BIOS update

[gronthak]

Hi! I'm new here so please bear with me if I will ask silly questions.

Recently I got myself RAM upgrade for my old computer. Problem is, that my BIOS is showing only half of it and same with Windows (using Win7 64bit home edition). I installed 2x2Gb from my 2x1Gb. BIOS is only showing 2,44Gb installed, Windows, on the other hand, is showing 4Gb installed, but only 2,44Gb available. I presume, that it can be fixed by upgrading my BIOS, as from what I found on the internet my motherboard can have 4Gb of memory installed.

I managed to find some specs on the motherboard:
Board: Packard Bell BV PT890-8237A
Serial Number: ULNN73807204
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD PBSANFMB.0900 07/30/2007

And on the mainboard itself I found:
FOXCONN N15235
PT8907MB-8ERS2H
Chipsets: VIA VT8237A and VIA VT6308P

I would really appreciate any help with BIOS update or at least explanation why it is only showing half of installed memory.

 

[cball1311]

Try installing only one stick and booting. Then, try again with the other stick. If it doesn't boot on one or the other, then its probably a bad stick of RAM.

 

[gronthak]

Already tried that, both sticks are working fine. I found, that some people have similar problems, but for most of the time it was unsolved or BIOS version problems. Thanks for the reply though.

 

[cball1311]

You can try a BIOS update. Just follow the instructions from either your motherboard manual or the manufacturer's website. It looks like an older board so it might be a little more difficult than flashing on newer motherboards. Does the BIOS have any options for flashing the BIOS?

 

[gronthak]

Unfortunately BIOS have no options to update. I tried Packard Bell website, but motherboard is almost 6 years old, so I couldn't even find this model on their support website. Flashing would probably require old win98 startup disk of some sort, I presume. I was looking for updates all over the internet with no luck.

 

[cball1311]

Ok. Here is what I found at HP.
http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bi...wEnvOID=2098&swLang=8&taskId=101&mode=4&idx=2

You can give it a whirl as it doesn't give much instruction on the page. Maybe there is a Readme associated with the update but this is the best that I could do.

 

[gronthak]

I'll check it out. Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[gronthak]

I tried HP support BIOS update. Didn't work very well, but I managed to restore the old one. I'll keep looking, maybe I will have more luck.