Ram Wierdness

T

tmboss

Member
Reaction score
5
Toshiba L500-00f needed a power supply and changed it. Started cleaning it up for a friend and weird stuff started happening. Memtest86 said "errors" so took the ram out of my laptop and put it in....worked. Full re-install no problem, works perfect.

Took the bad memory, put it my laptop....worked. Huh! Works flawlessly for days. Memtest86 says "no errors" on my laptop.

OK so what, buy new ram for problem laptop and should be slam dunk. New ram reports errors. Put my ram back in...works.

So I have a laptop that rejects the original ram and new ram but likes mine.

I upgraded the bios during the clean up. I can always just switch ram between the machines and give it back but I neeeeed to understand.

I don't have specs of ram at this time.
 
tmboss said:
Toshiba L500-00f needed a power supply and changed it. Started cleaning it up for a friend and weird stuff started happening. Memtest86 said "errors" so took the ram out of my laptop and put it in....worked. Full re-install no problem, works perfect.

Took the bad memory, put it my laptop....worked. Huh! Works flawlessly for days. Memtest86 says "no errors" on my laptop.

OK so what, buy new ram for problem laptop and should be slam dunk. New ram reports errors. Put my ram back in...works.

So I have a laptop that rejects the original ram and new ram but likes mine.

I upgraded the bios during the clean up. I can always just switch ram between the machines and give it back but I neeeeed to understand.

I don't have specs of ram at this time.
Click to expand...

Dunno, maybe the sticks have diff voltages? maybe chip density (though I have not seen that causing issues for years).
 
NYJimbo said:
Are you using memtest86 or memtest86+ ?
Click to expand...

Using Hiren's Boot Disk. I am assuming 86+ but I will confirm. Going to redo tests on known working laptop again.

Will also look at specs on the 3 ram configurations which are.

2 x 2 GB Original (fails)
2 x 4 GB My Ram (works)
2 x 4 GB New Ram (Fails)

Tried single sticks configurations as well.
 
tmboss said:
Using Hiren's Boot Disk. I am assuming 86+ but I will confirm. Going to redo tests on known working laptop again.

Will also look at specs on the 3 ram configurations which are.

2 x 2 GB Original (fails)
2 x 4 GB My Ram (works)
2 x 4 GB New Ram (Fails)

Tried single sticks configurations as well.
Click to expand...

Not sure if you did it but put one "bad" stick in one slot and run a test and then move that SAME stick to the other slot and test. Be sure to only test one slot at a time.
 
Last edited:
Are you using RAM that is specifically approved/compatible for this exact make/model laptop?

I never just grab "any old stick of PC3 8500" for example...
I always order memory specific to the machine...example, go to crucial.com and select toshiba, satellite....xx103....and the results you get are the memory sticks that are specifically tested/approved/compatible with that system, with some guarantee.

So there's no guesswork...and an insurance for maximum performance/stability.
 
Not device specific ram.

Memtest86+

Original is PC3-8500

Mine is PC3-10600
New is PC3-10600

After looking closer, mine and new are same brand G-Skill and specs. Switching doesn't sound so bad if they both work.

Running tests (original in my laptop) and (Mine in Toshiba) now for about 20 minutes

My laptop is a HP DV4-1530ca.

HP is 399 Mhz CAS 6-6-6-15

Toshiba (problem) is 532 Mhz CAS 7-7-7-20

Those numbers above come from MemTest86+ , not sure how if if they help.




Need to test new ram yet.
 
Last edited:
tmboss said:
Not device specific ram.

Memtest86+

Original is PC3-8500

Mine is PC3-10600
New is PC3-10600

After looking closer, mine and new are same brand G-Skill and specs. Switching doesn't sound so bad if they both work.

Running tests (original in my laptop) and (Mine in Toshiba) now for about 20 minutes

My laptop is a HP DV4-1530ca.

HP is 399 Mhz CAS 6-6-6-15

Toshiba (problem) is 532 Mhz CAS 7-7-7-20

Those numbers above come from MemTest86+ , not sure how if if they help.




Need to test new ram yet.
Click to expand...

hmm is the memory the same model g.skill too? Does the toshiba allow you to manually adjust memory timings for the new ram to 9-9-9-24. Could be the ram just can't handle the jedec timings set for that 533mhz speed (which may be just lower chip quality or could be ram is getting slightly less voltage than 1.5v)
 
Could the new power supply be having an impact?

It is a generic power supply with same specs bought for that Toshiba. 65 watt 19V
 
tmboss said:
Could the new power supply be having an impact?

It is a generic power supply with same specs bought for that Toshiba. 65 watt 19V
Click to expand...

Is it possible? i suppose so but lets not go there yet specially since you have ram thats working in the system now. Can you try the looser memory timings?

Edit: highly highly unlikely
 
Last edited:
Bios does not allow for memory adjustments. Is that what you meant by looser memory adjustments.
 
It is possible that memtest86+ is not working on this machine for certain ram timings but that does not mean you have a bad ram or bad motherboard condition. Right now they are working on memtest86+ v5.0 and seeing all kinds of "memory test failures" that are not actually memory test failures.

One question we really should be asking: What made you start checking ram ?

You posted this:

"Started cleaning it up for a friend and weird stuff started happening."

What weird stuff ?
 
No voltage setting.

OS had issues at start up and other little quirky thing, seems long ago. When doing a factory restore it crapped as well, message at this time said Hard drive or memory. Built in toshiba diagnostic said memory.

Do not know how this behaved before new power supply and owner is very naive about computers even though they have six.


It just finished doing a factory restore using my memory. Other new G Skill is testing OK in mine.
 
tmboss said:
No voltage setting.

OS had issues at start up and other little quirky thing, seems long ago. When doing a factory restore it crapped as well, message at this time said Hard drive or memory. Built in toshiba diagnostic said memory.

Do not know how this behaved before new power supply and owner is very naive about computers even though they have six.


It just finished doing a factory restore using my memory. Other new G Skill is testing OK in mine.
Click to expand...

give them yours since its similar specs anyway my guess is the chips on your ram is simply better quality (assuming they have the same jedec memory timings)
 
ComputerRepairTech said:
give them yours since its similar specs anyway my guess is the chips on your ram is simply better quality (assuming they have the same jedec memory timings)
Click to expand...

Switching ram is the plan. Owner is close friend so if either of us has issues...all good.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the coaching, ram has mostly worked for me so hard core diagnosing support was good. I am driven to understand to this will bug me for a while.
 
Some motherboards are much more "picky" when it comes to the ram they will play nice with.

Ram quality is a big one, as well as the quality of the motherboard itself.

I've seen some machines that hate a set of ram sticks that work perfectly in anything else I throw them in.

Ram issues can drive you nuts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Which component can cause memtest86+ wrongly detect defective RAM on MacBook Pro A1286?
Replies
3
Views
746
HCHTech
HCHTech
YeOldeStonecat
Micron to stop selling RAM and SSDs to consumers (via Crucial branch)
Replies
9
Views
379
brandonkick
B
Blues
  • Poll Poll
Should I upgrade my personal PC
Replies
13
Views
488
GTP
GTP
HCHTech
Batch file to map drives doesn't remember credentials after a reboot
Replies
8
Views
389
TyrellTorpp
T
frase
Lenovo AIO
Replies
2
Views
670
frase
frase
Back
Top