RAM not working

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Saint Grimm

Saint Grimm

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Feb 25, 2014
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Sorry, I don't know a lot about the RAM and I started reading the FAQ it says to read before posting, and I just didn't understand a lot of it, so I'll just explain my problem.

Everything was working fine before the CPU fucked up. I can't recall how much of the RAM was usable before that happened, but I read some where that windows 7 64bit can use 8gb, so I assume it was 8gb.

What happened was while cleaning the fans, when removing the heatsink, my ol' lady accidently pulled the CPU out with it and managed to bend some pins. I tried to bend them back and ended up breaking them. I ordered a new CPU, the EXACT same one we already had in, AMD FX6100. We used the CPU out of an older computer until it arrived, the older CPU wasn't as good and etc, ended up giving a couple blue screens.

We put the new one in, and it the computer was going SLOW and i mean SLOOOOOW. So we moved everything off of it onto ext. hard drives and did a factory reset. Everything seemed to be working properly at firts, but when I started my photoshop up, it said there wasn't enough room on the scratch disk, something I'd never experienced before. I read somewhere it meant there wasn't enough room on the hard drive and I knew that couldn't be right because I've got 1.3TB free.

I opened up system in the control panel and found this...

Installed memory (RAM): 10.0GB (1.78 GB usable)

I know that's horrible. Thats about all I know. Doing some more research, I discovered to check the advanced boot options, I did this, processors was set to 1 and max memory was 1800MB or something like that, so I changed it over to 6 processors (I'm running a 6-core) and set the max memory to 10000MB and restarted the computer.

System says the same thing 1.78 usable. Under advanced boot options, The 6 processor remained, but the max memory changed back to 1808.

I opened Resource Monitor and found this data:

Physical memory
Free: 1mb
Standby: 420mb
Modified: 14mb
In Use: 1380mb
Hardware Reserved: 8417mb

Available: 431mb
cached: 430mb
total: 1823mb
Installed: 10240mb

Not sure if that means anything to anyone, but what it tells me, is that I need at least 6 more MB NOT reserved for hardware... How the hell do I do this, it's starting to get very frustrating.

 
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Saint Grimm

Saint Grimm

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Feb 25, 2014
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LOL.... How do I check that? :p


If it helps anything, I have an HP Pavilion h8-1214. Not sure if that can tell you my motherboard info or not.


Edit: Looked it up on HP website, Motherboard is:

M3970AM-HP (Angelica)

Manufacturer: Gigabyte
Form factor: uATX - 24.4 cm (9.6 inches) x 24.4 cm (9.6 inches)
Chipset: AMD 970
Memory sockets: 4 x DDR3
Front side bus speeds: 4 lanes, 5GT/s per lane UMI (Unified Media Interface)
Processor socket: AM3-b
Expansion Slots:
1 PCI Express x16 (Generation 2 speed)
3 PCI Express x1 (Generation 2 speed)
1 PCI Express mini card x1 (Generation 2 speed)

EDIT 2: I also know nothing about BIOS. Would you take a second to explain how to update them and stuff?
 
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expl0itfinder

expl0itfinder

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Go ahead and try clearing CMOS. On your motherboard, there is a battery next to the PCIe slots in the bottom center of the board. Disconnect all power from the computer, remove the battery, press the power button (to clear any lingering power), and then put the battery back in. Then, power the PC on, and it will probably prompt you to enter setup. Change the time accordingly, as it will be reset, and check to see if you can change the RAM to 10000MB.
 
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Saint Grimm

Saint Grimm

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I'm really not comfortable with all of that, I dont know what PCIe is, nor where the battery is. Is there any simpler solutions to try first? I considered moving the RAM sticks around to different slots to see if it had an affect but not sure if it's worth the time to try.
 
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misiu_mp

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You say the older replacement cpu caused you blue screens. This is worrying, because an older cpu can be slow, but should not cause errors.
It looks to me as more than just the cpu was damaged during that cleaning. It could be physical damage to the socket or - and that's my best guess - a static discharge to the motherboard and/or RAM.

Generally swapping parts one at a time with a known-good system is the way of debugging such problems. You could test swapping RAM with known-good ones (from that old computer), and if that doesn't help, it's likely the motherboard.

You have to be careful when working with that though. Apart from avoiding excessive physical force, you have to always protect yourself from static electricity (e.g. ware a discharge strip, not use a vacuum cleaner, store parts in antistatic bags). If you feel insecure about it, there is always the option of getting someone else to do this for you.
 
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misiu_mp

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I have a feeling you are quite uncomfortable with electronics, which would give you 3 options:
- hire a technician to fix it or buy a new machine and leave the insides of your computer alone forever.
- as above, but learn how to clean it properly with minimum hardware manipulation (use compressed air, discharge yourself) - this skill will extend the life of your computer, when the fan clogs with dust.
- be willing to learn: listen to advice, use search engines and expect a certain failure rate in the beginning (you are off to a good start on this one).
 
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Saint Grimm

Saint Grimm

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Alright, I figured out bits n pieces. Removed the battery, followed all of expl0its steps, except it did not enter set up mode.

It said date & time was not set, only option was f1 to boot.

I hit escape to enter start-up menu, found the set up from there. It requires a password, I didn't realize I even put a password on it, so I looked up how to reset it.

I can't find the password jumper on the motherboard. I read all of the labels on the different cords and plugs and the closest I could find was something about an audio PSWD, i unplugged that, but it had no effect on the set up password.
 
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Saint Grimm

Saint Grimm

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We found the jumper and removed the BIOS password, but there is no option to remap the memory in the BIOS. I read that some computers do not have the remapping option. So now what? We checked the CPU, everything looks fine in the socket it fits into and the CPU itself also looks fine.

I tried swapping the RAM into different slots, it still reads all the memory, but says only 1.78GB is usable.

It has no problem reading the RAM, but anything over 1.78gb is Hardware reserved. Is there anyway to fix that other than in the BIOS? (I've already attempted messing with advanced Boot options)

We tried all 4 sticks of RAM by itself 1 at a time, 2 4gb and 2 2gb. we attempted all 4 in all 5 slots, every time the computer would not come on, only give 5 long beeps that do not change in speed or tone. The exact beep pattern was not on the HP site or any other site I've looked on. However when playing 2+ sticks into the RAM sockets, the computer comes on normally, and always lists 1.78gb usable out of X installed.
 
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expl0itfinder

expl0itfinder

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Sounds to me like one of the motherboard socket pins that controls the memory may have been damaged. Also, you said you moved your data from the other Windows installation onto an external HDD. Have you tried using the system without the Hard drive connected?
 
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