Satellite Pro 4600 memory upgrade problem

[Malcolm]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I bought the laptop from eBay, all works fine under Windoze XP Pro with
128MB RAM. I bought a second 128MB stick of memory on eBay which should be
compatible, but when I installed it, the General tab in Control Panel/System
still only reported 128MB. To test the second stick I replaced the
original with it and fired up with just that one installed - no problems,
all OK reporting 128MB as before. It doesn't matter which slot I place
which stick in, the machine only reports 128MB of memory when both are
installed. Did I miss something?

I took all the required precautions regarding battery removal, anti-static
measures etc and have no reason to think that either memory stick is faulty,
I just can't get the machine to see 256MB as required - any suggestions
please?

Thanks!
Neddy

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In article <ctrob9$3bb$1@news-02.connect.com.au>,
Malcolm <to__malcolmNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I bought the laptop from eBay, all works fine under Windoze XP Pro with
>128MB RAM. I bought a second 128MB stick of memory on eBay which should be
>compatible, but when I installed it, the General tab in Control Panel/System
>still only reported 128MB. To test the second stick I replaced the
>original with it and fired up with just that one installed - no problems,
>all OK reporting 128MB as before. It doesn't matter which slot I place
>which stick in, the machine only reports 128MB of memory when both are
>installed. Did I miss something?
>
>I took all the required precautions regarding battery removal, anti-static
>measures etc and have no reason to think that either memory stick is faulty,
>I just can't get the machine to see 256MB as required - any suggestions
>please?

It sounds like the two memory modules are not compatible with each other.
This is why I buy only from Crucial. If you buy memory for a specific
machine and configuration, they guarantee it will work.

I upgraded a Sat Pro 4600 a couple of years ago using Crucial memory and
had no problems whatsoever.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Toshibas do have RAM slot solder joint problems.. We get these in on
occasion for repairs. These arent too bad to repair as theres plenty
of room between pins and contacts. If you need help yell.

 

[Malcolm]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks for the response Alex. I understood that if you only use a single
memory stick it has to be installed in the first slot, so I have tried each
stick singly in that slot - no problems. Is it OK to just have a single
stick in the second slot? If so, I will try that. A faulty slot
certainly would explain the problem.

Cheers

"Alex Quant" <alexqspam@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:36d81nF4vhb2cU1@individual.net...
> "Malcolm" <to__malcolmNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ctrob9$3bb$1@news-02.connect.com.au...
>> I bought the laptop from eBay, all works fine under Windoze XP Pro with
>> 128MB RAM. I bought a second 128MB stick of memory on eBay which should
> be
>> compatible, but when I installed it, the General tab in Control
> Panel/System
>> still only reported 128MB. To test the second stick I replaced the
>> original with it and fired up with just that one installed - no problems,
>> all OK reporting 128MB as before. It doesn't matter which slot I place
>> which stick in, the machine only reports 128MB of memory when both are
>> installed. Did I miss something?
>>
>> I took all the required precautions regarding battery removal,
>> anti-static
>> measures etc and have no reason to think that either memory stick is
> faulty,
>> I just can't get the machine to see 256MB as required - any suggestions
>> please?
>
> Did you try testing the slots with one stick? Its possible one of the
> slots
> may be defective.
>
> Alex Quant
>
> ~ Reply-To is set to a valid email address ~
>
> ~ www.alexquant.net ~
>
>

 

[Malcolm]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks Mike, you could be right, but I figured that each stick working fine
on its own should mean that they are compatible. I understand that if one
was slower than the other, both would run at the slower speed but I thought
that they should work....

Unfortunately I bought the machine for a friend of mine to learn on - he has
no cash to spare, otherwise I would have suggested a new upgrade for him.
He's a graphic artist and realises that he must have some computer skills to
get a job these days, so this machine is his starting point, and doubling
the memory seemed like a cheap way of getting the performance up to an
adequate level for him. Maybe he will be stuck with 128MB until he can
afford to buy a new stick from someone like Crucial.

Cheers!


"Mike S." <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> wrote in message
news:ctrprt$ku4$1@reader2.panix.com...
>
> In article <ctrob9$3bb$1@news-02.connect.com.au>,
> Malcolm <to__malcolmNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>I bought the laptop from eBay, all works fine under Windoze XP Pro with
>>128MB RAM. I bought a second 128MB stick of memory on eBay which should
>>be
>>compatible, but when I installed it, the General tab in Control
>>Panel/System
>>still only reported 128MB. To test the second stick I replaced the
>>original with it and fired up with just that one installed - no problems,
>>all OK reporting 128MB as before. It doesn't matter which slot I place
>>which stick in, the machine only reports 128MB of memory when both are
>>installed. Did I miss something?
>>
>>I took all the required precautions regarding battery removal, anti-static
>>measures etc and have no reason to think that either memory stick is
>>faulty,
>>I just can't get the machine to see 256MB as required - any suggestions
>>please?
>
> It sounds like the two memory modules are not compatible with each other.
> This is why I buy only from Crucial. If you buy memory for a specific
> machine and configuration, they guarantee it will work.
>
> I upgraded a Sat Pro 4600 a couple of years ago using Crucial memory and
> had no problems whatsoever.
>
>

 

[Malcolm]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Sounds about right Alex. I will look for dry joints - any other likely
culprit that I may be able to do anything about?

Cheers

"Alex Quant" <alexqspam@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:36dan7F4vjligU1@individual.net...
> "Malcolm" <to__malcolmNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ctrqiv$6dt$1@news-02.connect.com.au...
>> Thanks for the response Alex. I understood that if you only use a
> single
>> memory stick it has to be installed in the first slot, so I have tried
> each
>> stick singly in that slot - no problems. Is it OK to just have a
>> single
>> stick in the second slot? If so, I will try that. A faulty slot
>> certainly would explain the problem.
>
> I had a Sat. Pro 4270 with a faulty memory slot out of two; the laptop
> simply would not "see" any memory in that slot, no matter what combination
> of memory I tried, and I tried a number of different sizes and makes.
> You've
> proved the memory is OK, I think its fair to say the other slot has a
> fault.
>
> Alex Quant
>
> ~ Reply-To is set to a valid email address ~
>
> ~ www.alexquant.net ~
>
>

 

[Malcolm]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks - I'll dust off my trusty soldering iron and take a look.

Cheers

"ikenfixit" <ken@ikenfixit-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:4201fa07$1_1@alt.athenanews.com...
> Toshibas do have RAM slot solder joint problems.. We get these in on
> occasion for repairs. These arent too bad to repair as theres plenty
> of room between pins and contacts. If you need help yell.
>