SODIMM differences?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

A friend and I both have Compaq Armada laptops, his is an M700, mine is
E500. According to the specs, both take 144pin PC100 SDRAM SODIMMs. A
while ago I purchased a 256MB PC133 card that works fine in both
machines. A week ago I purchased a 256MB PC100 card that was intended
for an IBM Thinkpad T22, but it doesn't work in either machine. The M700
POST gives a memory size error when it checks the new card, and when
it boots the OS in unable to see the additional memory, and the E500
goes into a boot loop. Checking the BIOS Setup screen on either m/c
shows that the BIOS 'sees' the additional memory, but can't use it.

So here's the question. Why the problem, what's special about the
SODIMMs these m/cs use? And why does the PC133 card work fine (a newer
PC133 card gives that same problems as the IBM card)? Surely 144pin
PC100 SDRAM SODIMMs should work in a m/c that specifies just that.


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Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)