Ok, both 1Gb sticks tested with no problems.

That's good news as you said, but it doesn't bring us any closer to the problem....

I'm well out of ideas now.

Where did you read about the memory issue-- do you recall??
I have asked a couple of other techs to look at this thread as the the Gigabtye/Packard-Bell... maybe other systems-- does throw a monkey-wrench into the equation.
Each system-builder may throw in it's own "quirks" via BIOS updates,etc.

OK, now I have a headache after reading this thread a few times, especially the first two posts!

I don't understand this single / double sided problem with a motherboard that only has two memory slots, and according to the Packard Bell web site, this motherboard supports up to 2gb Double or Single (Core - Bali (GA-K8VM800MNF) µATX Motherboard Ver 1.01 - spec_bali - Information and Instructions - iMedia - platform_honeymoon_imedia - Desktop). It would be very interesting to hear where you heard about this problem? How can we be sure this is not a slot issue?

Thank you, sir Mad, for your assistance.


@ Kezza-- he's right, the board supports either type of RAM (double or single)

you may indeed have a bad slot-- how old is the board?

thanks for the continued interest. The board is about 18 months old.

I found that info about the double/single sided dimms from the mobo manual i downloaded from the gigabyte site. This was before i realised it was a bali/PB mobo. It's a little note next to the specs if I remember.

If you cannot find it, let me know.

If it's a dead slot, how can a single sided DIMM work OK..??

Cheers

It should work with either-- that's what their own spec's say---- your whole mobo operates on 12V DC from your power-supply. I cannot claim to know all there is about voltages, but I do know that when you get into small-voltage-ranges... a bad solder-joint can affect the electrical performance greatly. A friend of mine is an electrical engineer-- my sister worked for him for a while soldering parts on circuit boards for new designs... she explained it to me...long ago

What... may I ask, are you running for a PSU ? After-market ? or "stocker" (came with the case) the latter can be weak-- causing all kinds of weird errors.
Make sure every connector's fully seated (I have "bumped" stuff when installing hardware- slightly unseating my video-card once) Cards-molex-everything.

These boards are mass-produced via machine. Do they test all aspects of every one? Doubt it. Sample them they must-- but not every one. A tiny defect could produce an intermittent problem-- which is something only a tech with the knowledge/and a multi-meter could solve-- and if the defect does not appear-- he's stuck. Ask a modern auto-technician how frustrating that can be-- cars all have computers now. Imagine your motherboard behind a dashboard.

Then there's PB -- makers like that add their own stuff/customize settings--making their own "version" of this board. they may buy it without a BIOS chip... add their own version, or whatever. They probably wouldn't even tell you or I --"trade secrets" and all that rubbish.