Loving the RAM

I just installed the 2GB of RAM I ordered last week. For some reason my computer wouldn't boot properly. It just came on and there was a black screen. I think I unplugged something somehow. I stuck the old RAM back in and it still happened so I checked all the connections and they seemed fine. However, after that it booted up. So I shut it down and reinstalled the new RAM...same problem! So I checked all the connections again and then it booted. It didn't boot correctly but it still came on. I shut it off, turned it back on and it was fine.

I think I possibly needed to let it sit after plugging the power cable back in. Maybe to juice up the capacitors some...beats me. None of the connections felt like they were unplugged at all.

Anyways, I say all that to say...WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Everything is quicker...from the page load speed all the way down to how fast the cursor highlights objects. I am a little miffed though. My system only reads 1.87GB. I paid for 2gig!!! Actually 2048 so it needs to read 2.05. I'll check it again after the next reboot. I hope I didn't screw something up because one of the sticks was a little difficult to get in. I think it was a misspaced notch in one of the slots.

Anyways, I say all that to say...WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Everything is quicker...from the page load speed all the way down to how fast the cursor highlights objects. I am a little miffed though. My system only reads 1.87GB. I paid for 2gig!!! Actually 2048 so it needs to read 2.05. I'll check it again after the next reboot. I hope I didn't screw something up because one of the sticks was a little difficult to get in. I think it was a misspaced notch in one of the slots.

No no, don't fret. All your RAM is there and accounted for. :ermm:

I'm going to guess that your system does not have a separate graphics card, and you are using an onboard card from the motherboard. In which case, the video memory is shared with your ram, so the detected memory would be less than it seems.

Another possibility is the incompatibility or limits. Some motherboards can only hold up to a certain amount of ram memory. Some older systems may be at the limit of 2gb, newer ones are around 4gb. This might just mean your system can only hold 2gb.

Other than that, depending on what you mean by "your system only detects that amount". If you are reading that from windows systems, then there's a problem (or the gfx card thing). If you are reading that from a third party program, then it's only accounting for the free ram. Which is very unlikely because the OS uses up about 300 to 400 megs of ram.

I'm reading it from Windows system. I also restarted my computer and it wouldn't boot again. I turned it off, waited 15 seconds and then turned it back on and it was fine. I'm at a loss as to what that problem is.

In this case, it might be the incompatibility problem. Some specific motherboards only accept certain brands of rams. Did you make sure the RAM's clock rate is compatible with your motherboard? That would be the DDR### or DDR2###...

In this case, it might be the incompatibility problem. Some specific motherboards only accept certain brands of rams. Did you make sure the RAM's clock rate is compatible with your motherboard? That would be the DDR### or DDR2###...

If it were an incomparability problem, he wouldn't be seeing his RAM.

He's not missing any RAM at all. The system has access to all of it. It's like your hard drive. If you pay for 300 gigs, you're still getting 300 gigs, but 3 gigs are tied up in unusable space. That portion is unavoidable, at the moment.

Someone told me that they sold me 2000 MB as 2 gig but in all actuality 2 gig is equal to 2058 MB. Those fractions don't work out to 1.87 (2000/2058) so I'm not sure he's correct with that.

I'm still not sure why my computer won't boot correctly at times. It did it again on a restart. I turned it off, waited, and then it booted fine.

Someone told me that they sold me 2000 MB as 2 gig but in all actuality 2 gig is equal to 2058 MB. Those fractions don't work out to 1.87 (2000/2058) so I'm not sure he's correct with that.

I'm still not sure why my computer won't boot correctly at times. It did it again on a restart. I turned it off, waited, and then it booted fine.

You bought 2058 megs of RAM. You cannot use all of 2058 megs of it. Some of it cannot be used, or is in use by vital system processes. That's unavoidable. If you had bought less RAM or more RAM you still wouldn't be seeing all of it.

If it were an incomparability problem, he wouldn't be seeing his RAM.

He's not missing any RAM at all. The system has access to all of it. It's like your hard drive. If you pay for 300 gigs, you're still getting 300 gigs, but 3 gigs are tied up in unusable space. That portion is unavoidable, at the moment.

Actually you would, as I have tested on a new system. While the pc may be buggy... the system would pickup the foreign product at first, and after some time, it would fail (and would corrupt the cpu). First off, it's 2048, not 2058. As James had said, the information he is reading from is windows systems. NOT a third-party software. Windows WOULD read the "ideal" maximum capacity at 2gb. And it's not vital processes, ram is split up into different sections of hiearchy, each with different tasks. Some tasks manage the ram itself, which would use up some memory. But we can be sure that it won't use up to 180 mb of ram.

Computer memory sticks works on the binary-level system, this is not a convention, it's the medium for cpu and memory to communicate. Binary-level means... 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048. When you buy a stick of "1GB" ram, you are actually purchasing the 1024 stick. Therefore a 2gb stick is 2048.

As I had said before, compatibility problem is very serious. If you keep this up, your motherboard may be short-lived. And adding to my previous questions...

Do you have an onboard gfx card or an external one?

What are your old ram brand and clock rate?

What are the new ram brands and clock rate?

What is your motherboard brand and model?

How old is this motherboard?

You should try and answer my questions because all I can do is guess right now. As a matter of fact, you should give me as many details as possible.

Here is a lot of info on my computer.

eMachines T6410 Media Center PC Specs. Desktops Specifications.

I think the issue is with the video memory. It takes 128mb. 2048-128=1920 which happens to be 1.875GB.

This is the RAM I bought:

2GB kit (1GBx2), 184-pin DIMM, DDR PC3200 upgrades for eMachines T6410 Desktop/PC, CT463695 from Crucial.com

They matched it to my computer brand and model. I checked for myself and everything matched except the voltage. I think my original was 2.5v and the new stuff was 2.6v.

On the plus side I didn't realize I have a firewire port. I was thinking I might have to get one eventually.

so, have you solved the boot up problem?

I need a microphone and a good program to create a radio here at YC.

The power went off at my house the other day. When I got home I turned the comp on and it booted fine. However, I haven't tried to restart it since then. I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks for the help.

Hmm... E-machines :w00t:

I've had similar problems with e-machines, but with installing a second hard drive. The bios is apparently slow (and pretty stubborn!) in picking up new hardware. It may take a reboot, or several to get it to recognize new hardware. I had to go into the CMOS and manually tell it to look for a second hard drive.

You should be okay now, though. Once I got it to recognize my second hard drive I did not have many problems afterwards. If you're unsure you can always check the CMOS to see if it recognizes the amount of RAM installed. This should give you the true number.

Pardon the ignorance but what is CMOS?

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor. It's a chip installed on your computer that you can use to change the computer settings, such as specifying the amount of RAM, adding a hard drive, specifying the size of the hard drive (sectors, etc). You can either really mess up your system, or really fix a technical bug by going into CMOS. Fortunately, you have the option to save your CMOS settings before changing anything, or to exit CMOS setup without changing anything (probably the safest if you're just checking something).

Most computers read something like "Press F11 to enter Setup", during start-up to indicate that if you press the F11 key, you'll enter CMOS setup.

I thought that was called the BIOS...

EDIT: Oh, I see, CMOS is part of BIOS... I just learned something new.

And yes, that's the best way to view and edit RAM settings. You can easily readjust how much RAM is dedicated to graphics, CPU processing, etc.

Is it possible to check compatibility on the computer? I have Belarc Advisor software but I didn't spot any clock rates on there...maybe I just missed it in the technical stuff I din't understand.

I ask in this thread because I also need to get some more RAM to run GPO porperly, i only have 500MB at the moment!

Edit: Whoops just saw 2nd page of thread!!! Would I be able to see this in CMOS setup then?

2 Gig is at least what you need.. more is necessary if you want the amazing Bosendorfer offered at Eastwest Sound Libraries (and any other amazing library they offer there for that matter). I have 2 right now and everything runs decently (not really crashes, but mere pauses [spurts of non-responsives]), although playback is extremely buggy at times (I do use Vista now, however).

2 Gig is at least what you need.. more is necessary if you want the amazing Bosendorfer offered at Eastwest Sound Libraries (and any other amazing library they offer there for that matter). I have 2 right now and everything runs decently (not really crashes, but mere pauses [spurts of non-responsives]), although playback is extremely buggy at times (I do use Vista now, however).

Vista? *Yikes* Doesn't that require at least 1 gig of ram recommended?

Not sure, but I would definitely say only 1 could possibly make multitasking difficult and annoying.. 2 is probably recommended while 1 should be the bare minimum.