Would old Bios cause memory problems?
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From: Colin Trunt on 19 Jul 2010 16:53 This relates to my earlier threads about memory problems, the seller of the ram thinks I should upgrade my Bios and it might fix the problem. I think this is highly unlikely and it's just an excuse for bad memory.
From: Colin Trunt on 19 Jul 2010 19:01 "Colin Trunt" <colin(a)trunt.com> wrote in message news:Hq31o.2$Dl2.1(a)newsfe17.ams2... > This relates to my earlier threads about memory problems, > the seller of the ram thinks I should upgrade my Bios and it might > fix the problem. > > > I think this is highly unlikely and it's just an excuse for bad memory. For example I could understand if it was not recognising the memory or only seeing half of it , but it is a DDR400 PC3200 1 gig module the same spec as my old one, it low density non-buffered, non-ecc. Hard to see how a bios change could differentiate between the two. > > >
From: Paul on 19 Jul 2010 20:13 Colin Trunt wrote: > "Colin Trunt" <colin(a)trunt.com> wrote in message > news:Hq31o.2$Dl2.1(a)newsfe17.ams2... >> This relates to my earlier threads about memory problems, >> the seller of the ram thinks I should upgrade my Bios and it might >> fix the problem. >> >> >> I think this is highly unlikely and it's just an excuse for bad memory. > > For example I could understand if it was not recognising the memory > or only seeing half of it , but it is a DDR400 PC3200 1 gig module > the same spec as my old one, it low density non-buffered, non-ecc. > > Hard to see how a bios change could differentiate between the two. I don't see a strong reason for the BIOS to make a difference for this. The BIOS seems to affect some aspects of DDR2 usage, like there being differences in the stability of 1GB and 2GB sticks. But in this case, you have two 1GB DDR sticks, apparently both low density, and one is behaving differently than the other. I would not expect a BIOS update to perform a miracle here. You'd check with CPUZ, to see if the rated clock and timing values are being used, and that is about it. Some DDR needs more voltage to meet timing, but I think your sticks are 3-3-3-8 type, and only the cheesiest of those need more voltage than nominal. 3-3-3-8 is more or less, industry standard timing, and not an enthusiast grade memory. Nominal voltage is 2.5V, and you can try a bit more if you want. Some motherboards will already be using a bit of voltage boost, like 2.65V on the 2.5V slots. But that may not be displayed anywhere, as to what the designers are doing. Paul
From: Colin Trunt on 19 Jul 2010 22:38 "Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message news:i22pn9$lc1$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > Colin Trunt wrote: >> "Colin Trunt" <colin(a)trunt.com> wrote in message >> news:Hq31o.2$Dl2.1(a)newsfe17.ams2... >>> This relates to my earlier threads about memory problems, >>> the seller of the ram thinks I should upgrade my Bios and it might >>> fix the problem. >>> >>> >>> I think this is highly unlikely and it's just an excuse for bad memory. >> >> For example I could understand if it was not recognising the memory >> or only seeing half of it , but it is a DDR400 PC3200 1 gig module >> the same spec as my old one, it low density non-buffered, non-ecc. >> >> Hard to see how a bios change could differentiate between the two. > > I don't see a strong reason for the BIOS to make a difference for this. > > The BIOS seems to affect some aspects of DDR2 usage, like there > being differences in the stability of 1GB and 2GB sticks. > > But in this case, you have two 1GB DDR sticks, apparently both low > density, > and one is behaving differently than the other. I would not expect > a BIOS update to perform a miracle here. > > You'd check with CPUZ, to see if the rated clock and timing values are > being used, and that is about it. > > Some DDR needs more voltage to meet timing, but I think your sticks are > 3-3-3-8 type, and only the cheesiest of those need more voltage than > nominal. 3-3-3-8 is more or less, industry standard timing, and not an > enthusiast grade memory. Nominal voltage is 2.5V, and you can try a bit > more if you want. Some motherboards will already be using a bit > of voltage boost, like 2.65V on the 2.5V slots. But that may not be > displayed > anywhere, as to what the designers are doing. > > Paul Well this is the ram with the problems spec. ----------------- CL3 1024MB Power - 2.5V PC-3200 DDR-400 Non-ECC Unbuffered RoHS and CE Certified 2048 bits Serial EEPROM Desktop 184-pin connection 16pcs 64Mb x 8 bits DDR SDRAMS 64M x 64bits Double Data Rate SDRAMS Dual (Double Sided) In-Line Module (DIMM) Meets the industry standard JEDEC Specifications 100% comp. with Single/Dual Channel - High/Low Density M/boards ----------------------- It's difficult to see how it is 100% compatible is if won't work with my bios!! When I have checked before everything seemed to be the same. The other working stick is also 2.5v. Seems to me it is simply bad memory as it does work for a while, often several hours. My bios is:- Award BIOS Type Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG System BIOS Date 12/26/05 I can't find anything better, well not without paying a lot of money to have bios update done on line which seems to be the only way you can do it. Bios updates are normally free? An online update could go wrong and screw my computer. But bottom line is it does not work, my older module worked fine so I don't see why the new one should not and it does state 100% compatibility, so that;s what I expect. It was pretty much an end of line machine when I got is so I would not expect anyupdates and baios should be backward compatible! But seems just like bad memory to me anyway so it is going back, I will just have to see what the seller says. >
From: Colin Trunt on 19 Jul 2010 23:12
"Colin Trunt" <colin(a)trunt.com> wrote in message news:4g81o.191605$NM4.25345(a)hurricane... > > "Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message > news:i22pn9$lc1$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... >> Colin Trunt wrote: >>> "Colin Trunt" <colin(a)trunt.com> wrote in message >>> news:Hq31o.2$Dl2.1(a)newsfe17.ams2... >>>> This relates to my earlier threads about memory problems, >>>> the seller of the ram thinks I should upgrade my Bios and it might >>>> fix the problem. >>>> >>>> >>>> I think this is highly unlikely and it's just an excuse for bad memory. >>> >>> For example I could understand if it was not recognising the memory >>> or only seeing half of it , but it is a DDR400 PC3200 1 gig module >>> the same spec as my old one, it low density non-buffered, non-ecc. >>> >>> Hard to see how a bios change could differentiate between the two. >> >> I don't see a strong reason for the BIOS to make a difference for this. >> >> The BIOS seems to affect some aspects of DDR2 usage, like there >> being differences in the stability of 1GB and 2GB sticks. >> >> But in this case, you have two 1GB DDR sticks, apparently both low >> density, >> and one is behaving differently than the other. I would not expect >> a BIOS update to perform a miracle here. >> >> You'd check with CPUZ, to see if the rated clock and timing values are >> being used, and that is about it. >> >> Some DDR needs more voltage to meet timing, but I think your sticks are >> 3-3-3-8 type, and only the cheesiest of those need more voltage than >> nominal. 3-3-3-8 is more or less, industry standard timing, and not an >> enthusiast grade memory. Nominal voltage is 2.5V, and you can try a bit >> more if you want. Some motherboards will already be using a bit >> of voltage boost, like 2.65V on the 2.5V slots. But that may not be >> displayed >> anywhere, as to what the designers are doing. >> >> Paul > > > Well this is the ram with the problems spec. > ----------------- > CL3 > 1024MB > Power - 2.5V > PC-3200 DDR-400 > Non-ECC Unbuffered > RoHS and CE Certified > 2048 bits Serial EEPROM > > Desktop 184-pin connection > 16pcs 64Mb x 8 bits DDR SDRAMS > > 64M x 64bits Double Data Rate SDRAMS > Dual (Double Sided) In-Line Module (DIMM) > > Meets the industry standard JEDEC Specifications > > 100% comp. with Single/Dual Channel - High/Low Density M/boards > ----------------------- > > It's difficult to see how it is 100% compatible is if won't work with my > bios!! > > > When I have checked before everything seemed to be the same. > The other working stick is also 2.5v. > > Seems to me it is simply bad memory as it does work for a while, > often several hours. > > > My bios is:- > Award BIOS Type Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG > System BIOS Date 12/26/05 > > I can't find anything better, well not without paying a lot of > money to have bios update done on line which seems to be the > only way you can do it. Bios updates are normally free? > An online update could go wrong and screw my computer. > > But bottom line is it does not work, my older module worked fine > so I don't see why the new one should not and it does state 100% > compatibility, > so that;s what I expect. > > It was pretty much an end of line machine when I got is so I would not > expect anyupdates and baios should be backward compatible! > But seems just like bad memory to me anyway so it is going back, > I will just have to see what the seller says. Anyway I jsut stuck the bad ram back in, this time in slot 3 as unmatched. however as it wil not work by itself it is a vain hope it will work like this!! This is some CPUZ stuff for the memory info etc... Chipset ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northbridge ATI Xpress 200 (RS480) rev. 10 Southbridge ATI SB400 rev. 00 Graphic Interface PCI-Express PCI-E Link Width x16 PCI-E Max Link Width x16 Memory Type DDR Memory Size 2048 MBytes Channels Single Memory Frequency 199.0 MHz (CPU/10) CAS# latency (CL) 3.0 RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 3 RAS# Precharge (tRP) 3 Cycle Time (tRAS) 8 Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 11 DRAM Idle Timer 16 Command Rate (CR) 2T Memory SPD ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIMM # 1 SMBus address 0x50 Memory type DDR Manufacturer (ID) (0000000000000000) Size 1024 MBytes Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz) Part number 128M64K-40C Serial number 040413C3 Number of banks 2 Data width 64 bits Correction None Registered no Buffered no Nominal Voltage 2.50 Volts EPP no XMP no JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency JEDEC #1 2.0-2-2-6-n.a. @ 133 MHz JEDEC #2 2.5-3-3-7-n.a. @ 166 MHz JEDEC #3 3.0-3-3-8-n.a. @ 200 MHz DIMM # 2 SMBus address 0x52 Memory type DDR Manufacturer (ID) (FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF) Size 1024 MBytes Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz) Part number Serial number FFFFFFFF Manufacturing date Week 255/Year 255 Number of banks 2 Data width 64 bits Correction None Registered no Buffered no Nominal Voltage 2.50 Volts EPP no XMP no JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency JEDEC #1 2.0-2-2-6-n.a. @ 133 MHz JEDEC #2 2.5-3-3-7-n.a. @ 166 MHz JEDEC #3 3.0-3-3-8-n.a. @ 200 MHz DIMM # 1 SPD registers 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 00 80 08 07 0D 0B 02 40 00 04 50 70 00 82 08 00 01 10 0E 04 1C 01 02 20 C0 60 70 75 75 3C 28 3C 28 80 20 60 60 40 40 00 00 00 00 00 37 46 28 28 50 00 00 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 A8 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 31 32 38 4D 36 34 4B 50 2D 34 30 43 00 48 59 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 60 04 13 C3 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 70 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 90 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 A0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 DIMM # 2 SPD registers 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 00 80 08 07 0D 0B 02 40 00 04 50 70 00 82 08 00 01 10 0E 04 1C 01 02 20 C0 60 70 75 75 3C 28 3C 28 80 20 60 60 40 40 00 00 00 00 00 37 46 28 28 50 00 00 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 A8 40 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 50 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 60 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 70 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 90 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 A0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 E1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 So that all seems identical to me. I am tempted to leave it in and give it 'one last chance' - lol. However when it reboots it tends to leave the drive 'dirty', I might give it one last run on memtest in this configuration. One thing which does catch my eye is all the FF's in the SPD registers on DIMM#2 (the 'bad memeory') however I have no idea what that implies! > > > > > > >> > > > > |