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From: Paul Richards on 1 Aug 2010 20:08
Not sure if this is the correct forum but I'm running XP Pro so I'll
start here.

I've run a HP Pavilion DV6000 with 2 x 512mb RAM chips for 4 years now.
No problems whatsoever.

I decided to upgrade my memory to 2 x 1gb RAM chips. They are the
correct specification for the HP machine - I've checked!

With the 2gb memory I started getting program crashes ("Windows has
encountered an error"-type messages), OS crashes and BSODs. I have use
the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to test the new chips - they passed
all the standard tests. So what can be the cause of this instability?

I've put my former 2 x 512mb RAM back, and calm is restored :-)

--
Paul
Melbourne, Australia
From: ED on 1 Aug 2010 21:51

"Paul Richards" <paulrichards(a)XXXNOSPAMiinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:%23WDZgbdMLHA.1172(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Not sure if this is the correct forum but I'm running XP Pro so I'll
> start here.
>
> I've run a HP Pavilion DV6000 with 2 x 512mb RAM chips for 4 years now.
> No problems whatsoever.
>
> I decided to upgrade my memory to 2 x 1gb RAM chips. They are the
> correct specification for the HP machine - I've checked!
>
> With the 2gb memory I started getting program crashes ("Windows has
> encountered an error"-type messages), OS crashes and BSODs. I have use
> the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to test the new chips - they passed
> all the standard tests. So what can be the cause of this instability?
>
> I've put my former 2 x 512mb RAM back, and calm is restored :-)
>
> --
> Paul
> Melbourne, Australia

Sounds like a power supply that's incapable of the extra current needed.
What is the rating of the power supply?
Try using just one of the new chips at a time. Does either work by itself?


From: Paul on 1 Aug 2010 22:10
Paul Richards wrote:
> Not sure if this is the correct forum but I'm running XP Pro so I'll
> start here.
>
> I've run a HP Pavilion DV6000 with 2 x 512mb RAM chips for 4 years now.
> No problems whatsoever.
>
> I decided to upgrade my memory to 2 x 1gb RAM chips. They are the
> correct specification for the HP machine - I've checked!
>
> With the 2gb memory I started getting program crashes ("Windows has
> encountered an error"-type messages), OS crashes and BSODs. I have use
> the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to test the new chips - they passed
> all the standard tests. So what can be the cause of this instability?
>
> I've put my former 2 x 512mb RAM back, and calm is restored :-)
>

I'd test the new 1GB sticks individually, to see if the problem is
more prevalent with one stick or the other.

If one stick is stable and error free, that tells you the product
is likely going to work for you (in the long run). It may then just
require returning the bad stick, so you have two good sticks.

In some cases, if you bought a matched pair in a single bubble pack,
you'll be required to return both of them. In the cases of some
"quality" products, the same thing happens with the next package
(one good stick, one bad stick). Maybe third time lucky...

DDR2 memory uses ODT or On Die Termination. That is an improvement
over how the bus worked with DDR memory, and tends to work a bit
better, whether one or two sticks are present on a bus segment.
But that being said, if the memory is not properly tested at the
factory, then it doesn't really matter how nice the design intent -
cutting corners on testing, is how you make money in that business.

Another test you can try (besides a memory tester), is Prime95 Stress Test.
On a dual core processor, it would open two threads of execution. The
program does a math calculation with a known answer, so the program can
tell when there has been a memory or CPU error. On an unstable system,
the program will fail in two to ten seconds. On a "close to stable"
system, you want to run for at least four hours, without the program
reporting errors, before you're done testing. This is going to make
the fan run on the computer, as the CPU should run flat out while
testing. ( When the program asks to "Join GIMPS?", answer you're
"just testing". )

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft

( http://mersenneforum.org/gimps/p95v2511.zip )

This article isn't up to date - it doesn't describe the
current multi-threaded version or Prime95, but it does give
some discussion and pictures to look at. (Use "stop" and
then "exit" from the menu, when you're done.)

http://www.playtool.com/pages/prime95/prime95.html

In terms of issues I've heard of with DDR2, on retail desktop
motherboards, there was a difference in stability between 1GB
DDR2 DIMMs and 2GB DDR2 DIMMs. Early BIOS were not tuned for
the 2GB sticks, so they showed errors. It took a few BIOS releases
to fix that, and I don't know technically what the issue was.
To some extent, the memory chips generally "look the same" now,
as you go from one density to the next - and exactly what the
fix was for the denser chips, was never mentioned.

An SODIMM in a laptop, doesn't have room for as many chips as
a DIMM in a desktop motherboard. The chips used to make your
1GB SODIMM, could be the same kind of chips used to make 2GB
desktop modules (eight chips on SODIMM, sixteen chips on DIMM).
So that's the only justification I can see for a change in
behavior (i.e. 2GB type technology, used to make 1GB SODIMM?).

At this point, I'd rather believe you have one bad stick, and
test the sticks one at a time, to see if that is the case.
If both sticks misbehave, when tested individually, then the
problem might be a BIOS maturity issue. On retail motherboards,
there can be real differences, from one BIOS release to another,
as to how stable and error free the system memory is.

Pre-built computers, don't always have a lot of memory adjustments
in them, which is why I haven't addressed that as an option.
In something like a laptop, you're relying on the BIOS automatic
settings, to be correct for any memory used.

You can get the CPUZ program from here, and review how your
current 2x512 modules are set up, versus the new modules. And
see if there is something significantly different between them.
The old setup might have been running DDR2-667 (PC2-5300), and
you'd expect the new setup to be the same. The timings could be
different, like CAS6 on the old module and CAS5 on the
new module. That shouldn't make too much difference, unless
the memory isn't really capable of meeting its CAS value.
In any case, compare the screens here, for the memory,
when one or the other pair is installed.

( You can use the no-install version. The program doesn't need to
be installed. )

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

In the picture here, DRAM frequency times two, gives the speed rating.
533 * 2 = DDR3-1066 for this particular memory. The timings
are 7-7-7-20 for that stick. Command Rate 1T, means the
address/command bus can take one command per clock cycle -
the more relaxed setting is 2T, where a command is given on
every second cycle. And this screen, represents the settings
currently used to run the memory.

http://www.cpuid.com/medias/images/en/softwares-cpuz-04.jpg

The other tab (SPD), shows the tables of timing values stored
on the SODIMM or DIMM. In this example, the memory can be
run at four different speeds, and the timing values are
adjusted to make the memory work in each case. So these
would be potential values. The BIOS uses the table values,
and does any math necessary, to come up with operating
conditions for your memory (at least, when the BIOS is
set to "Auto" for memory).

http://www.cpuid.com/medias/images/en/softwares-cpuz-05.jpg

Paul
From: Menno Hershberger on 1 Aug 2010 23:11
"Paul Richards" <paulrichards(a)XXXNOSPAMiinet.net.au> wrote in news:
#WDZgbdMLHA.1172(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl:

> Not sure if this is the correct forum but I'm running XP Pro so I'll
> start here.
>
> I've run a HP Pavilion DV6000 with 2 x 512mb RAM chips for 4 years now.
> No problems whatsoever.
>
> I decided to upgrade my memory to 2 x 1gb RAM chips. They are the
> correct specification for the HP machine - I've checked!
>
> With the 2gb memory I started getting program crashes ("Windows has
> encountered an error"-type messages), OS crashes and BSODs. I have use
> the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to test the new chips - they passed
> all the standard tests. So what can be the cause of this instability?
>
> I've put my former 2 x 512mb RAM back, and calm is restored :-)

Like others are saying, try them one at a time.
I have two memory testing apps, memtest and a Microsoft memory tester.
I've had one or the other of them run all night without showing an error on
what turned out to be a bad stick.

--
--- Long live Fat32! ---
From: Chuck on 1 Aug 2010 23:57
There is one off the wall issue that I've run into on occasion, come to
think of it, with HP laptops!
The video system uses System RAM when the system RAM is increased beyond
a certain point. More RAM can expose a video driver issue that did not
occur with a RAM "as shipped" size. There was an unrelated issue with
bad video chips, but I believe this happened on a different HP Laptop
series.


On 8/1/2010 11:11 PM, Menno Hershberger wrote:
> "Paul Richards"<paulrichards(a)XXXNOSPAMiinet.net.au> wrote in news:
> #WDZgbdMLHA.1172(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl:
>
>> Not sure if this is the correct forum but I'm running XP Pro so I'll
>> start here.
>>
>> I've run a HP Pavilion DV6000 with 2 x 512mb RAM chips for 4 years now.
>> No problems whatsoever.
>>
>> I decided to upgrade my memory to 2 x 1gb RAM chips. They are the
>> correct specification for the HP machine - I've checked!
>>
>> With the 2gb memory I started getting program crashes ("Windows has
>> encountered an error"-type messages), OS crashes and BSODs. I have use
>> the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to test the new chips - they passed
>> all the standard tests. So what can be the cause of this instability?
>>
>> I've put my former 2 x 512mb RAM back, and calm is restored :-)
>
> Like others are saying, try them one at a time.
> I have two memory testing apps, memtest and a Microsoft memory tester.
> I've had one or the other of them run all night without showing an error on
> what turned out to be a bad stick.
>

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