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From: Pat Conover on 17 Apr 2010 16:16
"Ben Myers" <ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote in message
news:hpm0rf$rac$2(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> On 4/8/2010 9:47 AM, Pat Conover wrote:
>> "Ben Myers"<ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote in message
>> news:hpjm09$b6o$3(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>> On 4/7/2010 11:30 PM, Christopher Muto wrote:
>>>> Pat Conover wrote:
>>>>> "Christopher Muto"<muto(a)worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:mbCdnblzaJjLpiDWnZ2dnUVZ_j2dnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net...
>>>>>> Pat Conover wrote:
>>>>>>> "William R. Walsh"<wm_walsh(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:0ba811ce-1300-4b9a-b110-2056dd0f3cef(a)g11g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi!
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Any suggestions?
>>>>>>>> Just on a whim...unplug the system completely from power. Wait for
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> light on the motherboard to go out. Then look inside and see if
>>>>>>>> there
>>>>>>>> is dust or something in the memory slots.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I had a Dimension E521 that had been running for *months* decide
>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>> it was going to drop off into never-never land. Powered it up again
>>>>>>>> and the LEDs said "memory error".
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Took out the memory modules. Reseated them and it was the same
>>>>>>>> thing.
>>>>>>>> Blew the (small amount of) dust out and reseated the modules--and
>>>>>>>> it's
>>>>>>>> been fine ever since.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> William
>>>>>>> Will give that a go. William, nice video by the way, throwing the
>>>>>>> old Dell into the dishwasher! I would not have believed it unless I
>>>>>>> saw it and knew you from the group.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks, Pat Conover
>>>>>> i have two suggestions for you to try. one is to power down the
>>>>>> computer, unplug the power cord, then press and hold the power button
>>>>>> as to quickly discharge the residual power from the system (indicated
>>>>>> by the flea light on the motherboard being lit). next removed the
>>>>>> coin battery from the motherboard and leave it out for 15 minutes.
>>>>>> reinstall the battery and then power up to see if all behaves
>>>>>> normally once again. this was a solution for the same problem that
>>>>>> plagued the dimension 5150 and so i not so surprised to hear about it
>>>>>> happing to a 9150 that is of the same vintage. my second suggestion
>>>>>> is for you to try the other two memory module sockets. this computer
>>>>>> has a total of four memory sockets. they are color coded for
>>>>>> installing memory in like pairs. it sound like you have already
>>>>>> learned that you really don't have to have memory installed in like
>>>>>> pairs, singles work fine (though technically a little slower). there
>>>>>> is also no requirement to use one pair of sockets or the other. so
>>>>>> try the second pair of memory sockets and see if that helps... but i
>>>>>> would hazard to guess that pulling (and later replacing) the coin
>>>>>> battery from the motherboard will fix the problem so try that first.
>>>>>> let us know how it works out.
>>>>>
>>>>> Chris, never thought about the CR battery. I have had many computers
>>>>> over the years and never had to replace the CR batteries, but have
>>>>> read about replacing them on this group. The manual said the memory
>>>>> had to be in the 1st bank of two and wouldn't work without any memory
>>>>> in the 1st bank. But that doesn't mean it won't....
>>>>>
>>>>> A new CR battery would be a very cheap fix. Thanks to both you and
>>>>> William for the help. I will post back with or without the solution.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks, Pat
>>>>
>>>> i doubt you will need a replacement battery, you just need to
>>>> temporarily remove it to completely clear the system memory. i think
>>>> the
>>>> board is just plain confused about what is installed in the memory
>>>> sockets and that is why it stalls... try removing it as described and
>>>> report back. it may be all that is required to solve the problem.
>>>
>>> Well, the "confusion" could be caused by CMOS getting messed up by a
>>> CR2032 battery running out of juice. Maybe not. Maybe so. Don't rule
>>> it
>>> out. And a change of battery may be right for a system now around 3 or
>>> 4
>>> years old. Inexpensive, and can't hurt... Ben Myers
>>
>> Chris and Ben, I pulled the battery last night, waited a while,
>> reinstalled
>> and the machine booted to a confused BIOS. BIOS reported low system
>> power/voltage. I reset the clock and other settings and booted to the
>> desktop. Proceeded to update AVG and crashed to the BSOD. Pulled the
>> battery again and will get a new CR2032. Will any battery brand do okay?
>> Any to avoid, like the OEM no-name one. First CMOS battery I ever had go
>> bad! Thanks for the tips, a $5 battery is much cheaper and less
>> headaches
>> than new memory in this economy.
>>
>> Thanks, Pat
>>
>>
>
> Any brand of CR2032 is OK. You can find them at Walmart for cheap... Ben
> Myers

Sorry for the late update to this thread. Anyway, I replaced the CMOS
battery and booted into the BIOS, reset everything, don't know how I missed
the message saying the BIOS battery had failed way...back in 2006, booted to
the desktop, so far so good. Then the machine crashed, but no BSOD this
time, maybe its getting better :) So I removed both memory sticks and blew
the slots out with air, as suggested by William, tried one stick and then
another and so far it is running fine. I also found that it will run with
one stick in any of the four slots. Ran the Dell diagnostics on everything
and all passed. So far its been running about a week, with no problems. I
never heard of dust on the memory slots causing such problems, and still
don't know if that was the cause. But all of my other machines do have all
slots filled, so no open slots for dust to get in.

Thanks to Chris and William for the help, you too Ben! Pat


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