# Unable to boot after ram upgrade



## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

Hi masters,

I have an Acer Aspire SA90 desktop system which comes with 512mb ram and Intel Celeron D 3.46GHz CPU. The system was too slow and I had to upgrade the ram. I first bought one stick of 2G ram(Kingston 2G DDR2 PC2-6400 CL5 800) and it booted fine on Vista with sp1. Vista shows 2G ram available. So then I bought another stick of 2G ram(same 2G Kingston as the first one) and put it in the 2nd slot. However, when I had 4G ram computer won't boot, only the fan was turned on with black screen. Then I took out the first 2G ram leaving the new 2G stick on the new slot and it booted normally. So now I know both slots and both sticks of ram boot fine individually. When I put the 4G together system won't boot again. From what I gathered online the system should be able to support 4G ram but I'm not 100% sure as there are a few different setups for SA90 model. I looked at the bios and it doesn't allow me to change ram voltage, it only says auto-detect and it's set at 1.8v. Anyone have any idea how can I fix the problem? Many thanks.

James


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## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

Hello,

Where did you get the specs from?

What was the specs of the original memory that came with the system?

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/fo...m/us&siteid=7293&words=all&keywords=&areaid=7

Per Acer support the system is capable of 2G of DDR2 400/533/667 MHz SDRAM


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## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

http://www.computermemoryoutlet.com/Acer-Aspire-SA90_Series-memory.htm

The website above is where I found the information. So is the info I got wrong? Was I misinformed? Appreciate your help thanks.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The site you posted clearly states PC5300 ram not PC6400, with ram if it is not booting when using a new new stick it will always be either incompatibility, or installation(not fully seated Etc).
I would tend to believe Acer over a third party for the specs.


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## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice. I tried something today. I plugged in 3G of ram and surprisingly it booted normally. So is there any chance that it supports 3G but not 4G? Or am I missing something for the 4G to boot up?


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

makinu1der2, has already stated what the laptop supports
Wrench97 has confirmed it and stated what the laptop supports
and I also I agree with them both.

Are you using single channel or dual channel sticks? (Look below in parantheses).

Up to 2 GB of DDR2 400/533/667 MHz SDRAM 
(single-channel support on two DIMMs)


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## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

I'm not sure what single-channel support means but I have 2 slots available (both 240pin). In one slot I have a 2GB DDR2 800MHz plugged in. In the other slot I have a 1GB DDR2 667MHz plugged in. So now all my slots are full and I have 3GB in total and the comp runs perfectly fine.


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

Put the 667Mhz stick in the first slot.
You understand that the pc will choose 667Mhz to run do you, not 800Mhz.
It will always go with the lowest Mhz if mixing the ram.

Also what service pack are you running?


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## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

running Vista Home Basic with SP1, the 2+1GB ram runs fine. I'm just wondering if 2+2GB ram can be run cos it doesn't even boot(the 2+2GB are identical 800MHz rams).


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

Its more like this to run 4gigs of ram for this motherboard:
2+2GB DDR2 667 MHz of ram.

Ok here it is again, This is what the motherboard calls for:

Up to 2 GB of DDR2 400/533/667 MHz SDRAM 
(single-channel support on two DIMMs) 

2 slots right? which doesnt matter here.
Each slot takes - Up to (2GB) ram stick DDR2 400/533/667 MHz SDRAM (single channel)
Maxium Ram - 4 GB DDR2 667MHz (single channel), this is the fastest setup you can run with this motherboard as far as I know, I dont get into overclocking much either.

You cannot use 800 MHZ sticks at all, and no the motherboard isnt running perfectly
on what you have installed, cause time will tell and goodbye motherboard.
Even though its able to bootup doesnt mean its running right at all.
The max ram stick you can use for this board is 667 MHZ.


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## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

alright I get it now. So I pull out the 800MHz stick and replace it with a 667MHz 2GB and theoretically it should run perfectly with 4GB ram in total am I correct? Thanks so much for all your help.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I doubt it. Acer says 2 Gig max, if you have 3 Gig working on XP 32 bit That's all you need XP will not actually use more then 2.4-2.8 max.


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

Hes running vista home basic, wrench97

and yes you should beable to run 4 gigs of ram maximum
with that motherboard.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Even Home Basic comes in 32 and 64 bit versions.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

TY wrench97, very nice of you to show that link and very helpful in the future
for me and others.


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## urgenthelp (Oct 18, 2008)

From that link my Vista home basic 32 bit version should be able to support 4GB. Any my motherboard should be able to run 4GB according to Riskyone101. I just have one question. My 2GB 800MHz is recognized and working together with a 1GB 667MHz for a total of 3GB. Why can't I put in 2x2GB 800MHz and make it work if it recognizes one by itself? Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It doesn't work because it's not compatible with the board.
That is 4Gig total including Video cards and system devices you will never see 4Gig available on a 32 bit os usually 3.2 gig.
I've not seen Acer say anything but 2Gig in single channel mode.


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## Riskyone101 (Oct 22, 2008)

I got this from the manufacture of the motherboard:

Up to 2 GB of DDR2 400/533/667 MHz SDRAM 
(single-channel support on two DIMMs)


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