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SDRAM question
mookaloid - 23/11/06 at 09:37 PM

I bought some memory from ebay and ho hum ....it doesn't work in my laptop

It won't boot up with this memory in.

I ran the crucial scan and it says I need this

SDRAM, PC133 • CL=2 • Non-parity • 133MHz • 3.3V • 32Meg x 64

the stuff I bought is SDRAM PC133 CL3

what does the CL number mean and does this mean it won't work anyway?

TIA

Mark


flak monkey - 23/11/06 at 09:39 PM

Its the latency of the memory. Should still work though.

David


mookaloid - 23/11/06 at 09:46 PM

Any ideas as to why it might not work? or anything I could try?

Cheers

Mark


ned - 23/11/06 at 09:55 PM

check for any settings in the bios for this?


mookaloid - 23/11/06 at 10:00 PM

Had a look in the BIOS and can see nothing which could be to do with the memory


RazMan - 23/11/06 at 10:28 PM

There should be a CL setting in there somewhere. How about 'failsafe setting' or similar? This should set everything to the least aggressive settings and might just allow your new memory to fire up. Laptops are notoriously fussy about memory though.


mookaloid - 23/11/06 at 11:22 PM

the only thing that I can find is I can change the boot checks from minimal to thorough which it says you should do if you have changed the memory.

It didn't make any difference though

The laptop lights come on when the power button is pressed and the caps and number lock lights flash a bit then it just goes off again.


Peteff - 24/11/06 at 12:02 AM

Look for Cas Latency in bios and see if you can set it to auto. Have you mixed the memory or replaced it? Is the bios giving you a checksum error?


mookaloid - 24/11/06 at 12:09 AM

Hi Pete,

No Cas Latency in bios.

It's a dell CPx J650GT and the bios is pretty basic - about the simplest I have seen.

I bought 2x256Mb sticks and it won't work with both or either one on it's own.

The crucial scan tool thingy says it should take 2x256 sticks

When I try to boot it I only get the few flashing lights - nothing on screen at all. I can't even get to the bios with the new memory in.

Cheers

Mark


JackNco - 24/11/06 at 02:45 AM

quote:
Originally posted by flak monkey
Its the latency of the memory. Should still work though.

David


Try it with just the new memory. see if it boots. 90% of the time it will downclock it but some generic modules dont like being mixed and get them selves in a bit of a tiz. some times just swaping them round in the sockets has worked for me in the past.

John


ecosse - 24/11/06 at 08:45 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid.

It's a dell CPx J650GT


The only dell product I can find which relates to the ref given above is

Kingston - Memory - 256 MB - SO DIMM 144-PIN - SDRAM - 100 MHz - 3.3 V - non-ECC

If this is what you are referring to (?) the critical bit could be the speed rating, as while the clock timings can usually be mixed the speed is not always so.

SDRAM, PC133 • CL=2 • Non-parity • 133MHz • 3.3V • 32Meg x 64

can you confirm the the model of laptop you have?

Cheers


Alex


mookaloid - 24/11/06 at 10:51 PM

Apparently I need pc100 and the seller has agreed to refund

Thanks guys


Peteff - 24/11/06 at 11:22 PM

PC133 is downward compatible, it should still work at the lower clock speed. There must be something wrong with it though. I have some in an old computer running in place of PC66 and it works fine as long as you run matched pairs (motherboard requirement)


mookaloid - 24/11/06 at 11:46 PM

I agree Pete. I always thought the same about speeds however the guy will refund so I will go with that and try to get some from Crucial or someone like that.

Cheers

Mark


JackNco - 25/11/06 at 12:10 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
PC133 is downward compatible, it should still work at the lower clock speed. There must be something wrong with it though. I have some in an old computer running in place of PC66 and it works fine as long as you run matched pairs (motherboard requirement)


Not always, i used 2 work at eclipse-computers.com when 100/133 was current tech n some motherboard just dindt like doign that and just wouldnt especialy if u were mixing and matching.