mixed size DIMMs on P5P800 problems

Hi -
I have an asus P5P800, it has 4 DIMM sockets...

The blue sockets (A1, B1) had 512MB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC,
and the black sockets (A2,B2) were empty.
(brand = "spire"), and all was working well.

I put a pair of 1 GB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC DIMMs in the open sockets
(brand = g.skill) and got a single beep from the bios POST and no start.

I removed the 1 GB sticks and everything booted up fine.
I then removed the 512MB sticks, and placed the 1 GB sticks into (A2,B2),
probably should have put into (A1,B1), but the machine booted and
recognized 2 GB of RAM.

I then added the 512 MB sticks back, no boot. I swapped the banks, no
boot. Now, I went back to the original configuratin, 512 MB sticks
in (A1,B1), and no boot. I tried the 1 GB sticks in the various banks,
and no boot.

Bottom line, the machine now will not boot with any of the memory. I
get nothing on the display. I doubt it's a video problem because I
can't hear the Windows startup sound, it really looks like the memory
somehow got fried? I was disconnected from power and had my ASD
wrist-strap on, so I don't know what happened.

I'm just getting the single beep on bios POST (this is AMI bios)... if I
remove all the DIMMS I get 1 long and 3 short beeps.

Any ideas here? FWIW, I just tried resetting the CMOS in desperation,
still no go. I also have some ECC sticks around, I just tried those and
I got 1 long 3 short beeps.

TIA

Jeff Haferman wrote:
> Hi -
> I have an asus P5P800, it has 4 DIMM sockets...
>
> The blue sockets (A1, B1) had 512MB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC,
> and the black sockets (A2,B2) were empty.
> (brand = "spire"), and all was working well.
>
> I put a pair of 1 GB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC DIMMs in the open sockets
> (brand = g.skill) and got a single beep from the bios POST and no start.
>
> I removed the 1 GB sticks and everything booted up fine.
> I then removed the 512MB sticks, and placed the 1 GB sticks into (A2,B2),
> probably should have put into (A1,B1), but the machine booted and
> recognized 2 GB of RAM.
>
> I then added the 512 MB sticks back, no boot. I swapped the banks, no
> boot. Now, I went back to the original configuratin, 512 MB sticks
> in (A1,B1), and no boot. I tried the 1 GB sticks in the various banks,
> and no boot.
>
> Bottom line, the machine now will not boot with any of the memory. I
> get nothing on the display. I doubt it's a video problem because I
> can't hear the Windows startup sound, it really looks like the memory
> somehow got fried? I was disconnected from power and had my ASD
> wrist-strap on, so I don't know what happened.
>
> I'm just getting the single beep on bios POST (this is AMI bios)... if I
> remove all the DIMMS I get 1 long and 3 short beeps.
>
> Any ideas here? FWIW, I just tried resetting the CMOS in desperation,
> still no go. I also have some ECC sticks around, I just tried those and
> I got 1 long 3 short beeps.
>
> TIA
>
>
I have this motherboard and have had it working with the memory
configuration you were trying. Have you checked the caps on the
motherboard to see if any of them are bulging or leaking? I had to RMA
this board because one of the caps was bulging and causing intermittent
reboots. Maybe the extra load from the added memory caused a failure on
the motherboard.

Jeff Haferman wrote:
> Hi -
> I have an asus P5P800, it has 4 DIMM sockets...
>
> The blue sockets (A1, B1) had 512MB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC,
> and the black sockets (A2,B2) were empty.
> (brand = "spire"), and all was working well.
>
> I put a pair of 1 GB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC DIMMs in the open sockets
> (brand = g.skill) and got a single beep from the bios POST and no start.
>
> I removed the 1 GB sticks and everything booted up fine.
> I then removed the 512MB sticks, and placed the 1 GB sticks into (A2,B2),
> probably should have put into (A1,B1), but the machine booted and
> recognized 2 GB of RAM.
>
> I then added the 512 MB sticks back, no boot. I swapped the banks, no
> boot. Now, I went back to the original configuratin, 512 MB sticks
> in (A1,B1), and no boot. I tried the 1 GB sticks in the various banks,
> and no boot.
>
> Bottom line, the machine now will not boot with any of the memory. I
> get nothing on the display. I doubt it's a video problem because I
> can't hear the Windows startup sound, it really looks like the memory
> somehow got fried? I was disconnected from power and had my ASD
> wrist-strap on, so I don't know what happened.
>
> I'm just getting the single beep on bios POST (this is AMI bios)... if I
> remove all the DIMMS I get 1 long and 3 short beeps.
>
> Any ideas here? FWIW, I just tried resetting the CMOS in desperation,
> still no go. I also have some ECC sticks around, I just tried those and
> I got 1 long 3 short beeps.
>
> TIA
>

There are two separate procedures you can try, to recover the system.

1) Power off the computer. Remove *all* RAM. Power on the system. Let
it beep for a few seconds, so it realizes there is no memory. Now, shut
down the system and shut off all power. Reinstall 2x512MB RAM. Power up.
Does it POST ? (Sometimes, one startup with no memory present, will
recover a system).

2) Power off the computer. Use the "Clear CMOS" procedure in the user manual.
You'll have to restore any custom CMOS settings, when the computer starts
the next time. You can leave the RAM in the computer for this procedure.
If the "Clear CMOS" worked, the real time clock should have been reset
as well. If the real time clock is reset, you can assume the clear operation
was a success. If successful, you'll be able to get into the BIOS and
configure things again.

Give those a try, and report back.

Since the 2x1GB G.Skill configuration worked, it suggests the RAM
is a proper type, and not the "high density" stuff. You could always
use CPUZ (and its "report.txt" file) to dump the 256 byte SPD tables,
and get some idea as to what kind of RAM it is. The memory chips may
not be visible, or the part number printed on them may be bogus, so
the odds of identifying the memory construction from the chip numbers,
isn't too good. Once the 256 byte table is in hand, you need a document
from JEDEC.org, to decode the declared memory configuration (what the
BIOS is reading and getting so confused about).

Paul

Paul <> wrote:
> Jeff Haferman wrote:
>> Hi -
>> I have an asus P5P800, it has 4 DIMM sockets...
>>
>> The blue sockets (A1, B1) had 512MB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC,
>> and the black sockets (A2,B2) were empty.
>> (brand = "spire"), and all was working well.
>>
>> I put a pair of 1 GB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC DIMMs in the open sockets
>> (brand = g.skill) and got a single beep from the bios POST and no start.
>>
>> I removed the 1 GB sticks and everything booted up fine.
>> I then removed the 512MB sticks, and placed the 1 GB sticks into (A2,B2),
>> probably should have put into (A1,B1), but the machine booted and
>> recognized 2 GB of RAM.
>>
>> I then added the 512 MB sticks back, no boot. I swapped the banks, no
>> boot. Now, I went back to the original configuratin, 512 MB sticks
>> in (A1,B1), and no boot. I tried the 1 GB sticks in the various banks,
>> and no boot.
>>
>> Bottom line, the machine now will not boot with any of the memory. I
>> get nothing on the display. I doubt it's a video problem because I
>> can't hear the Windows startup sound, it really looks like the memory
>> somehow got fried? I was disconnected from power and had my ASD
>> wrist-strap on, so I don't know what happened.
>>
>> I'm just getting the single beep on bios POST (this is AMI bios)... if I
>> remove all the DIMMS I get 1 long and 3 short beeps.
>>
>> Any ideas here? FWIW, I just tried resetting the CMOS in desperation,
>> still no go. I also have some ECC sticks around, I just tried those and
>> I got 1 long 3 short beeps.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>
> There are two separate procedures you can try, to recover the system.
>
> 1) Power off the computer. Remove *all* RAM. Power on the system. Let
> it beep for a few seconds, so it realizes there is no memory. Now, shut
> down the system and shut off all power. Reinstall 2x512MB RAM. Power up.
> Does it POST ? (Sometimes, one startup with no memory present, will
> recover a system).
>
> 2) Power off the computer. Use the "Clear CMOS" procedure in the user manual.
> You'll have to restore any custom CMOS settings, when the computer starts
> the next time. You can leave the RAM in the computer for this procedure.
> If the "Clear CMOS" worked, the real time clock should have been reset
> as well. If the real time clock is reset, you can assume the clear operation
> was a success. If successful, you'll be able to get into the BIOS and
> configure things again.
>
> Give those a try, and report back.


I've done both #1 and #2, no go. My feeling is perhaps the DIMMs got
fried, but I don't have another system I can try them in. I can
probably get my hands on some good DIMMs that I can put into the system
and see what happens.



>
> Since the 2x1GB G.Skill configuration worked, it suggests the RAM
> is a proper type, and not the "high density" stuff. You could always
> use CPUZ (and its "report.txt" file) to dump the 256 byte SPD tables,
> and get some idea as to what kind of RAM it is. The memory chips may
> not be visible, or the part number printed on them may be bogus, so
> the odds of identifying the memory construction from the chip numbers,
> isn't too good. Once the 256 byte table is in hand, you need a document
> from JEDEC.org, to decode the declared memory configuration (what the
> BIOS is reading and getting so confused about).
>

Yes, I'm sure these are low density DIMMs. I'll have to look into CPUZ.

Michael W. Ryder <_> wrote:
> Jeff Haferman wrote:
>> Hi -
>> I have an asus P5P800, it has 4 DIMM sockets...
>>
>> The blue sockets (A1, B1) had 512MB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC,
>> and the black sockets (A2,B2) were empty.
>> (brand = "spire"), and all was working well.
>>
>> I put a pair of 1 GB PC3200 CL3 non-ECC DIMMs in the open sockets
>> (brand = g.skill) and got a single beep from the bios POST and no start.
>>
>> I removed the 1 GB sticks and everything booted up fine.
>> I then removed the 512MB sticks, and placed the 1 GB sticks into (A2,B2),
>> probably should have put into (A1,B1), but the machine booted and
>> recognized 2 GB of RAM.
>>
>> I then added the 512 MB sticks back, no boot. I swapped the banks, no
>> boot. Now, I went back to the original configuratin, 512 MB sticks
>> in (A1,B1), and no boot. I tried the 1 GB sticks in the various banks,
>> and no boot.
>>
>> Bottom line, the machine now will not boot with any of the memory. I
>> get nothing on the display. I doubt it's a video problem because I
>> can't hear the Windows startup sound, it really looks like the memory
>> somehow got fried? I was disconnected from power and had my ASD
>> wrist-strap on, so I don't know what happened.
>>
>> I'm just getting the single beep on bios POST (this is AMI bios)... if I
>> remove all the DIMMS I get 1 long and 3 short beeps.
>>
>> Any ideas here? FWIW, I just tried resetting the CMOS in desperation,
>> still no go. I also have some ECC sticks around, I just tried those and
>> I got 1 long 3 short beeps.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>>
> I have this motherboard and have had it working with the memory
> configuration you were trying. Have you checked the caps on the
> motherboard to see if any of them are bulging or leaking? I had to RMA
> this board because one of the caps was bulging and causing intermittent
> reboots. Maybe the extra load from the added memory caused a failure on
> the motherboard.


What is the procedure to diagnose motherboard failure?
I'm not sure what you are referring to regarding "checking the caps"?

Jeff Haferman wrote:

>
> I've done both #1 and #2, no go. My feeling is perhaps the DIMMs got
> fried, but I don't have another system I can try them in. I can
> probably get my hands on some good DIMMs that I can put into the system
> and see what happens.
>
> Yes, I'm sure these are low density DIMMs. I'll have to look into CPUZ.
>

Did you change the memory, while +5VSB was still running ? The Asus
motherboard usually has a green LED, and it is lit by the presence
of +5VSB. You should turn off the power supply at the back,
and wait for the green LED to go out, before adding or removing RAM.
I like to unplug the computer, just to be sure there is no power present.

Paul

"Jeff Haferman" <> wrote in message news:...
> What is the procedure to diagnose motherboard failure?
> I'm not sure what you are referring to regarding "checking the caps"?

He means capacitors (those small can-like things). Look at the
tops to see if they're bulging out, and look at the tops and bottoms
for leaking brown gunk. Either one means they've failed.

Paul <> wrote:
> Jeff Haferman wrote:
>
>>
>> I've done both #1 and #2, no go. My feeling is perhaps the DIMMs got
>> fried, but I don't have another system I can try them in. I can
>> probably get my hands on some good DIMMs that I can put into the system
>> and see what happens.
>>
>> Yes, I'm sure these are low density DIMMs. I'll have to look into CPUZ.
>>
>
> Did you change the memory, while +5VSB was still running ? The Asus
> motherboard usually has a green LED, and it is lit by the presence
> of +5VSB. You should turn off the power supply at the back,
> and wait for the green LED to go out, before adding or removing RAM.
> I like to unplug the computer, just to be sure there is no power present.
>
> Paul
>

Machine was unplugged, and the green LED was off. If there was a charge
left in the capicitors, what could happen?

Jeff Haferman wrote:
> Paul <> wrote:
>> Jeff Haferman wrote:
>>
>>> I've done both #1 and #2, no go. My feeling is perhaps the DIMMs got
>>> fried, but I don't have another system I can try them in. I can
>>> probably get my hands on some good DIMMs that I can put into the system
>>> and see what happens.
>>>
>>> Yes, I'm sure these are low density DIMMs. I'll have to look into CPUZ.
>>>
>> Did you change the memory, while +5VSB was still running ? The Asus
>> motherboard usually has a green LED, and it is lit by the presence
>> of +5VSB. You should turn off the power supply at the back,
>> and wait for the green LED to go out, before adding or removing RAM.
>> I like to unplug the computer, just to be sure there is no power present.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>
> Machine was unplugged, and the green LED was off. If there was a charge
> left in the capicitors, what could happen?
>

There should be enough load there to drain things.

Try just one of the old DIMMs, and try it in one slot
at a time. Basically, I'm looking for any response at
all, with a minimum load present.

http://www.overclockers.ru/images/la...8/p5p800-b.jpg

Paul

Paul <> wrote:
> Jeff Haferman wrote:
>> Paul <> wrote:
>>> Jeff Haferman wrote:
>>
>> Machine was unplugged, and the green LED was off. If there was a charge
>> left in the capicitors, what could happen?
>>
>
> There should be enough load there to drain things.
>
> Try just one of the old DIMMs, and try it in one slot
> at a time. Basically, I'm looking for any response at
> all, with a minimum load present.
>
> http://www.overclockers.ru/images/la...8/p5p800-b.jpg
>
> Paul


I'm not getting anything with the old DIMMs one slot at a time. The
capacitors all look good. When I put the DIMMs in (I've got two 512 MB
- these are the original), I get the single beep on POST. Same thing
whether I put one in, or both in.

Can you recommend some simple tests that I could perform with a voltage
meter?

I have ordered some new DIMMs and they should be here in a few days.

Jeff