[ DIMM1: Micron Tech. 8VDDT3264HDG-335C3 ]
Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Micron Tech. 8VDDT3264HDG-335C3
Serial Number 111DB16Eh
Manufacture Date Week 41 / 2003
Module Size 256 MB (2 rows, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh
Memory Timings:
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Memory Module Features:
Early RAS# Precharge Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported
Memory Module Manufacturer:
Company Name Micron Technology, Inc.
Product Information http://www.micron.com/products/category.jsp?path=/DRAM
[ DIMM3: Kingston K ]
Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Kingston K
Serial Number 18FFFFFFh
Manufacture Date Week 29 / 2004
Module Size 512 MB (2 rows, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh
Memory Timings:
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Memory Module Features:
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported
Memory Module Manufacturer:
Company Name Kingston Technology Company, Inc.
Product Information http://www.kingston.com/products/default.asp
Carol Haynes:
How long have you had the two memory cards?
There were documented issues with MSI boards in the early days of DDR memory (sorry I am out of touch more recently) where mixing boards from different manufacturers were known to cause this sort of problem. The official solution was to purchase two cards at the same time and specify to the supplier that you want a matched pair. I'm not sure how this affected other motherboard board manufacturers but as rule it has been suggested that if you want more than one memory card that you have same size, same make, same chipset (some manufacturers vary from batch to batch), and preferably same batch.
I also notice that the cards are of different sizes (256Mb and 512Mb) - again this may well point to the problem area. Definitely try placing the 512Mb in slot 1. The two boards will have different power demands.
The other thing to note is that the two manufacturers support different modes of operation Look at "Early RAS# Precharge" for both cards in your Everest listing. If you look in your BIOS memory setting during startup (usually press DEL at the first screen when the system is switched on) you should find a setting for this. Make sure it is set to off.
As a first step I would suggest unplugging both cards and then inserting them one at a time - test your system and see if you encounter problems.
If the systems runs stable with each card in place on its own try again with both plugged in. If you then encounter problems it is more than likely caused by incompatibilities between the RAM cards.
As Mouser suggested it is probably worth trying the cards in different positions.
Try using slots 1 and 2 only, and swap the board order (Mircon card in 1st position, then try again with Kingston in position 1). Sometimes you can get odd clock effects that can generate instability.
If all else fails I'd suggest pulling out one card - just leave the Kingston Card.
Are you doing anything that desperately needs more than 512Mb? If not you probably won't see any speed improvement adding an extra 256Mb anyway. If you are doing memory intensive processing (large photos in PhotoShop or Video file processing) you probably need to consider more memory anyway.
If you can't get the current chipsets working happily together and want more memory try giving Kingston a ring and buying a second card direct from them. They may well have an upgrade solution. IIRC their boards carry a lifetime warranty, so if you need to add extra boards they may well be prepared to do a swap to ensure that you have matched boards.
mouser:
i wouldn't trust the memory checks to find problems.
like i said my experience with memory chips is that they are one of life's mysteries.
i would try moving them around, and if problems persist, take one stick out and run for some weeks without it in an effort to see if that was the cause.
it could be the motherboard's handling of the memory stick or the stick itself, so it's not nesc. that the memory stick is bad, could just be your motherboard has issues with it (or with any stick in that slot, etc).
m_s:
Where this has got to now: it seems that the memory stick I bought (Kingston part KTH-ZD7000/512) is not actually the correct one for my machine (HP Pavilion ZD7010EA laptop, for which the correct part is Kingston's KTC-P2800/512). That might be the cause of the problem, or it might be due to a fault with the memory stick. The guy who sold it to me on eBay listed it as compatible with my machine (and the part number would suggest compatibility), but I expect I've no recourse there after several months passing. Anyway, the good people over at Kingston have agreed to swap the stick for a new one under their lifetime guarantee - but they will only swap for the same part. Anyone need a new KTC-P2800/512 and willing to consider buying me a KTH-ZD7000/512 in exchange? Here's a link to the Kingston page in case you want to know more about the module: http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/PartsInfo.asp?ktcpartno=KTC-P2800/512 I'm not expecting anyone to agree to this, but if you are interested, please p.m. me. Thanks.
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