Very Bizzare Hardware Issue

[deejah]

acer aspire 5500z laptop

took out one of two 512meg ram to try a different larger ram

which did not work, computer would not boot, funny visual noise on screen

put back old original ram

computer boots but soon starts to freeze, then wont boot, multiple issues

tried many things and could not solve until

i took out the old ram and ran with only the one 512 ram

no problem just slower

how can this be???

something was broken or damaged just taking the ram out and trying another ram that did not work?

i am completely baffled and am now seeking a new ram to replace the one that now is all of a sudden broken

unless of course it is something else that is wrong

if anyone has ram for this in pattaya please contact me!

please

any ideas why or how this happened and how to fix?

it seems quite bizarre

[filingaccount]

You broke the pins of the ram slot?

You broke the RAM connector traces?

Static charge broke something?

Dirt on the RAM and/or slot?

[H2oDunc]

You can try to clean the contacts on the ram with a pencil eraser. Just rub the copper contacts and replace. See if that helps ?

[apollo13]

not a computer buff so don't know if this is much help but when I installed larger ram on my thinkpad I had to place the ram with the larger memory on the motherboard and the ram with smaller memory in the other ramslot thingy......the other way around wouldn't boot. good luck.....maybe T.V. member siametc will come to your rescue, he seems to have a grasp on this arcane stuff.

[deejah]

thanks folks

i think i will look for the shop on pattaya klang to help me

new question

what is the going rate for 1 g ram for this laptop

i dont want to over pay

what is the acceptable price range?

cheers

[Jiu-Jitsu]

1GB PC2-4200/DDR2-533 SODIMM is what you need.

Ball park price

[siamect]

good luck.....maybe T.V. member siametc will come to your rescue, he seems to have a grasp on this arcane stuff.

Auum... didn't know I had a reputation...

Anyway... most things has already been mentioned earlier but I thing you should try to move things around a little.

Just so you know if the problem follows the RAM or the socket.

You can run a program called http://www.memtest.org/ and see where the problem starts.

My vote is on a bad contact point somewhere or a solderpoint that got corroded and gave up under the mechanical stresses...

Static electricity problem exist in aircon rooms where the humidity is low, but the statistical likelyness that this caused the problem is quite low. In non aircon rooms the problems are much less but this should not be seen as an advice to be careless about static electricity...

Martin

[deejah]

i was told just touching the ram could break it

if so that is probably what i did, touched it

not sure i can run a/the test now

since the computer will not run with the old ram in

i guess i could try safe mode

do i keep hitting F1 when the puter boots up for safe mode and bios in xp?

dont want to even mess with the other ram stick (but good idea) after such a big problem just switching out and testing the more accessible ram

it is harder to get to get to the other ram too

think i will go to the shop on pattaya klang soon

the advantages of going to to tuk com

a bit closer

i can shop around for ram and help if needed

but i wasn't at all happy the last time i was there trying to fix something

maybe i need to try there again

thanks folks

good ideas

[deejah]

follow up

the strange problem had as strange of a solution

simply by swapping out the old ram for new ram

and then putting in and testing the old ram

seemed to fix the problem

go figure, technology is as finicky and unpredictable as life itself

ap13 fyi:

i tested a 2 gig ram strip in the most accessible slot and the computer ran at 2 gig ram no problem but not 2.5 (sum total)

same with the 1 gig i bought second hand for 500 baht which is what i am using

anyone got a 2 gig in pattaya cheap?

also pattaya2u in tuk com was helpful as suggested on thai visa

many techie guys hanging out ready to help

oh and they had their fingers allover the ram sticks and said no problem

siam:

i could not make sense of the memtest website

tried to download and run a file named memtest86+-4.10.iso.gz

mai cowjai

thank you folks

this seems to be a decent and helpful forum

so far i was able to fix my two major problems

my DVD is not working that's next

someone offered to put in a 2nd hand at tuk com for 1000 baht

or i can buy an external (hello pattaya techies)

a thai friend bought an internal for a desk top and got the connector for a laptop all at a very reasonable price new

good idea!!!

also would love to clean out the laptop of dust and POWDER but afraid it will cause more problems

the fan sounds a bit off, weak and the computer runs VERY HOT

thanks all

[siamect]

siam:

i could not make sense of the memtest website

tried to download and run a file named memtest86+-4.10.iso.gz

mai cowjai

It is a compressed file, I don't know if winzip can handle gz compressed files, it but there is a zip file just next to it on the homepage that you can use.

unszip it and there is an iso file inside. Use you favorite cd-burning program and burn the iso file to a cd...

Then boot from that CD. Possibly you can press some button at startup to have the computer show a boot menu where you can select where to boot from. Or you can set it up in the BIOS setting to boot from the CD.

Martin