512MB ram + WinME = BSOD/crashes?!?!

[Tom]

The other day, I purchased two 256MB sticks of PC133(CL3)ram for my system.(I now have a total of 512MB.) Now, I get CONSTANT blue screens of death and freezes
no matter what task my computer tries to perform. I thought that perhaps one stick may have been no good, so I tried them one at a time and in different slots. Everything
runs PERFECT as long as I only use one stick.
The problems return immediately after I add in the other stick.
I've tried a few tweaks and work-arounds that I found on the web for systems with MORE than 512MB of ram, but none helped.
Maybe it's time for Win2000 or just use
256MB....

Is this a Windoze thing or does my 100MHz
Asus P2B-L (rev1.02/bios 1013) not like this much PC133 ram?

Any ideas or opinions would be great!

Thanks!
Tom


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MatroxG400MAX..and some other stuff

[ayoub_ibrahim]

maybe this might help!

[bacon]

I had a simliar problem, with a similiar system. I found reducing the AGP aperture to 128MB size in the BIOS helped.

[The PIT]

I presume the ram was from the same manufacture. If there different sticks they may not work together.

[Greebe]

512meg + WinMe = Waste

really tho
Who made the mem?

[Jorden]

Hmmm, an Asus P2B-L rev 1.02 supports 66Mhz and 100MHz RAM. I know 133MHz RAM is mostly backward compatible with a mobo running 100MHz FSB. I would check for the mfr of both sticks of the RAM as well.

Oh and Windows9x/ME runs best with up to 384Mb of RAM. Anything above is a waste not used, and yes, can give errors.

Windows2000 supports up to 2Gb of RAM (I thought), so yes, maybe you want to use Win2k

Jord.

[cjolley]

Could your second mem slot (1) be bad?
chuck


[This message has been edited by cjolley (edited 21 June 2001).]

[The PIT]

Well my dual boot machine works happily with 512mb and no erros bar the via chipset.

[az]

Jorden: Win2k 32 bit IMHO supports up to 4 GB of memory, while Advanced Server adresses up to 8 Gigs and Datacenter Server up to 64 GB (which is of course out of 32 bit adress range and access to it has therefore to be kinda emulated, which is qquite slow).

AZ

[J1NG]

Please check whether you've got high density RAM chips used and whether it's dual sided or single sided. A lot of motherboards I've run into don't like high density double sided RAM modules. This could be your problem.

J1NG

[Jorden]

Thanks az

[Tom]

O.K. Here's what I've tried so far.
(Either stick of RAM will work flawlessly,
but the problems begin when I use both
at the same time.)
- tried the RAM in every possible slot combination
- run DocMemory v1.45 to confirm RAM is good
(all tests passed even when both were installed at the same time)
- set AGP aperature to 128MB/64MB
- set MaxFileCache=524288
- disabled System ROM Breakpoint
- EMM Exclude A000-FFFF
- various swap file settings
- format/reinstall WinME (crashed during
the install)

The RAM is generic, but are the same.
(same markings/numbers/etc.)
They are double-sided (like JING mentioned).
The WinME install crash makes me think that
I have a different type problem, like a weak power supply or something...hmm.

Thanks very much to all for the suggestions!
For the time being,I have 2 choices.....
use only 1x 256MB stick or use the image below as my new wallpaper!!! LOL!





------------------
MatroxG400MAX..and some other stuff

[ayoub_ibrahim]

you could try lowering your MaxFileCache slightly to see if it helps!

[J1NG]

Is the BIOS detecting all the memory you've installed. ie all 512MB?

If that motherboard is capable of running at any other speeds besides 66 and 100, make sure it's held at 100 (Via jumper or BIOS). Otherwise, it could cause problems from the chipset.

Are you sure you haven't moved any hardware around inside the machine?

J1NG

[Greebe]

Toss that generic and get some Crucial (Micron) memory. "7E" is awsome! (many of us here use it). I've seen this happen before with generic garbage mem.