IBM Thinkpad 390X fails to boot with upgraded ram!

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IndirectX8

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I have purchased a generic pc100 256MB ram DIMM for my IBM thinkpad 390x, and If I were to seat the ram in conjunction with either a 64 or 128MB DIMMS, the system will boot to a black screen and stay on that screen with no bios messages, no drive activity, nothing of the sort!

The ram chip I purchased is below:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/172268849437?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

In addition, the CMOS battery died, and I am uncertain if this will cause any trouble with new ram.

Would this be a case of bad ram? Incompatible ram? Simple battery replacement?

 
Solution
Lutfij
Thus my assumption that you're not subjecting the ram to the right environment and calling out wrongfully. I'd say that you can try and test the ram on your friends old units but at this point, you shouldn't be tinkering with something that shows to be in working condition and furthermore The hardware you're trying to run are already past their EOL cycle.
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Lutfij

Lutfij

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It's always advised to run any ram upgrades if you have only one stick existing to remove it and populate both slots with the same ram sticks preferably found in a kit. If the ram you've purchased works as a standalone then the module is fine and the anomaly is with the motherboard either due to not having the appropriate BIOS update or that the board doesn't support more than 256MB of ram.

I'd also ask you to replace the CMOS battery with a fresh cell and ofc search for a BIOS update while running on your older setup of ram.
 
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IndirectX8

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I tried the 256mb ram alone, and the system does not show any BIOS Screens/Messages. Plus, any searching for BIOS updates for the 390x will give me a "not found" error on Lenovo's website. I presume it is just incompatible with the system.
 
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IndirectX8

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Tried the RAM module in the latest laptop that would support it, looks like the ram is no good.
 
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Lutfij

Lutfij

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To rule out the ram as faulty, you'd need to make sure your (donor)laptop has an up to date BIOS and the laptop supports the ram in question. It might look like it but it's never a one size fits all with ram modules and systems/laptops. Laptop's that support DDR1 rams are almost like dinosaurs so I'm wondering what your latest laptop is...?
 
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IndirectX8

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Dell Inspiron 2600, but that model uses pc 133 RAM, so I don't think a pc100 ram module would work, so mainly, the IBM Thinkpad 390X
 
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Lutfij

Lutfij

Titan
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Oct 7, 2009
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Thus my assumption that you're not subjecting the ram to the right environment and calling out wrongfully. I'd say that you can try and test the ram on your friends old units but at this point, you shouldn't be tinkering with something that shows to be in working condition and furthermore The hardware you're trying to run are already past their EOL cycle.
 
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Solution
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IndirectX8

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I appreciate your assistance, I'll set that on the backburner for now.
 
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