The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

hi, sorry for being off topic but i know there are many smart people
on this list and i need your help urgently!

i have been having a " ram" related  problem on pc for a while now
and i'm starting to go nuts!

to make a long story short i can't use more than 1 bar of 256mb's of 
ram on my pc. when i try to use 2 bars i get "not enough memory"
error messages. the ram is fine, the 2 bars are identical and the 
ram slots are fine as well. i have a ms-3609 v1.0 mainboard with
latest bios version 1.8.

if you want more details......

i first started off with 128 mb sdram on my pc and decided to add
a bar of 256 mb sdram.

after installing the 256mb sdram i got "not enough memory to run this 
program" error messages.

i noticed that i could not have both modules of ram installed on my pc 
at the same time. the retailer of my pc tried to figure out what was 
causing the problem but could not and said it might be a problem with 
windows.

at this point i decided to just keep the 256mb sdram installed only.
i didn't want to re-install my operating system.

a couple of days ago i downloaded a diagnostic tool called sisoft 
sandra and got the info of the 256mb's of ram installed. i then took 
out the 256mb's and put in the 128mb's to get its info as well.

when i compared the info of both ram modules i noticed they were
made from different companies and had different properties.

i posted some questions and was told that the two were not compatible.
some motherboards don't accept different types of ram modules
installed together. i was given the advice that i should use two 
identical modules of ram and it might just all work correctly.

so yesterday i went to go return my ram and i got 2 identical  bars of 
ram.

 i still get the same problem.
 they both work but not together. i tried 1 bar in
 each slot it it works. the slots are fine.
 i tried both bars together and i get the "not enough memory" message.

  the ram i got is made by infineon.
 2 bars of... 256mb 16x(16x8)sdram pc 133u-333-542 (cl3 upto 
133mhz)(cl2 upto 100mhz).

 it's more or less the same as the other ram i had
 installed only this has the (cl2 upto 100mhz) added.

 is there anything i can do?

 can i change anything in the bios to make it work?

 i looked in the bios under "chipset features setup"
 and saw the following.....

 set sdram timing by spd: disabled
 dram frequency: 100mhz
 sdram cas# latency: 3
 dram integrety mode: disabled
 cpu order in que: 4-level
 memory hole: disabled

 are any of these settings wrong?

 are there any other settings i have to look at?

 what should i change?

i tried setting the "set sdram timing by sdp to" to
[enabled] but it didn't help in any way.
i also set the dram frequency to 133mhz but it still failed.

i checked the bios version i have and it's the latest. v.1.8
 i have a ms-6309 motherboard with a via chipset. 

 pleeeese help!
 i hope this can all get sorted out,

elektro dan.

Sounds like a motherboard fault.

----- Original Message -----

From: elektro_dan <elektro_dan@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 6:26 PM
Subject: [AN1x-list] OT- ram related problem on pc, please help!


> hi, sorry for being off topic but i know there are many smart people
> on this list and i need your help urgently!
>
> i have been having a " ram" related  problem on pc for a while now
> and i'm starting to go nuts!
>
> to make a long story short i can't use more than 1 bar of 256mb's of
> ram on my pc. when i try to use 2 bars i get "not enough memory"
> error messages. the ram is fine, the 2 bars are identical and the
> ram slots are fine as well. i have a ms-3609 v1.0 mainboard with
> latest bios version 1.8.
>
> if you want more details......
>
> i first started off with 128 mb sdram on my pc and decided to add
> a bar of 256 mb sdram.
>
> after installing the 256mb sdram i got "not enough memory to run this
> program" error messages.
>
> i noticed that i could not have both modules of ram installed on my pc
> at the same time. the retailer of my pc tried to figure out what was
> causing the problem but could not and said it might be a problem with
> windows.
>
> at this point i decided to just keep the 256mb sdram installed only.
> i didn't want to re-install my operating system.
>
> a couple of days ago i downloaded a diagnostic tool called sisoft
> sandra and got the info of the 256mb's of ram installed. i then took
> out the 256mb's and put in the 128mb's to get its info as well.
>
> when i compared the info of both ram modules i noticed they were
> made from different companies and had different properties.
>
> i posted some questions and was told that the two were not compatible.
> some motherboards don't accept different types of ram modules
> installed together. i was given the advice that i should use two
> identical modules of ram and it might just all work correctly.
>
> so yesterday i went to go return my ram and i got 2 identical  bars of
> ram.
>
>  i still get the same problem.
>  they both work but not together. i tried 1 bar in
>  each slot it it works. the slots are fine.
>  i tried both bars together and i get the "not enough memory" message.
>
>   the ram i got is made by infineon.
>  2 bars of... 256mb 16x(16x8)sdram pc 133u-333-542 (cl3 upto
> 133mhz)(cl2 upto 100mhz).
>
>  it's more or less the same as the other ram i had
>  installed only this has the (cl2 upto 100mhz) added.
>
>  is there anything i can do?
>
>  can i change anything in the bios to make it work?
>
>  i looked in the bios under "chipset features setup"
>  and saw the following.....
>
>  set sdram timing by spd: disabled
>  dram frequency: 100mhz
>  sdram cas# latency: 3
>  dram integrety mode: disabled
>  cpu order in que: 4-level
>  memory hole: disabled
>
>  are any of these settings wrong?
>
>  are there any other settings i have to look at?
>
>  what should i change?
>
> i tried setting the "set sdram timing by sdp to" to
> [enabled] but it didn't help in any way.
> i also set the dram frequency to 133mhz but it still failed.
>
> i checked the bios version i have and it's the latest. v.1.8
>  i have a ms-6309 motherboard with a via chipset.
>
>  pleeeese help!
>  i hope this can all get sorted out,
>
> elektro dan.
>
>
>
> Community email addresses:
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>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Dan,

It sounds like your motherboard cannot support more than 256MB of RAM.  The fact that you have the latest BIOS is great, but that cannot eliminate hardware incompatibilities.  For example, I have a motherboard with two slots, filled with 512MB SDRAM DIMMs.  Even though there are now 1MB SDRAM DIMMs on the market, I cannot use them, because the hardware configuration cannot address 1MB DIMMs, period.

To try to explain, without getting overly technical:  Each DIMM module has a number of signals coming to it to address the individual bytes of data in a row/column method.  Each of these signals if connected to hardware in your chipset that keeps track of the memory being used, and the next location to be accessed.  Depending on the memory used, the external signals may be used for different purposes.  If I had to venture a guess, your PC has enough external signals/chipset hardware to address a 256MB DIMM, but only enough internal/external hardware to support 256MB of memory.  This is why you can use 2 x 128MB or 1 x 256MB, but 2 x 256MB will not work.  In a perfect world, the BIOS would compensate for this -- or at least, tell you that the memory configuration was wrong -- but it's difficult to support many different sizes of memory and detect wrong combinations, too.

If you really want 512MB of RAM, you need a new motherboard.  :^(

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://music.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group moderator
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...

hi bruce,

i checked the motherboad (ms-6309) manual and it said
it supports a maxium memory size of 1.5gb (32mx8).

it's weird. each ram module is fine and the exact
same. the ram slots all work but i can't use two
modules of ram at the same time.

thanks for the reply,

elektro dan.


--- Bruce Wahler <bruce@...> wrote:
> Dan,
> 
> It sounds like your motherboard cannot support more
> than 256MB of RAM.  The fact that you have the
> latest BIOS is great, but that cannot eliminate
> hardware incompatibilities.  For example, I have a
> motherboard with two slots, filled with 512MB SDRAM
> DIMMs.  Even though there are now 1MB SDRAM DIMMs on
> the market, I cannot use them, because the hardware
> configuration cannot address 1MB DIMMs, period.
> 
> To try to explain, without getting overly technical:
>  Each DIMM module has a number of signals coming to
> it to address the individual bytes of data in a
> row/column method.  Each of these signals if
> connected to hardware in your chipset that keeps
> track of the memory being used, and the next
> location to be accessed.  Depending on the memory
> used, the external signals may be used for different
> purposes.  If I had to venture a guess, your PC has
> enough external signals/chipset hardware to address
> a 256MB DIMM, but only enough internal/external
> hardware to support 256MB of memory.  This is why
> you can use 2 x 128MB or 1 x 256MB, but 2 x 256MB
> will not work.  In a perfect world, the BIOS would
> compensate for this -- or at least, tell you that
> the memory configuration was wrong -- but it's
> difficult to support many different sizes of memory
> and detect wrong combinations, too.
> 
> If you really want 512MB of RAM, you need a new
> motherboard.  :^(
> 
> Regards,
> 
> -BW
> 
> --
> Bruce Wahler
> Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://music.ashbysolutions.com
> CloneWheel Support Group moderator
> 978.386.7389  voice/fax
> bruce@...
> 
> 


=====
============================
           DAN C.

      Toronto, Canada  

email> elektro_dan@...
============================

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! 
http://auctions.yahoo.com

check what it says about what configurations you can use of different types
of modules. Also check if there are any jumpers that you need to set (if an
older motherboard).


aireq

-----Original Message-----
From: elektro dan [mailto:elektro_dan@...]
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 2:12 PM
To: AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AN1x] Re: [AN1x-list] OT- ram related problem on pc, please
help!


hi bruce,

i checked the motherboad (ms-6309) manual and it said
it supports a maxium memory size of 1.5gb (32mx8).

it's weird. each ram module is fine and the exact
same. the ram slots all work but i can't use two
modules of ram at the same time.

thanks for the reply,

elektro dan.


--- Bruce Wahler <bruce@...> wrote:
> Dan,
>
> It sounds like your motherboard cannot support more
> than 256MB of RAM.  The fact that you have the
> latest BIOS is great, but that cannot eliminate
> hardware incompatibilities.  For example, I have a
> motherboard with two slots, filled with 512MB SDRAM
> DIMMs.  Even though there are now 1MB SDRAM DIMMs on
> the market, I cannot use them, because the hardware
> configuration cannot address 1MB DIMMs, period.
>
> To try to explain, without getting overly technical:
>  Each DIMM module has a number of signals coming to
> it to address the individual bytes of data in a
> row/column method.  Each of these signals if
> connected to hardware in your chipset that keeps
> track of the memory being used, and the next
> location to be accessed.  Depending on the memory
> used, the external signals may be used for different
> purposes.  If I had to venture a guess, your PC has
> enough external signals/chipset hardware to address
> a 256MB DIMM, but only enough internal/external
> hardware to support 256MB of memory.  This is why
> you can use 2 x 128MB or 1 x 256MB, but 2 x 256MB
> will not work.  In a perfect world, the BIOS would
> compensate for this -- or at least, tell you that
> the memory configuration was wrong -- but it's
> difficult to support many different sizes of memory
> and detect wrong combinations, too.
>
> If you really want 512MB of RAM, you need a new
> motherboard.  :^(
>
> Regards,
>
> -BW
>
> --
> Bruce Wahler
> Ashby Solutions   http://music.ashbysolutions.com
> CloneWheel Support Group moderator
> 978.386.7389  voice/fax
> bruce@...
>
>


=====
============================
           DAN C.

      Toronto, Canada

email> elektro_dan@...
============================

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions!
http://auctions.yahoo.com


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