undetected RAM with a twist

Hi.

I have two Dell Inspiron 1100, Windows XP. Both came with 128 ddr ram. One (A) had 512 added, one (B) had 128 added. I wanted to switch them.

Removed the 512 from A and the 128 from B. Put the 512 in B, and rebooted. Message came up 'Memory change, press f1 to continue, f2 to enter setup utility. I pressed f1, and when I went into Control Panel, System, the 640 RAM showed and everything was fine.

Put the 128 into A, rebooted, same message came up (which to me meant that it recognized the RAM), hit F1 to continue. But the laptop does not recognize the additional 128 RAM. Took it out, rebooted, put it back in, rebooted, nothing. Doesn't even tell me that I've added RAM or give me the F1 or F2 option.

Has to be the right RAM because it was in the first laptop to begin with. One thing though, when the added 128 was in B, the system stats listed RAM as 128 and 128 on two separate lines instead of as a total of 256. Does this mean anything?

Any clue as to why it won't recognize the RAM or give me the message again? Any sense at all in Restoring the sytem back (maybe reset something) to before I added the RAM the first time? I dont' want to put the 512 back because I want it in B and don't want to fool around with it.

RAM seems to click in just fine, but nothing. Can anybody help? Thanks

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..One thing though, when the added 128 was in B, the system stats listed RAM as 128 and 128 on two separate lines instead of as a total of 256. Does this mean anything? ..

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Are you sure you've got identical pc's ?

I've had exactly the same occur, only to discover one of the laptops was infact an 'special oem' model, (your quote above 'awoke' this thought ) & that the memory combinations in the 'special one' weren't those quoted in the retail manual & couldn't infact be upgraded even though there was a slot !

random confus-ed thought : Maybe you might be better putting the memory back & just swapping the drives ?

one's 2.0, one's 2.4 Ghz, and bought by the same person at the same time, but otherwise, I believe they are identical.

The slot must be ok I think because it had the 512 in it that I swapped to the other laptop and it worked fine then.

It is entirely possible (depending on if the 2.0 or the 2.4 is in the machine that wont recognize the 128 chip) that one of your chips is pc100 and the other is pc133. 2.0 ghz P4 processors usually operate on a pc100 bus and 2.4s can operate on either pc100 or pc133.

Thanks. That sounds sensible. Any way I can tell? This RAM is ddr (both of them). Does the PC 100 and PC133 still apply?

It's the 2.0 that won't recognize the memory (altho the first time I booted, it said, new memory added). The only difference I can see between the two laptops is the Bios version of the 2.4 machine is A26, and the Bios version of the 2.0 is A22. I searched documents to see if there was a bug fix, but couldn't find any related to recognizing RAM.

Both CPUs are from same Family and Model\

Anything I can do by entering and changing something in the BIOS?

These are not my laptops so I need a reasonable explanation as to why
the switch didn't take (if possible).

ahh..I missed the DDR part..but you still might have ram incompatibilities with different speeds (i.e. pc 2100, etc.)

I'm curious though..why not just do as -ed suggested and change the hard drives and put the memory back where it worked?

You checked every bios update from the 22 until the current A32 bios? Look for not just memory recognition, but also memory timing issues. (or just update with the newest)

Thanks to all of you for responding so quickly. I feel a little foolish now because I reinstalled the memory again, for the 10th time, and this time it worked. It must not have been seated correctly. I'm ecstatic.

I didn't switch the memory back because these aren't my laptops and they have different applications installed on each, etc. She wants to get rid of one, keep the best of the all, 2.4 ghz, 640 mem, dvd, etc. I think I'm home free now.

This isn't a tech question, but what do you think a fair price would be for the 2.0, cd/rw, 256 ram, A22 Bios machine. It's about 2 yrs old and was a budget machine, I think.

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..feel a little foolish now because I reinstalled the memory again, for the 10th time, and this time it worked...

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I do stuff like that all the time ;) sometimes I think my moto should be 'I could have sworn ..' :D - anyways it works ! which is entirely the point :thumbs2:

So on your 'how much' question, well I dunno where you are or how much you paid, & what kind of warranty (if any) you are prepared to offer on it, what sort of condition is the case in, does it include 'pucker' s/w etc? ..which impacts a lot on what you can ask for it ..

You can still buy stuff 'new' (admittedly with a dvd) at about that kind of spec 'bottom budget' , so what do units like that go for in a shop near you ?

& lastly who's buying it ? You? or are you wanting to put a price on it for her to sell ?

Too many factors to say 'blind' & it depends if I'm talking the price up or down ! lol :devil:

ok, I'll fess up. She wants to get rid of the 2.0 machine, (the woman is thinking of donating it somewhere because she doesn't need two) and I was thinking of making her an offer. I don't want to spend too much, but I don't want to be insulting either.

Decide how much you are prepared to pay & then ask her what she wants for it, if she just wants 'rid' - if she wants to 'gift' it to somebody, there are likely to be personal factors not tied to costs involved which you can't match, if its just to charity in general, cash from you is probably a better deal as a 'dealer' is likely to buy the unit anyway & she can donate the money or buy herself 'whatever' instead..