Can't Upgrade Ram

Sknives · Oct 1, 2009, 10:08 PM

I have 4 ram slots. 2 with 1 gig chips in them. I wanted 4 gigs of ram so I purchased 2 separate 1 gig cards

When I filled up all four slots all I got was a beep when starting the computer.
I tried 3 cards but still beep.

I replace the original 2 chips with the new ones then computer runs fine.

Apparently I can only use the first two slots for ram.

I run an Aspire E380 Vista 32bit.

How would I upgrade my ram?

**MIG-31** · Oct 1, 2009, 10:28 PM

Hello and welcome to DH..

First point Vista 32 Bit will not recognize 4 gig of RAM... You would need to switch to a 64 Bit OS for the full use of the ram.And also it may be best to let us know what ram you have bought and do they match the ram you already had installed.

According to This Site you motherboard should support a Maximum of 4 gig of ram.

DJ BIG T · Oct 1, 2009, 10:34 PM

you might want to check how much ram your motherboard supports heres link for you to look it up..http://www.crucial.com/?gclid=CKqk6f...20091001213614

**MIG-31** · Oct 1, 2009, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ BIG T

you might want to check how much ram your motherboard supports heres link for you to look it up..RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

Look at the above post

Judas · Oct 1, 2009, 11:35 PM

there is potential that the memory detection of the board is getting confused with 2 very different memory types in the machine.

Some boards "support" all slots being filled with memory.. but it's under specific rules which is a pain.

Prebuilts don't have a good history for working with common or even highend brands.... i've even had some that don't work with the computers when it's listed as a supported type.... . I HATE prebuilts.

ATM i've a machine that i've tried a number of differing ram makes/brands/speeds and still can't get the machine to work.

DJ BIG T · Oct 1, 2009, 11:40 PM

just try out that tool and see what it tells you...now im not saying get that ram but it tells you what type of ram like 800 ddr2 and how much your mobo will take...

Sknives · Oct 2, 2009, 09:16 AM

"Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-8500,DDR2 PC2-6400,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.*"Maximum Memory Capacity: 4096MB
Currently Installed Memory: 2GB
Available Memory Slots: 2
Total Memory Slots: 4
Dual Channel Support: Yes
CPU Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
CPU Family: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ Model 11, Stepping 1
CPU Speed: 1800 MHz -Too slow?
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner...CB9F5631D926C3

The new card is a 1gb ddr2 pc2 5300 667 mhz by Kingston
Old card is GDDR2 667 1gb 64mx8 1.8v EP Came with Tower

I clicked "upgrade windows" and it says I can't upgrade to 62 bit but perhaps this is more nonsense associated with Vista?

I installed the new ram cards in the old slots so the compatibility should be fine. Its just when I go +2 I get a beep.

I was wondering if its a bios problem as well. Acer Us Site-Couldn't find one/Acer Europe-We don't support any errors with computer resulting from this. I decided against risking my entire computer for some random guess update.

isaak · Oct 2, 2009, 09:40 AM

Try one stick of your old ram and one stick of your new ram, see if you can boot up.

Sknives · Oct 2, 2009, 12:36 PM

Trying it now with 1 new and 1 old card and its booting up.

Currently Installed Memory: 2GB
CPU Speed: 2300 MHz
Although the memory can be installed one module at a time, the best performance comes from using matched pairs of modules.

CPU speed is different from earlier..

Okay what next?

Sknives · Oct 3, 2009, 09:22 AM

A shameless bump cause this problem ain't goin without a fix'n

**kris23** · Oct 4, 2009, 12:28 AM

try alternating the sticks in the slot as in: (slot 1-old stick, slot 2-new stick, slot 3-old stick, slot 4-new stick) or vise-versa..

chances are that this doesnt work but its worth a shot... sometimes boards can run in dual channel with the above config

isaak · Oct 4, 2009, 04:33 AM

I would suggest you try what Kris has said...Alternate them. Acer may not be much help to you (sometimes voids warranty if you take off the side cover of the PC...) but I am not familiar with it.

Have you checked to see if the BIOS is running dual channel on all four slots. Not sure of the exact setting but there may be something in there.

IvanV · Oct 4, 2009, 12:32 PM

It may be a good idea to reset CMOS, it may be a bit of a wild guess, but it's worth a try and it only takes a minute.

Also, what do you mean you get a beep? A normal beep like the one that computer plays when starting up normally, or a different one?

comp_ali · Oct 4, 2009, 02:11 PM

Reset bios (using the jumber) , remove the battery and try.

Sknives · Oct 6, 2009, 04:21 AM

I tried 1new1old/1new1old it gave me the same results. The alternating might not work because 32bit vista runs only up to 3 gigs of ram.

The beeps are about 2 seconds long repeating itself. It sounds like an alarm.

I don't know what a BIOS really is other than I probably need to patch it and if I do it wrong I'll probably screw myself and my computer.

CMOS and a Jumber are unknown to me.

My BIOS should be the default ones unless vista patched it. (I apologize in advance if this sounds stupid due to my lack of knowledge here).

Tyrsonswood · Oct 6, 2009, 12:09 PM

Sounds like your motherboard just isn't liking the mismatched ram...... some systems are really picky that way. You probably need 4 matching sticks of ram.

Vista didn't patch your BIOS, and this isn't a 4gig limit issue with vista, it's hardware. Those beeps are from the BIOS "no memory found" and that's happening before your vista is running. Not sure how clearing the CMOS would help here.

Sknives · Oct 8, 2009, 10:29 PM

I tried 4 of the same sticks- Makes whirring noise like I put in a CD... then blank screen, nothing.

3 same sticks- Long Beeps just like before.

This involved using only using the default system ram not new ones.

Sknives · Oct 10, 2009, 10:02 PM

If I forgot to mention, they are probably dual channels as 2 and 2 are different colors.

Am I correct in thinking that this is a BIOS problem?

How would I update the BIOS? (I'd like something more specific than check acer homepage due to my lack of experience in this)

Sknives · Oct 20, 2009, 10:59 AM

Weird, after I logged in I got kicked out back to "sign in please" so I couldn't log in this whole time.

I'm still waiting trying to figure this one out...Is everyone stumped?

isaak · Oct 20, 2009, 12:35 PM

Im at a loss here...you may want to take the system to a repairer and see if they can get it working...

good luck with it

Tyrsonswood · Oct 20, 2009, 01:34 PM

It's a weird one for sure....... I did find a different thread on a different site where somebody was going through the exact same thing with the same system. Either that was you or somebody has the same issue. They also couldn't exceed the 2 gig even though the board is supposed to....... There was no solution posted on that other site..... actually less help there than what we have tried to help you with here.

Really sounds like a hardware/mobo issue, like bad memory slots or something.

There is only one BIOS update available on acer's site and it doesn't have any documentation about what issues were addressed. I never flashed an acer either, so I'm not the one to step you through that procedure if it's different than normal.

I wish there was more I could do.....

procupine14 · Oct 23, 2009, 03:39 PM

Well, most of those prebuilts actually download a .exe that runs and flashes those BIOSs but I don't see many acers through here so I can't say for sure if it works exactly like that. I suppose if you downloaded it and saw that it was an exe then the process would just involve running the exe and letting it flash the BIOS. Thats how all the HPs work I am for sure of that.

Sknives · Oct 23, 2009, 11:13 PM

Thanks for the try guys, I still appreciate it.

The other guy on other site wasn't me...

I think I called Acer for a prob not long ago and said my warrant expired and if I required assistance it would cost only 49.99 or some BS lol.

Oct 1, 2009, 10:08 PM	#1
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Can't Upgrade Ram I have 4 ram slots. 2 with 1 gig chips in them. I wanted 4 gigs of ram so I purchased 2 separate 1 gig cards When I filled up all four slots all I got was a beep when starting the computer. I tried 3 cards but still beep. I replace the original 2 chips with the new ones then computer runs fine. Apparently I can only use the first two slots for ram. I run an Aspire E380 Vista 32bit. How would I upgrade my ram?

Oct 1, 2009, 10:28 PM	#2
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,818 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Hello and welcome to DH.. First point Vista 32 Bit will not recognize 4 gig of RAM... You would need to switch to a 64 Bit OS for the full use of the ram.And also it may be best to let us know what ram you have bought and do they match the ram you already had installed. According to This Site you motherboard should support a Maximum of 4 gig of ram. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Oct 1, 2009, 10:34 PM	#3
DJ BIG T DH FaN BoY Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ORLANDO,FL Posts: 930 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram you might want to check how much ram your motherboard supports heres link for you to look it up..http://www.crucial.com/?gclid=CKqk6f...20091001213614 __________________

Oct 1, 2009, 11:40 PM	#6
DJ BIG T DH FaN BoY Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ORLANDO,FL Posts: 930 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram just try out that tool and see what it tells you...now im not saying get that ram but it tells you what type of ram like 800 ddr2 and how much your mobo will take... __________________

Oct 2, 2009, 09:16 AM	Thread Starter #7
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram "Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-8500,DDR2 PC2-6400,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 1GB per slot."Maximum Memory Capacity:* 4096MB Currently Installed Memory: 2GB Available Memory Slots: 2 Total Memory Slots: 4 Dual Channel Support: Yes CPU Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD CPU Family: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ Model 11, Stepping 1 CPU Speed: 1800 MHz -Too slow? http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner...CB9F5631D926C3 The new card is a 1gb ddr2 pc2 5300 667 mhz by Kingston Old card is GDDR2 667 1gb 64mx8 1.8v EP Came with Tower I clicked "upgrade windows" and it says I can't upgrade to 62 bit but perhaps this is more nonsense associated with Vista? I installed the new ram cards in the old slots so the compatibility should be fine. Its just when I go +2 I get a beep. I was wondering if its a bios problem as well. Acer Us Site-Couldn't find one/Acer Europe-We don't support any errors with computer resulting from this. I decided against risking my entire computer for some random guess update. Last edited by Sknives; Oct 2, 2009 at 09:22 AM.

Oct 2, 2009, 09:40 AM	#8
isaak HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,286 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Try one stick of your old ram and one stick of your new ram, see if you can boot up. __________________ The first step... shall be to lose the way. - Galway Kinnell

Oct 2, 2009, 12:36 PM	Thread Starter #9
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Trying it now with 1 new and 1 old card and its booting up. Currently Installed Memory: 2GB CPU Speed: 2300 MHz Although the memory can be installed one module at a time, the best performance comes from using matched pairs of modules. CPU speed is different from earlier.. Okay what next? Last edited by Sknives; Oct 2, 2009 at 10:37 PM.

Oct 3, 2009, 09:22 AM	Thread Starter #10
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram A shameless bump cause this problem ain't goin without a fix'n

Oct 4, 2009, 12:28 AM	#11
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram try alternating the sticks in the slot as in: (slot 1-old stick, slot 2-new stick, slot 3-old stick, slot 4-new stick) or vise-versa.. chances are that this doesnt work but its worth a shot... sometimes boards can run in dual channel with the above config __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Oct 4, 2009, 04:33 AM	#12
isaak HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,286 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram I would suggest you try what Kris has said...Alternate them. Acer may not be much help to you (sometimes voids warranty if you take off the side cover of the PC...) but I am not familiar with it. Have you checked to see if the BIOS is running dual channel on all four slots. Not sure of the exact setting but there may be something in there. __________________ The first step... shall be to lose the way. - Galway Kinnell

Oct 4, 2009, 12:32 PM	#13
IvanV HH Assassin Guild Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,911 Rep Power: 333 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram It may be a good idea to reset CMOS, it may be a bit of a wild guess, but it's worth a try and it only takes a minute. Also, what do you mean you get a beep? A normal beep like the one that computer plays when starting up normally, or a different one? __________________ If anyone has Portal 2 and hasn't played the co-op and wants to do me a favour, let me know (PM me or whatever).

Oct 4, 2009, 02:11 PM	#14
comp_ali Sniper Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Egypt Posts: 10,469 Rep Power: 339 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Reset bios (using the jumber) , remove the battery and try. __________________

Oct 6, 2009, 04:21 AM	Thread Starter #15
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram I tried 1new1old/1new1old it gave me the same results. The alternating might not work because 32bit vista runs only up to 3 gigs of ram. The beeps are about 2 seconds long repeating itself. It sounds like an alarm. I don't know what a BIOS really is other than I probably need to patch it and if I do it wrong I'll probably screw myself and my computer. CMOS and a Jumber are unknown to me. My BIOS should be the default ones unless vista patched it. (I apologize in advance if this sounds stupid due to my lack of knowledge here). Last edited by Sknives; Oct 6, 2009 at 11:10 AM.

Oct 8, 2009, 10:29 PM	Thread Starter #17
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram I tried 4 of the same sticks- Makes whirring noise like I put in a CD... then blank screen, nothing. 3 same sticks- Long Beeps just like before. This involved using only using the default system ram not new ones.

Oct 10, 2009, 10:02 PM	Thread Starter #18
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram If I forgot to mention, they are probably dual channels as 2 and 2 are different colors. Am I correct in thinking that this is a BIOS problem? How would I update the BIOS? (I'd like something more specific than check acer homepage due to my lack of experience in this)

Oct 23, 2009, 03:39 PM	#22
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 58 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Well, most of those prebuilts actually download a .exe that runs and flashes those BIOSs but I don't see many acers through here so I can't say for sure if it works exactly like that. I suppose if you downloaded it and saw that it was an exe then the process would just involve running the exe and letting it flash the BIOS. Thats how all the HPs work I am for sure of that. __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Oct 20, 2009, 10:59 AM	Thread Starter #19
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Weird, after I logged in I got kicked out back to "sign in please" so I couldn't log in this whole time. I'm still waiting trying to figure this one out...Is everyone stumped?

Oct 20, 2009, 12:35 PM	#20
isaak HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,286 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Im at a loss here...you may want to take the system to a repairer and see if they can get it working... good luck with it __________________ The first step... shall be to lose the way. - Galway Kinnell

Oct 23, 2009, 11:13 PM	Thread Starter #23
Sknives DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Re: Can't Upgrade Ram Thanks for the try guys, I still appreciate it. The other guy on other site wasn't me... I think I called Acer for a prob not long ago and said my warrant expired and if I required assistance it would cost only 49.99 or some BS lol.