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ahoussin

i have an HP pavilion 1324n, with 1 Gig of ram out of factory. i have decided to add an extra gig of ram, as it is capable of having up to 2 gigs. the problem i've encountered is that the computer only recognizes one stick of ram at a time, not 2.

originally, i added the new ram to the second (free) slot, and left the original in its place. what happened when i checked the bios is that it said slot 1 was empty, with 1 gig in the second slot.

so i took the original ram out, and put the new one in the original's place, and it recognized the ram and said i had a gig of system memory.

so then i added the original stick in the second (free) slot, with the new one in the original slot, and it still only recognizes the new one, not the old one.

so what this tells me from what happened is that both slots DO work, both sticks DO work, but for some strange reason, both sticks will not work together.

oh and both the sticks are. PC2 4200 DDR2

Hengis

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Please can you tell us your motherboard make and model number. Use What's inside your PC? if you need help. Also, we will need to know the full spec of the RAM you are installing.

CyFanate

Do you have dualchannel slots? If you use two of them, but the specs of the Mem is not the same, the motherboard will automatically use the best one and will not recognize the second. So if you have 3 slots, try to put one of them in the third slot. What you can try is to search in the bios, if there's an option for something like Dual-Channel mode, and put that on (or off, depending on what status it has at that moment)...

ahoussin · 09:25 PM

sorry about the delayed reply

again it's a pavilion a1324n

Motherboard description

Motherboard manufacturer's name: ECS RC410-M
HP/Compaq name: Asterope-GL8E

Memory

Single-channel memory architecture
2 x 240-pin DIMM sockets support unbuffered non-ECC 400/533 MHZ DDR2 memory modules
Maximum HP/Compaq approved memory is 2 GB

Memory
Component Attributes Memory Installed1 GB (1 x 1 GB), Maximum allowed2 GB (2 x 1 GB) , Speed supportedPC2-4200 MB/sec, Type240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM DIMM slots Two Open DIMM slots One

ahoussin

the memory i'm trying to put in is made by K-Byte

it's 1GB DDR2
4200/3200 PC2-533/400
240 Pin DIMM

double_a_ron · 11:27 PM

Hi Ahoussin,

Welcome to Pc Help Forum! Enjoy your stay here!

Are both sticks of RAM the same brand? If not, it's more than possible that one of your sticks may not be compatible with the other or with the motherboard itself. I've noticed that memory is one of the more finicky PC components. Though it tends to be more finicky for dual-channel operation it's still quite possible that single channel RAM can choose to not like another make of RAM.

EDIT: A little research brought me to http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?...model_id=56164

From this site i found the following:

Your ECS Elitegroup Computer RC410M-LA only supports modules made with a specific type of chip. Should you find what seems to be the exact same memory elsewhere for a lower price, it is very possible that the cheaper memory will not work in your computer.

I know this isn't the EXACT Type of motherboard you have (having the rc410-m) but it looks like it's a good pointer to the problem.

ahoussin

i'm starting to think that the problem is in fact that the ram sticks are 2 different brands.

the original one has those black squares on both sides (sorry i have no idea what they're called), whereas the new one only has those squares on one side.

the unfortunate problem is that i have no idea what brand of ram is in the PC, it doesn't say it on the ram itself. i've looked on the HP website and i can't find anything that would indicate what brand of ram it uses, or what brand they would recommend for me.

i'm also assuming that if i want to get the right ram, i might have to order it online, as the only ram i've ever seen in stores is either k-byte or kingston. if anyone out there knows what type of ram is compatible with my motherboard, i would greatly appreciate your help.

thanks