MSI K8T neo2-f dual channel memory problem

I hope you still read the boards but I've got the solution for you.

I did a google search and found this thread and I had the EXACT same problem (hardware,not posting, venice 3000, etc.)

you need to update your bios to the 9.2 version 7/29/2005

I had the old bios like you 3.3 1/10/2005 and noticed that the system wasn't posting when I followed the dual channel instructions (slot 2 & 4).

http://www.msicomputer.com/support/bios_result.asp
(MS-6702E)

hope this helps

txt for the info, i'll try what you've said.  

I also had a similar problem with dual channel memory, with very similar hardware. I think I have it running correctly now, but something weird is happening... perhaps you guys can shed some light on this.

I have a K8T Neo2 board, not the Neo2-F, but that may not matter.

I did upgrade the BIOS to version 9.2, and yes, my two memory sticks are apparently running in dual channel mode now, in slots 2 and 4. The system appears to be running just fine; I can boot an operating system and run all day. But here's the weird part:


I have been using Memtest86+ to test my RAM. After I upgraded the BIOS, Memtest86+ crashes! It appears to start up normally, the display shows that the RAM is dual channel, the speed settings and such are as they should be, the CPU version is displayed correctly, everything looks fine. But then it simply locks up, dead as a doornail, until I do a hard reset.

This is with the same Memtest86+ boot CD I've been using for months, on this and other systems. The disk is fine. And it's the latest version, 1.65.

As I said, the system itself appears to be fully functional, and screaming fast. If I boot off of something other that Memtest86+, say a Knoppix liveCD for example, the system just works, and all of the memory is there. (Or so it seems.)

I asked about this on the Memtest86+ forum, and was told that the BIOS probably has a bug. Specifically, the BIOS apparently is setting up the e820 memory map incorrectly. The BIOS is setting aside some region in RAM for some specific purpose, but failing to reserve that area in the e820 memory map. Since the region isn't marked as reserved, Memtest86+ walks all over all of the memory in that region, clobbering whatever data the BIOS expects to be there, and the system dies.

I have tried disabling lots of things in the BIOS, to try to isolate this problem, but no luck so far.

So here is a favor I ask of anyone who has a K8T Neo2 family motherboard:

Get the latest version of Memtest86+, try it on your system, and please report back here your results!

Maybe nobody else will get the same result as me, and there's just something peculiar about my system. Or, maybe there really IS a bug in the BIOS, and it just hasn't bitten you yet. We need to find out, don't we...

Download Memtest86+ here:

http://www.memtest.org/


Thanks!

I have a MSI K8T Neo2 and 4x512mb DIMMs. The system works fine when DIMMs are configured in slots 1/2, 1/3, or 2/4 but will not boot if more than two slots are filled (system beeps, no display). The DIMMs are not matched so I don't expect them to work in dual-channel mode but I'd like to use the full 2GB in single-channel mode, if possible. Is there a way I can force single-channel or some "compatibility mode" to allow me to use all the DIMMs? Thanks!

It might be that you have to downclock your ram in bios. On startup it might be trying to run them at 400Mhz but will only run 333Mhz with all 4 slots occupied.