2Gb Ram fails to boot on Asus A7A266-E

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

I recently purchased two 1Gb 184-pin PC2100 unbuffered DIMMs from
Crucial memory (Part No. CT12864Z265.16TD) to upgrade my Asus A7A266-E
motherboard from 512Mb RAM to the maximum 2Gb Ram (as stated on Pg 22
of MB manual). The manual also mentions it supports 2.5V 1Gb 184-pin
PC2100 unbuffered DIMM.

I have upgraded the BIOS on the motherboard from Rev 1010 to 1012
(latest release version) but I cannot get the PC to boot with both 1Gb
DIMMs in the two available DDR slots (2Gb RAM). Either one of the 1GB
DIMMs works (1GB RAM) but when I place two in the PC fails to boot
beyond the BIOS screen. The PC will also boot up with one of the 1Gb
DIMMSs in one of the slots and one of the original 256Mb DIMMs in the
other slot (1.2Gb RAM).

It completes the memory check, shows the hardware in the machine (Hard
disks, processor, memory) and then hangs. Sometimes it shows ESCD
updated successfully then hangs and sometimes it just hangs after the
BIOS screen.

I have noticed some memory problems on the newsgroups relating to this
motherboard but these either are not applicable or were fixed in later
revisions of the BIOS. I did also notice there is a DDR RAM jumper on
the motherboard to take the voltage from 2.5V to 2.6V, but it states
in the manual this stresses components more and I am reluctant to
increase the voltage as the memory is rated at 2.5V.

If anyone else has had similar issues or knows of a fix for this I
would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <27c887f1.0503250303.607f3f88@posting.google.com>,
uk_techie_2005@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

> I recently purchased two 1Gb 184-pin PC2100 unbuffered DIMMs from
> Crucial memory (Part No. CT12864Z265.16TD) to upgrade my Asus A7A266-E
> motherboard from 512Mb RAM to the maximum 2Gb Ram (as stated on Pg 22
> of MB manual). The manual also mentions it supports 2.5V 1Gb 184-pin
> PC2100 unbuffered DIMM.
>
> I have upgraded the BIOS on the motherboard from Rev 1010 to 1012
> (latest release version) but I cannot get the PC to boot with both 1Gb
> DIMMs in the two available DDR slots (2Gb RAM). Either one of the 1GB
> DIMMs works (1GB RAM) but when I place two in the PC fails to boot
> beyond the BIOS screen. The PC will also boot up with one of the 1Gb
> DIMMSs in one of the slots and one of the original 256Mb DIMMs in the
> other slot (1.2Gb RAM).
>
> It completes the memory check, shows the hardware in the machine (Hard
> disks, processor, memory) and then hangs. Sometimes it shows ESCD
> updated successfully then hangs and sometimes it just hangs after the
> BIOS screen.
>
> I have noticed some memory problems on the newsgroups relating to this
> motherboard but these either are not applicable or were fixed in later
> revisions of the BIOS. I did also notice there is a DDR RAM jumper on
> the motherboard to take the voltage from 2.5V to 2.6V, but it states
> in the manual this stresses components more and I am reluctant to
> increase the voltage as the memory is rated at 2.5V.
>
> If anyone else has had similar issues or knows of a fix for this I
> would really appreciate it.
>
> Thanks in advance.

DIMM datasheet:
http://www.micron.com/products/mod [...] 2864AG-265
Mobo chipset:
http://www.uli.com.tw/eng/products [...] ?pserno=70

It isn't likely that the chipset (or the motherboard design for that
matter), was tested with 1GB sticks. But, at least based on the info
above, it should work.

A simple test, is to drop the CPU FSB to 100MHz, as a quick test.
If the problem is module loading, slowing everything down may
be enough to get it to work. At PC2100, boosting the voltage to the
DIMM should not be required (up to 2.75V is generally safe, unless the
manufacturer states otherwise - the datasheet above states 2.7V).

If you are running Win98, there is a memory limit:
http://groups.google.ca/groups?sel [...] .168.1.177

There is a beta BIOS (1013e001.zip) here:
http://au.asus.com/support/downloa [...] ip~zaqwedc

If you still aren't getting anywhere, file a case report, and see if 1GB
modules were ever tested on the board. I've never tried it, but there
are links like this one. Based on the info you provide, you might get a
response. Using the case number generated, if you don't get an answer in
a couple of days, give them a call. The answer will have to come from
the factory.

http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx

HTH,
Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

uk_techie_2005@yahoo.co.uk wrote in message news:<27c887f1.0503260205.63aff765@posting.google.com>...
> nospam@needed.com (Paul) wrote in message news:<nospam-2503052129080001@192.168.1.178>...
> > In article <27c887f1.0503250303.607f3f88@posting.google.com>,
> > uk_techie_2005@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> >
> > > I recently purchased two 1Gb 184-pin PC2100 unbuffered DIMMs from
> > > Crucial memory (Part No. CT12864Z265.16TD) to upgrade my Asus A7A266-E
> > > motherboard from 512Mb RAM to the maximum 2Gb Ram (as stated on Pg 22
> > > of MB manual). The manual also mentions it supports 2.5V 1Gb 184-pin
> > > PC2100 unbuffered DIMM.
> > >
> > > I have upgraded the BIOS on the motherboard from Rev 1010 to 1012
> > > (latest release version) but I cannot get the PC to boot with both 1Gb
> > > DIMMs in the two available DDR slots (2Gb RAM). Either one of the 1GB
> > > DIMMs works (1GB RAM) but when I place two in the PC fails to boot
> > > beyond the BIOS screen. The PC will also boot up with one of the 1Gb
> > > DIMMSs in one of the slots and one of the original 256Mb DIMMs in the
> > > other slot (1.2Gb RAM).
> > >
> > > It completes the memory check, shows the hardware in the machine (Hard
> > > disks, processor, memory) and then hangs. Sometimes it shows ESCD
> > > updated successfully then hangs and sometimes it just hangs after the
> > > BIOS screen.
> > >
> > > I have noticed some memory problems on the newsgroups relating to this
> > > motherboard but these either are not applicable or were fixed in later
> > > revisions of the BIOS. I did also notice there is a DDR RAM jumper on
> > > the motherboard to take the voltage from 2.5V to 2.6V, but it states
> > > in the manual this stresses components more and I am reluctant to
> > > increase the voltage as the memory is rated at 2.5V.
> > >
> > > If anyone else has had similar issues or knows of a fix for this I
> > > would really appreciate it.
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance.
> >
> > DIMM datasheet:
> > http://www.micron.com/products/mod [...] 2864AG-265
> > Mobo chipset:
> > http://www.uli.com.tw/eng/products [...] ?pserno=70
> >
> > It isn't likely that the chipset (or the motherboard design for that
> > matter), was tested with 1GB sticks. But, at least based on the info
> > above, it should work.
> >
> > A simple test, is to drop the CPU FSB to 100MHz, as a quick test.
> > If the problem is module loading, slowing everything down may
> > be enough to get it to work. At PC2100, boosting the voltage to the
> > DIMM should not be required (up to 2.75V is generally safe, unless the
> > manufacturer states otherwise - the datasheet above states 2.7V).
> >
> > If you are running Win98, there is a memory limit:
> > http://groups.google.ca/groups?sel [...] .168.1.177
> >
> > There is a beta BIOS (1013e001.zip) here:
> > http://au.asus.com/support/downloa [...] ip~zaqwedc
> >
> > If you still aren't getting anywhere, file a case report, and see if 1GB
> > modules were ever tested on the board. I've never tried it, but there
> > are links like this one. Based on the info you provide, you might get a
> > response. Using the case number generated, if you don't get an answer in
> > a couple of days, give them a call. The answer will have to come from
> > the factory.
> >
> > http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx
> >
> > HTH,
> > Paul
>
> All,
>
> Thanks for your replies and useful info. After reading these postings
> I tried the following:
>
> 1. Changing the jumper on the motherboard from 2.5V (default) to 2.6V.
> The PC still didn't boot past the BIOS screen.
>
> 2. Tried altering the Latency values in the BIOS but found I couldn't
> alter them above the default settings (they would go lower but not
> higher):
>
> SDRAM CAS LATENCY 2.5T DDR/3T SDR
> SDRAM RAS to CAS LATENCY 3T
> SDRAM RAS PRECHARGE TIME 3T
> SDRAM CYCLE TIME TO RAS 7T
>
> Also most of these seem to affect SDRAM and not DDR RAM.
>
> I'm reluctant to upgrade the BIOS to a beta version as it is beta
> software and they don't list in the BIOS details what fixes it
> contains. I don't think it makes a difference as the PC doesn't boot
> past the BIOS but I am using windows XP.
>
> Also as suggested here I have opened cases with both ASUS and Crucial
> memory to see if I can get an anwser.
>
> Thanks again for everyone's help, it's given me some useful pointers.
> If I get a resolution I'll post it here.


I received a reply from ASUS tech support and Crucial. Crucial
suggested increasing the DDR RAM voltage to 2.7V and lowering the FSB
speed, if this didn't work they suggested contacting ASUS.

The reply I received from ASUS was:

I'm afraid the board cannot handle 2 sticks of that memory, you will
have to find an alternative memory GB module to use.

this raises a couple of questions:

1. If the manual states the board supports 2 x 1Gb RAM of a certain
specification, it should work with any brand of memory as long as it
meets that specification?

2. They don't mention what memory will work! (I emailed them back to
find out what memory will work and await a reply).

If you needed a particular brand of memory to utilise the full 2Gb
shouldn't this be specified in the manual or at least a link to a
website with an approved hardware list (similar to Sun and Microsoft
hardware lists).

Anyone got any ideas or comments?

I am having the same problem. If you buy a board based on spects shouldn't Asus back up their product?